Know-it-all Kid

If the extra credit class is no longer being held ask about extra credit assignments. Also, try talking to a guidance couselor or the Principal to see why it was suggested to have this class but it's no longer being offered, or if anyone else is offering one.

It sounds like you have a lot on your plate and someone might be feeling left out. I know you are busy but I tried this once. It serves two purposes. Ask the teacher if you can monitor a class. He maybe embarrassed but it shows you care about him and his education. Just a suggestion.

My husband described the exact same situation when he was a kid. He did well to start off but towards the middle to the end of the year his grades dropped so much that the school wanted to conduct an IQ test on him. They got his mother's permission and found out that he was very intelligent but he was extremely bored. His knowledge was beyond what they were teaching and he wasn't being challenged enough to want to pay attention. He might actually be telling the truth about being bored and already knowing the information. See if his teachers will give him some work that is a little harder than what the other kids are doing. Maybe see if they will pick a topic for him to do a research paper on to stimulate his brain and challenge him more. Something small like the history of the steam engine or the origination of the common flowers found today (my husband told me he was reading something and found out that all of the flowers we have today originated from one part of Northern China where flowers like Easter Lilies grow wild in the fields there). I hope this helps you with your son. :-)

There is an underlying problem (bullies,drugs,ect...) and you need to do some digging. Grounding is not the answer. Maybe he does know what they are teaching and is bored.Does he have a lot of mood swings,depressed,reclusive? Have you considered taking on the task of teaching him yourself? School does not always fit every child.

Hi S.:
I hope this can help in some way!
1. I would first ask for a parent teacher conference.
2. I would ask that at that meeting all of your son's grades/papers/test/class room work be present to review. See if you can find some pattern or problem.
3. I would find out why a mid term report was not sent home sooner stating he was on the road to failing. Things have to be reported in a timely manor.
4. I would find out from the principal what tutoring the school is REQUIRED to have for students in your son's situation. There is always tutoring at school in some form or fashion and if not why?
5. I would ask that the teacher and I communicate on a daily basis until the end of the school year (its not that far away) and to work together for the best interest of my son. Write the teacher a note in his agenda book or on a piece of paper everyday. I would stop by the school at least once a week dropping him off. When people see you at school, they tend to “perk up” a little. It’s not right or fair, but it happens.
6. I would ask the teacher what professional observations she has made regarding your son. This is to find out why all of a sudden his grades have dropped. Is something happening in the class? Is there a bully bothering him? Is he truly bored and needs to be in a gifted class? Is something happening at home? Something caused the drop in grades!
7. I would talk to the school guidance consular and ask for help.

The squeaky wheel gets the oil!

Good luck!
S.

A friend of mine is having a terrible time with her step son, especially when it comes to school and although he has the brains to do well, he isn't using them. They have done everything they can to get him to straighten up but nothing has worked. The therapist told them to let him fail. He needs to learn consequences for his actions. If he doesn't study and do the work, then he fails. Maybe when he sees he's friends move on to the next grade while he is held back then he'll wish he'd made the effort and will work harder.

My friend is having a hard time with the whole thing about letting her stepson fail. She's afriad it might backfire. But sometimes kids need to learn tough love.

Whatever you decide take comfort in knowing you tried your best.

yea you could take away the stuff that is important to him .

Hello Shanno I read you answer and I have the same proble with my kid of 9 years, did you take your kid to a psicologist and did you think that he can take a test of intelligence to see how higher is? because maybe he learn in a different way not a traditional way, I hope this will help you, good luck

I don’t have a kid that age yet but thinking ahead on what I would do in that case is talk to the teacher or guidance councelor and ask what can be done for extra credit and see if it is something he can do from home.
If you are able to get him to sit down in front of you until he has it done great, if not have him stay in his room until it is completed with nothing in his room to distract him such as t.v, games, toys, and not being able to talk or play with his friends ECT...When he sees that he is cut off from the world until he gets caught up maybe he will be so bored with that and he will work to get his life back.
Good Luck!

Hi S.,

Could you check with the school about skipping a grade? Schools try to fit all kids of a certain age into a certain mold, and it doesn't work sometimes. If he's failing they may not at first understand that he seems to be advanced, so they may need to test him, which hopefully he'll do well on (if it's challenging to him).

Since he's in 6th grade he'll likely be in middle school next year, but I imagine he could be tested now to go directly to 8th grade. The school admin may also be able to let him do some 7th grade classes & some 8th grade. I skipped 1st grade, and this is how they transitioned me.

OTOH, the social connections your son has with his current group of friends can suffer. That was the downfall for me.

If this doesn't work, what about homeschooling him? By 6th/7th grade he may be able/willing to do some school himself and then have neighborhood friends, hs social groups. Homeschool is mainstream nowadays, and socialization while hsing is relatively easy. Also you as the parent do not need to be the only teacher. Your grandmother might be willing to help, and/or you may have options for part-time group activities at private or public school.

Hope this helps! Best of luck. This is potentially a "good" problem to have. :)

i can relate i have a 9th grader who is in advanced classes, she was failing and getting fs on 5-6 of her math papers. i made her redo them and turn them in so were yet to see if shell get creidt. i hope so i took away her cell phone until she completed herassignments. the day she was supposed to turn them in but she was sick that day i hope she does get creidt. buti can relate

I agree with the one mom he might be bored went thu this with my now 15yrs daughter she is always bored but she falls two pionts below fla standor to do anything about it so she has learn to do extra stuff to keep herslef busy in those classes and most of the teachers r wonderful about it they give her extra homeword and stuff to do that helps to
L.

Well a sure fire way to check to see if he does know it all is ask his teacher to provide him an end-of-year test that covers everything in those subjects he's got low grades in.

If he does well on the test - then he does already know the subject matter, and the teacher should provide more challenging work for him. If he doesn't do well on the test then the "I'm bored, I know it all" excuse is just that, and you need to find out where he's struggling and help him there.

I was in your son's position through most of my time in school, and as a result I got pretty poor grades. There were other things I'd rather spend my time learning than repeat over, and over again things I already knew. After cutting all of my sophomore year (only showing up for tests) I brought the point home to my dad, when I scored 2400 on my SAT's. At that point I withdrew from highschool and started attending college classes full time.

If he's bored, find a way to challenge him. Maybe those Extra Credit assignments can be modified from the "accepted list" of items to something that interests him in the same subject.

Hi S.,

I know this might sound a little bit like a smart butt, hahaha, but coming from a family of 6 that were all pretty above average in school grades, i think your problem maybe that your son maybe bored in class because he is too smart to be there. I know this sounds like a cliche, but it has happen to me personally growing up. I always got a's and b's and one semester, i just got bored with school and lost all interest in it and started doing bad. This is not GOOD, he can easily loose his way, especially being a single mom, which my mom was too. I would suggest, 1. spending some quality time with him, one on one or getting him a tutor.

good luck,,

R.