Hello everyone,
My son in a 2nd grade in a decent Far Northwest Side School (great school rating 7 & 8 in last two years), and while I thought that the school was decent enough for my kids, I am starting to think that it might not be a good fit for him. It looks like he is not being challenged enough. Lately we have been having problems with teacher complaining that he is not paying attention at all, is not concentrated at work and distracts other kids. She is almost expecting me to punish him in some way, but I don't think it would be right. He has all A's, he is always eager to learn new things with me at home, and the homework is a total bore. For example, every week he has spelling words that he needs to write in 3 different ways and hand the papers in on Friday. I can see that he is so bored with doing that, and I almost feel like I should not push him to do it, since he already knows the meaning, spelling and everything about these words. No wonder he is bored with doing it. Almost all homework is like that. He should be spending 20-40 minutes a night doing things that he already mastered, and if he does not do it, we are in trouble. I am at the point where I am thinking of telling him to stop doing the homework and give him our own homework to do every night. I also think that his discipline problem is a consequence of the fact that he is not being challenged. He is well behaved kid, he is not rude to teacher or other kids, he does what he is expected to do, the problem is just that he cannot stay concentrated for 7 hours. Also, the new problem I see that he started being proud of himself being the smartest kid, and knowing everything without even having to do the work like other kids. I don't like that new attitude.
All being said, do I have a better option for him within CPS system or somewhere else? We never tried to test into gifted and classical schools, because he started learning English when he was in pre k, so he would not be able to perform well. We could afford private school, even though it would not be easy, but we are not catholic, and all options around here are Catholic schools. We respect everyones religion, but I am not sure how these schools function. Do you have to be catholic, do kids attend masses etc? I am not sure if you can apply to magnet schools once you are past kindergarten. As for gifted schools, would he be able to get in at this point. My guess is that they are testing the already gained knowledge, not ability to learn, and being from public school he is probably not at their level. Finally, do magnets and private schools have advanced curriculum, or are they simply better in some other aspects? Is there an option for him that would provide advanced curriculum and more challenge?

Calliope