Okay, so a recap: Pud (7) started at a private school in August, skipping 2nd grade and going into 3rd. We had a very bad 1st grade year at the public school. This new school is expensive and he only goes M-TH, 9 - 11:30. They do history, science, math, reading, and Language Arts. No recess, PE, art, music. There are 4 kids in his class.
Problem is that he is not challenged. I talked to the principal and he seemed unconcerned. He told me that "all our kids are accelerated" meaning that all of them scored at least 70th percentile on the ITBS. Pud scored 97th percentile straight out of 1st grade. The principal also told me that they have "so much material to get through in so little time" and they couldn't really make accomodations. I wanted to scream, "faster, faster", but I was nice and not confrontational. The principal struck me as totally indifferent. Pud says he's only seen the man 2 times this year.
I'm making an appointment with the school director, who is the one I talked to this summer when trying to decide what to do. I'm not sure what to ask of her. She had recommended that he skip into 4th grade academically; so I'm assuming (you know what that means!) that is what she'll recommend at this point. We think he's too immature to skip to 4th. There are some things in the 3rd curriculum that he hasn't mastered yet, like fractions and decimals (I'm assuming that's 3rd grade). But, at home he is doing simple algebraic equations and converting Farenheit to Celsius. He also just finished reading "The Hobbit".
It seems that with only 4 kids in the class, it would be easy to differentiate. He has 4 teachers - one for each subject (reading and LA together) - and each subject is only 30 minutes. The math teacher told me to stop doing math with him at home after he told her that "0 - 5 = -5" is in the (0,5) math fact family. But I'm told that with only 30 minutes for each subject and no breaks between them, there's not much the teacher can do. Pud told me that history basically means the teacher reading the textbook to them. Gaack!
He says he likes the school but not a lot. His behavior at home has been pretty bad but he seems to be okay other places. The principal told me that the teachers report that he dominates the class and "blurts out answers before the others have a chance to think". The homework is painful for me to watch - it's not that much but it takes him forever to do. He says it's because it is boring.
Bottom Line: I know something needs to change but I don't know what to ask them to do. DH continues to be adamantly opposed to homeschooling. I am going on Thursday to check out another private school that only goes to 5th grade to see if they can pull curriculum to challenge him until he is a 5th grader by age. Maybe then he'll be ready to skip into 7th grade at the public school. But, I'm trying not to think too much about the future, except that I'd like to limit the number of times he has to change schools.
What do I ask them to do? They seem reluctant to do anything. Another girl in his class is bored and not challenged and will be leaving soon. He and she have become friends and we carpool. She'll go back to public school. Putting Pud back in public school presents all kinds of problems, including, but not limited to, the skip to third.
The teachers don't have experience with gifted kids and don't seeem to "get" it. I thought maybe the Reading teacher would when he read "The Hobbit" or maybe the math teacher after the negative number fact. Two of them have no teaching experience whatsoever! And, they moved the library to the high school building!
Sorry this got so long. I am, as always, it seems, frustrated.
