I am new here and am really lost.
Earlier today my wife and I met with the school principal to discuss my 6 year old's behavior in school so far this year.
He is a very bright and attends one of the city-wide talented & gifted programs.
He has always been very energetic - always fidgety, can't sit still, will look all over the place as you're talking to him, loves to touch everything, etc. We thought he may have ADD or ADHD a when he was younger but his doctor didn't think so. When I put in a small basketball program when he was 3 (with other 3 year olds) he was all over the place and would not conform to any of the simple rules. I chalked it up to him being a kid, looking back may be it was an early sign of things to come.
He had a really hard time in pre-school and we have to pull him out of one school and more him to another. We felt that the teacher was a bit too strict and he need more activity than what the system the teach was using. He did well in the school we moved him too. We were relieved.
He took the test for getting into the gifted schools and scored in the 99th percentile.
Kindergarten wasn't perfect but it wasn't anywhere near what we are dealing with in first grade.
He has been pulled out of class and sent to the office nearly 10 times. He gets out of his chair and walks around the room; the teacher now accomodate his need to move around, but he started touching things he's not supposed, enters the closet to get things he should be, will get angry at other kids because of little things. When the teacher or others tell him to stop he does not listen.
Over the past few weeks we would talk to him... tell him you can't do this or that, and do this instead. Really deep talks and it looks like he gets it. When I drop him off in the morning I give him some words of encouragement and send him off. Without fail, he repeats the behavior. It's as if he walks into school or the classroom and his emotions take over; nothing he's been told, nothing he is told, matter. He has essentially missed many days of school by being in the office or with the guidance couselor. The other day he went to the bathroom and started climbing the toilet and the school had a tough time getting him to get down. Recently he kept flushing the toilet and no one could get him to stop and listen.
We took him to see a psychologist and got some comfort when we were told he's perfectly normal for six, but were told by the school psychologist that his behavior needs to be considered in the classroom environment. One-on-One he's marvelous.
We are going to see another psychologist this weekend.
We spoke to his doctor and started the process for evaluating for ADHD/ADD/ODD etc.
We will start the IEP process as soon as possible, but we are scared out of our minds. It's as if everything we've come to believe has been turned upside down. The school mentioned the possibility of getting him a one-on-one person in the classroom (if IEP found that was needed) or moving him to a gifted class with a smaller student to teacher ratio, but that may not exist. We'd have to find one in NYC. But, I fear this is these are the signs of something bigger and more drastic. The kind of thing that make being gifted or not meaningless because there are bigger things to think about. Can he make it through high school? Can he function independently? Etc.
I feel absolutely terrible. I have never felt this stressed out, this concerned, this worried, ever in my life and I haven't figure out how to cope.
J
Earlier today my wife and I met with the school principal to discuss my 6 year old's behavior in school so far this year.
He is a very bright and attends one of the city-wide talented & gifted programs.
He has always been very energetic - always fidgety, can't sit still, will look all over the place as you're talking to him, loves to touch everything, etc. We thought he may have ADD or ADHD a when he was younger but his doctor didn't think so. When I put in a small basketball program when he was 3 (with other 3 year olds) he was all over the place and would not conform to any of the simple rules. I chalked it up to him being a kid, looking back may be it was an early sign of things to come.
He had a really hard time in pre-school and we have to pull him out of one school and more him to another. We felt that the teacher was a bit too strict and he need more activity than what the system the teach was using. He did well in the school we moved him too. We were relieved.
He took the test for getting into the gifted schools and scored in the 99th percentile.
Kindergarten wasn't perfect but it wasn't anywhere near what we are dealing with in first grade.
He has been pulled out of class and sent to the office nearly 10 times. He gets out of his chair and walks around the room; the teacher now accomodate his need to move around, but he started touching things he's not supposed, enters the closet to get things he should be, will get angry at other kids because of little things. When the teacher or others tell him to stop he does not listen.
Over the past few weeks we would talk to him... tell him you can't do this or that, and do this instead. Really deep talks and it looks like he gets it. When I drop him off in the morning I give him some words of encouragement and send him off. Without fail, he repeats the behavior. It's as if he walks into school or the classroom and his emotions take over; nothing he's been told, nothing he is told, matter. He has essentially missed many days of school by being in the office or with the guidance couselor. The other day he went to the bathroom and started climbing the toilet and the school had a tough time getting him to get down. Recently he kept flushing the toilet and no one could get him to stop and listen.
We took him to see a psychologist and got some comfort when we were told he's perfectly normal for six, but were told by the school psychologist that his behavior needs to be considered in the classroom environment. One-on-One he's marvelous.
We are going to see another psychologist this weekend.
We spoke to his doctor and started the process for evaluating for ADHD/ADD/ODD etc.
We will start the IEP process as soon as possible, but we are scared out of our minds. It's as if everything we've come to believe has been turned upside down. The school mentioned the possibility of getting him a one-on-one person in the classroom (if IEP found that was needed) or moving him to a gifted class with a smaller student to teacher ratio, but that may not exist. We'd have to find one in NYC. But, I fear this is these are the signs of something bigger and more drastic. The kind of thing that make being gifted or not meaningless because there are bigger things to think about. Can he make it through high school? Can he function independently? Etc.
I feel absolutely terrible. I have never felt this stressed out, this concerned, this worried, ever in my life and I haven't figure out how to cope.
J
