Try to be there over a break time- recess or lunch- and watch the kids in the playground, how they interact with each other, what sort of things they are doing, whether they look happy and relaxed or stressed out! Also, I like to know about the extras being offered- private music lessons, lunchtime sports etc and the extra costs of those if applicable. Look carefully at the classroom environments, do they look friendly and is the work displayed up to date? Ask about extra expected form you as a parent, fundraising, volunteer time etc. Observe the interactions between staff and students, staff and parents, and between staff members. Class sizes are important to me to, so be sure to ask about maximums etc.

I was chatting today to the Deputy Principal of my daughters' school, who I get on with pretty well. She made a couple of comments about my older DD which have left me feeling a little confused/anxious/annoyed. She made comments along the lines of "your daughter isn;t perfect you know" and " she can hold her own". There are a LOT of social issues in this particular class, so now I am feeling paranoid about what she was getting at. I tried to press her for details and asked if I should be concerned but she didn't give me any answers. SO< what would you make of comments like these?> My DD is 10, and has always been a good all round sort of kid, no trouble.

Good points, I agree.

Oh for sure. That sounds like a totally bad situation and i would be making contact tomorrow to meet with principal. Be firm in what it is you want- be polite and calm but entirely insistent. Good luck!

Totally agree. I would take a couple of weeks off and let everyone recover and survive! You are really not going to lose too much in a short time.

Just a side note- don't assume that all the teachers will make assumptions about you and your DD based on one teacher's experiences and comments. Sometimes, you might just find a teacher who sees things entirely differently than her colleague and who is going to be willing to work hard with your child to prove it. Just because teachers work together and are friendly doesn't mean we all have the same philosophy or approach, and it doesn't mean we all believe everything we hear about other students and parents. I might be inclined to wait at least for a couple of weeks, just to allow the new teacher time to make her own assessment of the situation.

Given the situation and the fact there are still three terms of this year to go, if it were me I would be approaching the principal over these holidays and asking for a class change. I would take it from the perspective of a "fresh start" for your son which would allow him to set up a new system with a new teacher allowing him to deal with the issues of his medical condition. People request class changes all the time for far less important concerns, so I wouldn't hesitate in this case where both you and your son obviously feel uncomfortable continuing on in this teacher's care. As for the concerns over an IEP for gifted extension, in my experience the only way to really get this going (unless the teacher is identifying your son as in need) is to get an independent psych evaluation done that will clearly outline the areas in which he needs to be supported (i.e. extended). Teachers, especially in the junior school, are often very reluctant unless you have some outside testing done.

I can't comment on the charter vs homeschool (although the charter school sounds pretty amazing), but I can tell you about the driving! Some days, the 30 mins each way is the only time I get with my girls and I rely on it to have discussions, set goals with them, we also review work, and always have an audiobook to listen to. IN fact, we have just decided to keep my oldest daughter at her current school an extra two years (there is an overlap for the middle school years and she could stay at her primary or move to secondary, both great options). The secondary is 5 mins from home, but I will still be driving my younger two to school, and I really felt sad that she would be missing out on that time with us and that learning time. As a previous poster said, the return trip is "me" time, usually I listen to an audiobook of my own, or the radio, etc. It is great thinking and planning time for me too. So, I see the drive time as a huge bonus, not a negative, especially as my girls get older and busier after school. Hope that is helpful in some way.

One simple trick which may help is to ask the teacher if she will test their comprehension in written form, rather than oral. I have a mostly non-verbal gifted daughter who finds this far less stressful than any form of oral testing. Just a thought.

I would secretly love to homeschool one or all of mine, but they absolutely love school! I totally understand about missing teaching them though. We have a great school, and I do some afterschooling, although I try to limit that as it is mostly about what I want to teach them rather than a need they have. I have had to work hard to balance that out. As for the boredom, I found that my girls are willing to cope with a bit of that as they enjoy all the other stuff so much, especially the social side of school. We have worked closely with the school where needed to get some individualised programming for one daughter. The happiness I get from having happy, enthusiastic, motivated learners has to make up for the loss I feel at not being able to do it all myself :-)

No,I just used my NZ address, credit card etc. I am sure once your free trial is up they will send you a registration form. I have had no problems with them at all. It is a great resource.

Hiya. NO Dreambox is available to us here as well, we just subscribed for the second time. That and Reading Eggs are the mainstay of my afterschooling at the moment!

This! Also, I find some internet based learning helpful- we especially like Dreambox maths. The girls enjoy it, it doesn't feel like more school work to them and they don't need much input from me which is perfect if it is a busy afternoon or if I need to work one-to-one with one of them on something else.

We have found two really neat apps for the iPad, one is Tony's Pizza Fractions and the other is Squeebles Fractions, which have helped reinforce some of the ideas for my girls. They are really fun and they are great as an extra!

Fabulous, thank you so much, checking them out.....