I'm pretty new to this forum but I am so impressed with what I've seen so far. I am hoping someone here can help me with my problem.
I have a six year old boy who is in second grade in a religious private school in NY. From 9 - 3 they learn history, culture, religion and text-based foreign language (which includes translating, grammar and handwriting). From 3-5 they do "secular studies", which at this age is just reading and math, on a low level.
My child is very bright and displays lots of gifted traits like perfectionism, persistence, curiosity and intensity, though he has not been tested. He was already grade-skipped once, but he is still several grades ahead in the secular studies. We managed with his boredom last year by sending in a reading workbook he could do on his own (while the rest of the class was learning the alphabet!). When this proved insufficient, we were finally able to get him pulled out for individual learning at the tail end of the year. This was not enrichment nor a differentiated curriculum; rather it was a high-schooler working with him on the next grade's textbook. Unfortunately even this did not carry through to this year. Now we are having additional difficulty - he is complaining about the repetition and memorization during the morning hours. He has also been sent out of class occasionally and once even had recess taken away.
The teachers at this school are pretty old-school and don't really understand differentiation. The teach the class as a group, in a very structured way. They are afraid that if they allow him to do his own thing, as I keep requesting, the other kids will want to do it too, and the class would fall apart. I am willing and able to be involved and take responsibility for his learning. I can't actually home-school him since I work, but I can send in work to do, if they would only allow it! They told him that he can do the work I sent only AFTER he finishes the work they assigned. And then they are upset about his behavior! As of now my child comes home from school having learned almost nothing, and he devours anything academic that I have laying around the house.
I am afraid the problem will keep getting worse as he grows older. I don't want him to develop a bad mouth or self- identify as a troublemaker due to his boredom! We will not be changing schools at this point in time, so I need advice on how to work through the difficulties of differentiation in my situation. Thank you so much!