We went throught the exact same thing. At the time, we knew our ds was bright, but we didn't realize he was gifted. We just thought most kids were like that! This was PK4, and the school asked us to repeat PK4 a second year. We agreed b/c of "emotional immaturity" and were assured that they'd differentiate the curriculum for him. That never happened, and the inattention and emotional meltdowns continued. Luckily, that year, the teacher didn't mind his behavior so much (very laid back), but he didn't learn anything! In my personal opinion, if you want a gifted child to mature, you don't put him/her in a group of kids younger than them. Again, just my personal opinion. In KG, we had more of the same b/c ds was bored stiff. No meltdowns (he had gained some self control over the summer in this regard.), but he exhibited significant inattention and talking out in class. The teacher agreed that the curriculum was not a challenge to him, but differentiation nor acceleration were an option in this particular school b/c class sizes had grown so much. We decided we weren't going to pay big bucks for our son to learn nothing and get in trouble all day and pulled him to hs. We did plan for ADHD testing, and then ended up doing gifted testing instead. The psych who did his testing said that he often sees students misdiagnosed with ADHD or just referred to as "emotionally immature" when they are simply unchallenged and gifted. I agree that emotional sensitivity or intensity is not the same as immaturity with these kids. We are homeschooling as well, and I feel that we are having to work extra hard to reverse a major case of underachievement b/c of repeating a grade. If I had it to do again, I would NOT have him repeat. Just my humble opinion and one person's experience, but FWIW...
Oh, I also wanted to add that my ds's behavior is much more mature when he's with older kids than with his peers or younger kids. It's very strange to us b/c when he's with younger children, he actually behaves less maturely than they do. When he's with older kids, he steps right up to their level. It's bizarre.
HTH!
Jen
