Cricket, thank you for sharing your experience. Everyone here has been so helpful. I talked with the counselor from the school today, and while we are meeting with her and the teachers on Monday, she and I had our own long conversation about everything today. Long story short, she basically said that this school is not for my son. His teacher thinks he's ADHD. He certainly exhibits some of those behaviors, but I feel that we need to see if those behaviors get better if he's challenged. They've never tried that! Ahhhhh! So frustrating. The psychologist who did ds's gifted testing knew we were also considering whether or not our son might have ADHD. In his report, he stated that he did not feel that ADHD was a factor and that any inattention in the classroom stemmed from disinterest, boredom, and not being challenged. They'd still like me to have him evaluated further. The counselor also said that it's very unlikely that the school will be willing to accelerate ds to first grade (mainly b/c of too many kids in the class) and probably will not be able to provide coursework based on his ability level in the kindergarten classroom. She said that with such a large number of students in the classroom it will be virtually impossible to meet his needs if he is indeed, just gifted and unchallenged. I'm not sure what they want me to do! She said that if we find out he's ADHD for sure they'd have to accommodate him. What?! They don't have to accommodate him if he's gifted for sure, but they have to if he's ADHD? Does that make any sense? She also told me she thought homeschooling was a great option for my son. She said he's expected to come into the classroom, sit down, write his name on his paper, not speak until spoken to, and not get up until given permission. Her exact words were, "he is expected to conform." I'm ready to say forget the meeting on Monday. I want ds home with me! He's absolutely in the wrong place. And, it's not the counselor's fault. She was just being honest with me. I don't get the impression she agrees; she just knows how the school is run. AGAIN for letting me vent.
