Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Should I care if DS is phoning it in?

So here's the background, which is very important: DS6 is identified gifted. His teacher is very, very cognizant of his skills and is also very laid back about what he produces in class. In other words, he has nothing to prove. Next year, he will switch to a GT magnet where much more will be expected of him. Right now, he does a lot of his own work, but still has to do maybe 50% of regular first-grade work. And he's over it. The work is coming home sloppy-- answers sometimes missing, poor handwriting, scribbled, lame drawings, really phoned in. More challenging assignments look better. He recently made a lovely enrichment project which came out great. So, he can buckle down and produce nice work if he wants to and is motivated.

He owns up to being bored and rushing through it. He's also gotten a lot more social recently, which I don't consider a bad thing since he's been a bit isolated, though he is liked. And this stuff is way below his level and I can see why he's just done. His teacher is allowing him to skip a LOT of it and doing the best she can, but still, he cannot have a 100% separate curriculum.

Do I care if he is doing this? His teacher probably does not care. But I am cringing at the work quality, and also what he is "learning" about school.

That's a tough question. If it were our DS (slightly older), I think I would be somewhat okay with it given that he has done a lovely job on a challenging project. Thus, he's shown he can produce high-quality work given the chance. That said, bad habits can become, well, habitual. Is skipping or taking some classes with the next grade level for the rest of the year an option?

I should add one more thing. I saw some spelling errors which were unlike him. When asked, he admitted that he let his BFF "tell" him how to spell some things. DS is used as an in-class resource somewhat--he helps other kids a lot. I think he is developing mixed feelings about this and may be trying to blend in, etc. He is a socially savvy person.

Again, I know from experience that this should be totally different next year--the caliber of work in his classroom will be far higher, so I very much doubt he will try to go underground.

Since the teacher "gets it," I'd talk with the teacher and formulate a plan that works for her. This could be as simple as a conversation where she talks with him about excellence and expectations, and then she reinforces excellence at his level when she sees it.

I could ask about accelerating again, as was done last year, but I have gotten the message (without it actually being said) that this is not in the cards. It would be hard to say if he should go to magnet 2nd or gen ed 2nd and might raise some hackles. In a typical school environment, he would be a very strong skipping candidate, but due to the magnet's high work expectations, we didn't really consider it, and I've come to the decision that it's likely too late. It's a good idea to ask the teacher to talk to him.