Jeffery has always been quick to pick up on things, you show him something one time and he knows it forever. This is proving to be a difficult thing for him in 1st grade. His teacher has told me that he plays with his pencil at his desk and
won’t concentrate.I know that teachers go over the same thing multiple times to make sure all the kids understand it, but for Jeffery it makes him bored. His spelling words are words he’s known how to spell since halfway through kindergarten! All the worksheets he’s brought home have only had a maximum of 2 wrong answers (99% of his sheets have no wrong answers at all) and his homework he’s done with in about 5-10minutes.
The reason I’m writing this is because I’m scared his teacher is going to try to say he’s ADD/ADHD because he is bored in class so often. Maybe I’m over-thinking this but I feel like if I go mention this to her she’s going to think I’m just a parent who thinks my child is better than everyone else…Jeff and I discussed this and he agrees if he was a teacher and a parent come to him saying what I feel about Jeffery then he would think I was just crazy. Yes, teachers do this everyday, for years and years and have seen plenty of students…but I know and have been told by his teachers last year that Jeffery isn’t quite like any other student they’ve seen. I want to nurture his brain, and keep it going strong…not have him bored and end up getting in trouble in class then he may not want to do the work and he’ll end up falling behind.
Any suggestions? Do you think I’m over-thinking this?
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Contest Closed 
My son was the same way. They tried to tell me he was ADD, but he wasn’t. He’s advanced. Now my son is in the 7th grade, in honors classes, and is testing higher than most high school students.
It was such a struggle getting him to not be bored. I actually did a sticker chart where every 20 days he went to school, did his work, and didn’t get in trouble, he got $20 to spend on what ever he wanted. It worked pretty well for me. I know its bribbing, but it worked. lol
Have you thought about home schooling? The advantage to home schooling is that you can push your kids to excel as much and as fast as possible. The disadvantage I feel is in the lack of social skills children may experience when home schooled….however, that can be overcome
I would be bored to if i already knew everything too!!
Hes way beyond the first grade education limit, I know that for a fact, I can sit him down with any book, not just kids books, adult books, and he can read through them, a few words he doesnt know and cant pronounce right, but even 4-5 syllable words hes never seen before can can sound out fairly quickly…as far as math, I can give him any small 1 or low-2 digit addition or subtraction problem out of the blue and within a few seconds he has the answer without having to write anything down.
I know hes not perfect, and theres areas he needs to improve in, but the education level that hes getting at in school just isnt challenging enough…I can sit this boy down at any time to learn something new and hes 100% eager to learn about it(recently learned hes into history and science like me haha), and if you keep teaching him he’ll watch quietly, occasionally ask questions and absorb everything in, and he’ll remember nearly everything…if hes bored its only because he already knows the content and he feels like its a waste of time to do it if hes not learning anything.
Same happened to big guy Ty, in 1st grade, they didn’t know if he didn’t know the work or just refusing to do the work.. so the school tested him. That is when we found out he was reading at a 5th grade level and his high IQ. He works better with complex reading, math and science.. but when it comes to simple tasks he is way behind. Can you get his IEP redone.. I think as a parent you can request it and the school has to do it. We choose to get his IEP with his therapist at the autism center, rather than the school. The teachers in classes give him harder worksheets to keep him busy in class.
I’m a retired teacher, and as a teacher they cannot say to have your child tested. Then the county has to pay for it. It may be something you want to have done just for a piece of mind. But as you said, maybe he just isn’t being challenged enough.
I had the same problem with my son not being challenged in 1st grade.He ended up skipping the grade and going onto second instead.That was 2 years ago and they have considered skipping him again because he is still way ahead.Hope you find something that works for you!
We’ve run into this. I’m not putting teachers down because I realize they have a very tough time but a lot of teachers are stressed to their limit and have their hands tied as far as what they can offer in their classroom. Unfortunately, they also are in a situation where they have to cater to the weakest children within their class and not the strongest. I’d ask the assistant principal or principal if the school offers any advanced classes and if they do, if your son qualifies to be in them. You might luck out in that you might have a really good school and great staff that are willing to work with you.
Long story here but my husband was such a kid when he was in school. Years ago, they didn’t offer any advanced classes within the school he was attending but at the same time, the teachers weren’t as taxed and limited as they are today. My husband’s teachers went above and beyond to provide him with materials that were designed for a higher grade level. They basically taught a different ‘class’ to my husband than they did for the rest of their students.
My oldest daughter was in public school and in advanced programs while they lasted. Although they tried to give advanced students more challenges, overall we were unhappy with how far they were willing to go to meet their needs. This is one of the main reasons we homeschool our youngest two daughters. We are able to provide materials for them based on their advanced needs and interests.
It’s so tough because it’s only 1st grade. He has a IEP with a “resource teacher” that pulls him out a couple times a week to work one on one with him and it’s a different one than last year, last year when they pulled him out they worked on harder stuff with him and he enjoyed that! It seems like everyone this year (his regular teacher and resource teacher) are young and I don’t know if they understand him.
I do like the school the kids are in, it’s the same one I went to as a kid and not much has changed…class sizes are still reasonable (I think the max I’ve seen is 18 students in 1 class here…I know other schools that have way more than that!)
I’m hoping the PALS testing comes back soon and they will see his scores for that (last year he was well above the normal for Kindergarten at the beginning of the year and got a perfect score at the end of the year) then realize he needs to be challenged more. Report cards come out at the end of this month or beginning of November. I’m going to wait for that to come so I have something to take to the principal and his resource teacher to show them he needs more than what he’s getting.
I hope my post didn’t come off that I was putting his teacher down, I know they have to try to make sure all the kids understand the work…Jeffery’s brain just processes everything quicker and he don’t need things repeated to him…I’m one who needed things repeated often so I understand the teacher’s goal.
I agree with Erin and was going to say something pretty much along the same lines, but she beat me to it as always! I would just try to come up with a way to stimulate him both in school and out.
It sounds like he may more of a challenge. I’d go in an have a talk with his teacher and maybe the principal. Perhaps, together, you’ll be able to come up with a curriculum that challenges him.