I agree with Dottie about older kids choosing their peers. DD has found her closest friends to be 8th graders in her math GT classes. Finding the right fit in math can sometimes create enough breathing room and challenge to endure some easier classes.
DD was recently bumped up a year in math and even in our wonderful GT friendly school, her teacher met us with some resistance. Her point was that there were 5 other students with straight A's who are not asking to move up. Since DD was the one pursuing the change, I didn't talk to her teacher but I thought her point of view was odd. Some kids are content with an easy A, some work very hard for that A and none of them seemed frustrated with the class as DD did. Your teacher should also not consider other children as the measuring post for your child. Since he seems to be a mathy kid, getting the math class to the right level might be a great first step.
Jen
