Many years ago but I started kindergarten at 4 able to read since 3 and was so bored. My mom says I would come home disgusted and say, "Today we learned C is for cat!" I wanted to work ahead in our workbooks but the teacher wouldn't let me. I behaved well, but definitely was bored until I was moved into an enrichment program.

If mom is complaining that her child is a problem because he is bored--and you can see that the child never behaves--even at home--I think the problem is not in the classroom.

I think people way, way, way, way over estimate when kids are bored. Way.

Anonymous wrote:vice versa:

The child has behavioral problems and mom blames it on being "bored".

This makes me a little bit sad. The assumption seems to be that the kid is the problem. It's a poorly behaved kid, and
Mom won't admit it. I agree that there are poorly behaved kids - but you have to recognize that behavior has a cause. It's been amazing to me to talk to other parents and professionals who work with highly gifted children, and so many have experienced the "your kid has behavior problems/your kid has ADHD" response from schools. And then, after a change in school environment (more challenging work or different program entirely), the "bad behavior" goes away and instead the child thrives.

People like you worry me because it seems your first instinct is "bad kid". I wish more would think "I see bad behavior here and I want to understand why. Are we meeting the needs of this child?" The one size fits all approach really only fits those right in the middle. It doesn't fit those on either side of the middle.

Alright Former Teacher, can you give assurance that a child who is academically advanced, reading above K level will be engaged and enjoy K?

Yes they can, but if you're child is doing fine, please don't hold them back just because they still have a couple of things to work on when overall they are right on target or above. All children have things they can work on but don't necessarily need to be held back.

My son was bored in K and 1st - he was in the public school for over 1 and a half years and did not learn much at all - really affected his confidence and self esteem. I moved him to a great private school and he has thrived - goes in excited every day and comes home full of exciting news of what he has learned and done in the day. His vocabulary has changed too - much richer and no embarassing mispronounciations like "it's mines"

Sure, some kids have the attention span of a gerbil.

But, some teachers are really boring, too.