Hello

I have a 7 year old who is exceptionally bright, but isn't being challenged at school, and I was wondering if anybody has any support they can give me to help keep him interested, and maybe positive approaches to talk to his teacher (I am thoroughly aware she has 29 other children in the class to cope with, but she often complains about his behavior).

So he has always been an unusual child, he always hit his milestones on time or early as a baby/tot, except speech which was delayed a little, he didn't bother much until he was 2-3yrs old, and then he would come out with full sentences. He has always been inquisitive, but much prefers finding things out himself than asking questions, he is however very happy to listen to almost anything intellectual for a moderate period of time, and takes everything in really well.

Currently my limits are my finances (I am working a low paid job full time but also studying and paying out for that, and his dad/my partner is in training too) and energy, I have persistent fatigue (various ideas have been suggested by doctors, but nobody is interested in diagnosing me, and there are no real treatments anyway). I spend as much energy as I can reading with him, giving him work books and going through his rocks and minerals magazines (he is obsessed with rocks, gems, minerals, flags, maps, history and anything in the humanities genre in particular). But I often fall asleep mid-way through a book and he carries on alone happily but then plays up because he gets bored.

I have looked for local children's groups in the sciences or humanities, but I am very limited in travel and there is just nothing he wants to access. So any ideas here? I need activities that take little energy but will engage him at a high level of learning and improve his knowledge and understanding.

I also need to work out how to approach his teacher with ideas to extend his education. He has always been a bit naughty at school, but it has got progressively worse as he has got older and more aware that nobody else thinks on his wavelength. He should be an ideal candidate for education, he is easy to get interested and as long as he is not made to repeat things he already understands he is quite happy to read, talk and experience a variety of subjects, but it seems with 29 other kids in his class she doesn't have time to work this out (I do understand, but she would have things a lot easier if things were implemented to make his education better, because he would behave in class!). How can I talk to her respectfully without sounding like the sun shines out of my son's ***?? I know it doesn't! I know he is a little monkey just like every other child, but I also know he needs extra support or we are setting him up to fail, if school is to be forever boring to him, he will seek pleasure elsewhere and end up on drugs or skipping lessons or becoming depressed. I cannot let that happen to him, he deserves a good shot at for-filling his potential.

Thanks for your advice, and any similar stories you might have?