Grades, Revisted

Speaking of grades, and knowing that #1 son has been diagnosed as terminally bored, I spoke to Wolfie about whether he was sufficiently challenged at school. On a scale from one to ten, one being "fabulously excited to go to school every day because he's learning so much" and ten being "if I never see that building again it will be too soon," Wolfie picked three. "I'm in four extra groups," he told me. "The regular classroom math is pretty boring but the special math group is challenging. And even though I already know what we're studying in science, I like doing the experiments."

So it seems that the school's GT program is serving Wolfie pretty well, unlike his older brother. The most significant difference between them is that Wolfie turns his homework in, so his grades are better. (Actually, excellent--straight A's since 3rd grade.) A bias toward the docile gifted as opposed to the more restless intellect, perhaps? Or maybe the GT program has really improved in the last couple years--it's hard to tell at this point. Even #1 Son is getting more services, scattershot though they be, from the school's GT specialist. The scores from his nationally-normed standardized test came home yesterday--above 90th percentile in all areas which is considerably better than he did in fourth grade. I think this may be why he's suddenly getting so much attention from the GT program.

I should mention Chester also scored above the 90th percentile in all areas on the fourth grade test this year. :D

We're working harder to make sure #1 breaks an intellectual sweat sometime in the next several months. He starts high school in the fall and I don't want him to turn off of school completely. I mentioned the possibility of taking some classes at one of the local universities to him yesterday and he seemed really excited about the idea, so I don't think he's to the point of hopelessness yet. Thank goodness!