<p>How have you talked to him about his low grades? If he genuinely struggles with the material, then that’s an acceptable reason for a mediocre grade. But if he’s just not doing his work, that’s something you need to crack down on. He’s 14, not 6, and being bored is not a reason to do poorly in a class. Life is about sucking it up and jumping through the hoops, which is something most profoundly gifted kids manage to learn to do. Even at elite colleges like HYPSM, students will end up taking required classes that may bore them, or are not enjoyable. You should stress that dealing with boring/stupid/obnoxious people and things is an inevitable, perpetual part of life. </p>
<p>As for correcting his teacher, the way your son is approaching the issue may not be the most tactful or mature method. Ask him what happens in class – how glaring or significant are the teacher’s errors? I once had a classmate who would constantly correct the teacher on minutiae (I really don’t care if my AP Gov teacher got the population of Wyoming incorrect by 5,000 people. Correcting a teacher in such a situation makes the student seem gratuitously arrogant, and probably rightfully so.) </p>
<p>If the teacher is making really significant mistakes, is your son correcting her in front of the entire class? Though in that case he’s justified in pointing out her errors, doing so in public is a really, really, really untactful way of doing it. Suggest to him that should an incident occur in the future, he talk to the teacher outside of class.</p>
<p>My child was slotted into the “medium” math at school . . . that class was frustrating because he loves math and the others that likewise loved math were in the “high” class . . .he used Johns Hopkins online courses to take algebra II and geometry to skip a year ahead . . . happier more challenged child.</p>
<p>Reason I mention this, OP, is that there are resources out there for your child to challenge himself outside of school . . . that’s a way to provide fitting classes that don not depend on school. They offer math, computer science and lots of other choices. As I recall their eligibility for online courses was more flexible than their Talent Search program.</p>
<p>I would say life is “about” sucking it up and jumping through the hoops, but I would point out that one usually must suck it up and jump through many hoops to get to the “good stuff” in life-- the work that really interest one, the highly selective program or school, etc.</p>
<p>1000+ 6th grade through HS student attend classes taught by MIT students and faculty on the weekend before Thanksgiving. Hotels are jammed as folks come in from all over. Its like a tribal gathering of smart kids. </p>
<p>Programs like SPLASH and CTY can keep a kid going through the dry spells; one New Yorker article used the analogy of a camel; kids drink in these special programs to sustain their souls in the social desert of regular public school. Far beyond the subject matter taught, the kids come away knowing they are not alone; there are other smart kids like them and current tortures/boredom will pass.</p>
<p>My profoundly gifted son just finished his freshman year at his #1 choice school, but he never would have made it there if we (the parents) had not been firm with him about his obligations with schoolwork. Sure, he was happy to spend 9 hours on a math problem, but did not “have time” for the English paper. He had the added lesson of the brilliant math student two years ahead of him that did not get into any of his top choice colleges because of his terrible grades in English.</p>
<p>Just because they are brilliant does not mean that they don’t have the same immaturity issues as other children do. They can be lazy, disorganized and procrastinate, especially doing tasks that are not their “passion”. But it will hurt them in college and in life, if they are not expected to work hard even when they don’t feel like it.</p>
<p>We motivated our son with the vision of college life, where he would have challenging classes and wonderful peers. It has all come true for him and he, as an earlier poster reported, told me recently,“It was all worth it!”</p>