Ania -
It is so hard to ever know. A full daily hour of Spanish, good Math and Mandarin sound good. The fact that he is happy is good. You aren't seeing any signs of perfectionism in Ghost is good.
But LOL - I will be so dissapointed if you let him off the hook for "special in depth projects." I always have the idea that you have done so well with clearly communicating that he is expected to work hard at academics, at least some of the time.
I think that I would encourage you to lay out the science plan, and then see how he feels about the "extra" assignments, and if he balks at the "extra" work, raise one eyebrow while you bore into his eyes, and tell him that Trinity's son had to be gradeskipped because he didn't want to do any "extra" work, and now he has an hour of homework every night at age 11 in 7th grade! Work beyond what the agemates are doing isn't "extra" for our boys. They are expected to put in proper effort no matter what the sign on the door says, no matter the ability of the kid sitting next to him.
DS11 knows in his heart that he needs to be with kids 1 to 2 years older in order to be "just like everyone else" but he sometimes looks back with nostalgia at long days in school doing nothing but reading in his desk. DS11 does remember that being asked "too easy" questions make him very nervous, always looking for the trick part of the question that they couldn't possibly be asking.
We weigh every decision so carefully, but the good news is that we only have to "be in the ballpark," not perfect. I have a feeling that both boys are going to have very good years this year!
Smiles,
Trin
