DS v v clever but maybe not G&T what can I do

[pickupthismess]

DS is 6 and very smart. From the earliest age people have been saying what a bright kid he is. He is incredibly widely read and honestly knows more than the teachers (and me/DH) on some subjects. BUt I'd say he was just above average (level 7) in reading and probably quite average in Maths. I'm pretty worried he is not being stretched by the school curriculum at his local village primary. Is there anything I can do or does G&T just apply to Maths and English?

sorry, can you just clarify what level 7 in reading is?

Well why do you need to do anything at all? Is he happy? Is he progressing? Does he have friends? Does he enjoy school? Because at 6, that's all that really matters. Just relax and enjoy him.

I meant Songbirds and Fireflies level 7. He is mostly happy but not very challenged I think it is fair to say. It is impossible to know how he is progressing as we get next to no feedback other than generics - 'oh he's doing very well Mrs X'. I'd like to see him do far more on the natural world, science, creative writing. It's probably a fault of the curriculum but it is all sums and reading as far as I can see and not much mind expansion.

Unfortunately the National Curriculum has to concentrate on literacy and numeracy, but he should be studying geography and history etc at school aswell. I firmly believe that if you have a bright child and most importantly a keen one you need to expose them as much as poss to "mind expanding" opportunities out of school. Do you have a good library and museums nearby? Does he play a musical instrument? I think its called sideways stretching. BTW remember that other children in his year may be ahead of him in literacy and numeracy and it is usually the top 10% who are challenged further, or 5% for sports or arts etc, and without wishing to dissapoint you the book level that he is reading wouldnt make him eligible in my DDs year, assuming he is in yr1, as the top kids are reading equivalent of ORT level 13. Keep him stimulated but most of all happy. Good luck.

Thanks. I am not fussed about him being detailed 'gifted' at all - in fact I definitely don't think he's v gifted in Maths. He can read far better than his level (he reads the Times with me sometimes) but I see no point in pushing him there. His year = 6 pupils and he is the best reader . Wow I can't believe Year 1s are at level 13 already.

Re sideways stretching. He loves museums.His recent choice of a day out was The British Museum LOL. I agree about the instrument, maybe he could try one.

I'm with Hassled on this, don't do anything. If he's not G&T then it's not the end of the world, he doesn't have to be good at everything. Stretching him sideways is a good idea, taking up an instrument or him doing a project that isn't connected with anything that he will do at school (it's pointless, he'll have to do the same at school so he'll be bored), an under the sea topic for example.

Agree with the others - find something else that can stretch him differently. My DD is not amazingly bright, but is bright enough to be amongst the top in her class. At her school (she is also year 1), they are doing things to stretch her like using punctuation more consistently in her writing (speech marks, commas, exclamation marks and so on...), using adjectives more frequently and that sort of thing. I just let her read her school books and at home we do our own thing. If he's ready, get him some chapter books. My DD loves Enid Blyton and reads and writes all the time now.

But, as PPs have said, find something else that he can enjoy and will stretch him. We signed DD up for Gymnastics, and now that is her first love, so she focuses on that, and school now seems far less important (and luckily for us, school homework etc is easy to fit in around her gymnastics training!)

Also, Suduko and Nintendo DS Games. My DD loves them, particularly the brain training type games, and there are lots of english and maths ones too.