Hi JB,
A couple of thoughts based on our experiences.... I have 2 children. My DD 9 has not been grade accelerated, but has a late July b-day and has always been among the youngest in her class. We have not gone the IQ route (although I sometimes think that was a mistake) so I can't provide a score, but I am (usually
)confident in our assessment of her abilities for multiple reasons--not the least of which is that she was always clustered with "top" learners in her grade, most of whom were on the other side of the enrollment deadline, and therefore nearly a year ahead of her chronologically. All of them were well above grade level in reading and math. Despite having exhausted the district's elementary reading assessment in kindergarten, we have listened to an endless stream of minimizing comments suggesting that she isn't really "that unusual". Her school behaviors are compliant, but very disorganized and absent minded. She is not whipping through her work without error and becomes bored quickly with repetition.
She will tell me that "after 4 problems it's kind of hard to keep my mind on it. I start thinking about other things".
Her teacher will tell me, "Oh, I have harder work for her, but she can't finish the work she has, so she doesn't get to it like the other children".
Despite never finishing her work, she still took a state math assessment without a single error (and according to her, roughly 30 minutes left per section to sit and do nothing). Another family I know was told that their child had some strengths, but also some "holes", so didn't really need to be accelerated. The mentality of too many educators is to disprove high ability rather than to support it.
What I have found is this: over the past few years we have supported our daughter's interests in whichever directions they have taken us. It has taken awhile for her test taking skills/focus to catch up with her ability, but finally she is providing us with examples the school can't easily dismiss. Highly able children are still children. They aren't all eager to produce perfect work--especially when it's boring. When my DD was 6, it would take 30 minutes to copy her spelling words for homework (words like: friend, weather, etc.). Meanwhile her favorite game was "spelling bee"--during which she would beg us to give her words and would joyfully give us the spelling of "hydraulic" or "pyschology" or "tarantula".
This year, I was told that my DD9 couldn't do 3 digit subtraction. She wrote down the answers to 20 homework problems while I ran in and picked up subs for dinner (approximately 5 minutes) without making another mark on her paper. When I pointed to the directions (show your work), she sighed and spent the next *40 minutes* trying to go back and put her work on the paper. In the process of doing that, she got confused and changed several previously accurate answers. It's like asking someone with a highly accurate jump shot to slow it down into incremental motions. When the flow is interrupted/interfered with, the fluidity is lost. The shot will still go in at times, but far less often and with far less satisfaction.
Don't mistake the teacher's assessment of your DS's engagement and accuracy on work below his level for an accurate assessment of your child's ability. Keep giving him what he asks for. Eventually it will come together in a way that will be difficult for the school to ignore. In the meantime, you might want to save things that your DS does at home, or keep a journal. Be sure to make notes like, "DS asked me to show him....after he..." or "Suddenly DS is interested in __________. He asked me to _________"; This is a sample of the _______DS did after _______. He spent _________ minutes/hours working on it without stopping to ask for assistance". etc...
It sounds like you're doing a great job honoring your child's thirst for new ideas and skills. Don't let the school make you doubt yourself.
