 | Soldier Mom, To complete my message to you: (We only have a 4000 character message limit on this board)…
The other option is: you let him have his behavior get to such a point that the school district refers him to Special Ed for testing (they'll pay for testing) and most likely they'd classify him with some designation such as "Emotionally Disturbed" JUST to get him services. Which, by the way, STILL won't guarantee the school system will give him the kind of learning opportunities he NEEDS in order to comply. This is the fight in which I am immersed!
If from your own testing consultant you find your son IS gifted, rush to find the nearest Educational Consultant who knows about the needs of the gifted to speak with your son's teachers. After hearing Educational recommendations from your consultant (Teachers often do not value what parents have to say about their kids but often they will consider the advice of another professional), SOME of those educators will remember what brought them to the profession in the first place...to feed hungry minds!!! Then your son should become invested in the system knowing that he is valued for the contribution he can make. Or your third option as I see it, would be to have your son see a Psychologist to help him wait for learning opportunities to arise in school and learn how to contain his frustration better. (IMHO, counseling ALONE is only a stop gap measure to help contain the symptoms of burn-out). The third option may be to simply try to take his focus off of the significance of the school setting as the only place for intellectual stimulation, and provide for him enrichment opportunities AFTER school and on weekends. Mmmm, you might want to do all of the above (if you can!). In the meantime, just don't underestimate his frustration with lock-step instruction and minimal opportunities provided for "divergent thinking","synthesis", "analysis" and other higher level cognitive thinking adventures within our standardized educational system. His self-esteem is most likely wrapped up in his NEED to do meaningful work and to demonstrate his potential! All the best to you, Soldiermom. My heart is with you.
Mishmash |
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