DS5 is very different then the peers in his class...academically and regarding interests for the most part. He skipped K and is in first grade. He has a lot of differentiated work that is about 5th grade+ material and computer programs he does in the classroom...so surely the other kids notice this. He tells me how they are always saying "you are so smart" and how annoying it is to him.
So the other day he came home with this paper about Dr. Seuss. I noticed on the back that words were spelled wrong and his p's and g's were written backwards. He never spells things wrong or writes like that. I told him that he must have accidently picked up the wrong student's paper (as this has happened a few times before). He looked at it and said "No, that's mine....sometimes I like to pretend that I am a first grader and write like the other kids."
So I have such mixed feelings about this. He hasn't done this before and has never hidden any of his knowledge from my observations. He knows he is different and had mentioned that he doesn't have things in common with some of the kids, but he gets excited when he finds out that he does (like if they like the same video game or eat the same granola bar, etc.). He enjoys school, or at least tells us he does. He is a very social kid. When he said that I explained that he is a first grader, but that he just does above level work most of the time and that is okay, that he should never feel uncomfortable about what he knows or pretend that he doesn't know things to try to fit in.
Any thoughts, has anyone else had a situation like this before with a child?
