I am looking for advice for my 3rd grader. I have just started researching the gifted program and am looking for any general advice or direction. He is extremely bored. He is in an inclusion class (no idea if this affects teaching or not) and comes home everyday expressing how much slower this class is. He says that he will be done with an assignment before others have even finished reading it. He makes up his own assignments on his downtime. He has to write reading responses on a shared website 3x a week, and compared to his peers, his writing is far better.
A little background: On the very general gifted testing in first grade he scored a 79/100 (a 90 or above prompts further testing). He seemed well-placed in first. Second grade he exceeded the others in his class, but enjoyed school because his teacher was a loud, game-oriented teacher that used methods that excited kids. She asked me at one point if I had him tested for gifted. I explained his scores in first grade. But he was happy, so I didn't pursue a change for him.
Now we are 6 weeks into third grade and he hates it. He has great behavior in school (got Citizen of the Month and Year last year), but has been acting out a bit at home. He's 8, so that may just be 8 too! I have a conference scheduled with his teacher next week, so she will be the best resource. She is however, a very new teacher, so I am not sure what her experience is with gifted. For example, on his progress report everything was proficient. Very average account on her part.
I also spoke again to his first and second grade teachers today and they both thought he should be moved to the gifted class. Apparently it has the gifted students as well as others that just do well in that atmosphere, but aren't necessarily "gifted". I feel like that is where he actually fits.
I guess I am just looking for direction. Is third grade too late to start this process? I was considered gifted but that was 30 years ago in a different state and program, so my personal experience is very limited. How hard do I push for his move? Any signs that he should be more challenged? Thanks for your input ladies!