hello all -

I am chiming in because I am noticing some similarities between my ds4.5 on and what you are describing with your dc

It seems as though he is leveled off a bit lately. i.e. not really learning anything new at school.
His interest in math is much less intense, He has known all the letter sounds for a while but is not interested in reading right now or letting us know what words he can in fact read. (So bizarre, but I know many of you have been there)

This is his second year at Montessori where he had been doing really well. But a lot of his friends have moved on to other schools or have left the 2.5 to 5 yr class to go to the 5 and 6 class. I agreed with the teachers thinking to let him stay with with his class because then he could "be a leader".

But now I am remembering that he usually does better in an environment with at least a few older kids. (this has been true since he was 18 mos.) On top of that he is REALLY sad about the kids who have left. He is very social, outgoing and "into" people. The more I type, the more I remind myself that he is just plain lonely. For example, many inanimate objects in our house get names and personalities and become part of the family. I have some ideas on how to remedy this but that would call for a brand new thread...

Anyway, to return to the original topic, I just wanted to chime in that I understand your worry. It is super frustrating when the school situation is not ideal and our children are not thriving the way we know they can.

EW

p.s. what are the ages for the dc "living parallel lives"? My ds is not so much into thomas, still loves Cars(pixar).