Taking GCSE privately

[Tinkers]

Unless you are prepared to be him to sit A level maths early etc, then all you are doing is delaying the time he is going to be 'bored and not stretched'. Now is a great time to really deepen his maths rather than push him forward.

I'd question that they do have sufficient challenges for their students.

[Amber]

Remember too that it is a big exciting world out there - full of possibilities and challenges which are nothing to do with Maths. The world is your oyster when you are 9 years old and the less there is to do at school, the more you can do outside it.

When children get to their late teens you start to realise that so much of the worry of primary school was not important really. That isn't to belittle your concerns, but being 'stretched and challenged' when you are little isn't the big deal it can seem at the time. Other children catch up, overtake, different interests kick in and out again, and all the time a good little brain keeps learning. The school curriculum is so narrow in this country that parents can have a truly enriching time showing children what else is out there at a time when they may be feeling that Maths and 'literacy' are the only things which matter in life.

[kenyancowgirl]

Agreed - he is only 9 - challenge him to learn to rock climb, learn a new sport, learn to cook, join a club, make new friends - something that is outside of his comfort zone but will challenge a different part of his brain - and enrich his maths experience. A constant rush to push kids up the ladder does them little good in the long run but broadening their experience - be it in maths, other subjects, or something completely different could do him the world of good!

[Yamin151]

I agre with other posters. Don't do this. He may know he is advanced in maths, you may know it. But you do him no facours by making him aware that you don't think the school do enough for him - that way lies the sort of arrogance and "i'm too good for this school" attitude that teachers must find SO hard to deal with.
I believe its our job as parents to find new ways to challenge able children - as suggested above, LOADS of interent resources to challenge him mathematically. Life is not all academia - spread his interests into other areas. Worse case scenario is he is a bit bored in maths lessons for a while. I'm sorry for it but anyone bright, myself included, has had to learn to sit through boring lessons. Life isn't just about the perfect challenge all the time. Its a good aim to have all children engaged but unless he has a governess 1:1 or you home school him, to not teach him to "suck it up sweetheart" for the maths lessons he has currently, then you will do him no favours for the future.
Thats not to say dumb him down, and yes, maybe explore with teachers if more could be done, but please don't make him feel 'above' his peer group, it will alienate him and there is so much more to school than that.

[Catseye]

I hope you take on board all the good advise given above.

Almost all of the maths he has done thus far would be arithmetics and not maths as such.

“Arithmetic is to mathematics as spelling is to writing.”
That is to say, you could be an exceptional speller but hopeless at writing(I'm useless at both).

The best mathematicians naturally come into their own in their early to mid teens imo

Accelerated learning can have very detrimental effects on a child's development.

[silverysea]

Learning an instrument is also a mathematical activity.

[Daogroupie]

You need to tackle the real issue which is you feel that your ds is not being challenged enough at school in English and Maths.

This can easily be fixed by the teacher giving him more challenging work. IF this is not happening you need to ask for a meeting with the teacher and ask for more challenging work for him. If it still does not happen ask for a meeting with the Literacy and Maths leaders and if no joy there ask for a meeting with the Head and then the Governors.

Your ds has a right to have work suited to his ability. What data do you have that points to him being well ahead of his peers. What has he been getting in his year exams?

There are students at primary working below and well above the average level and both types need to be catered for.

Download the Habs boys 11 plus Maths paper for 2015 and let him have a go at that and see how he does. He may be ahead of his schools peers but perhaps not when it comes to a bigger stage.

Running off to do GCSE work is not the answer. Better to do work that will benefit him now. What are your plans for secondary school? DG

[ninanina]

Thanks to all for great advice. I guess it all makes sense, there is no need to rush. We will try to get to a grammar school for now and if he does get a place, then let the teachers do their job from then on.

[JaneEyre]

You need to tackle the real issue which is you feel that your ds is not being challenged enough at school in English and Maths.

This can easily be fixed by the teacher giving him more challenging work. IF this is not happening you need to ask for a meeting with the teacher and ask for more challenging work for him. If it still does not happen ask for a meeting with the Literacy and Maths leaders and if no joy there ask for a meeting with the Head and then the Governors.

Your ds has a right to have work suited to his ability. What data do you have that points to him being well ahead of his peers. What has he been getting in his year exams?

There are students at primary working below and well above the average level and both types need to be catered for.

Download the Habs boys 11 plus Maths paper for 2015 and let him have a go at that and see how he does. He may be ahead of his schools peers but perhaps not when it comes to a bigger stage.

Running off to do GCSE work is not the answer. Better to do work that will benefit him now. What are your plans for secondary school? DG

+1

Just to reiterate others. Please don't push him to GCSE at this age. It's pretty pointless, many negatives and few if any positives.

Develop his maths brain by side ways extension - maths challenges, problem solving, science puzzles, coding.

Hopefully once he gets to secondary school things will improve for him.

+1

You can deal woth 30 individuals - most teachers do it all the time. The Primary Maths Challenge is about £10 - if I were you I'd offer to pay it! The papers are online so you can use them at home:

http://www.primarymathschallenge.org.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'd really recommend NRICH - look at the puzzles that he can submit answers to himself:

http://nrich.maths.org/8495" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He can get his solutions published which would be great.

+1
I wish I had known you on this forum at the time, Guest 55 . DS's headmistress also refused to 'introduce' the primary maths challenge into her primary school though I put the idea across with 2 teachers and herself . I had never thought of paying the 10 pounds for the school!

all the time a good little brain keeps learning.

Scoutism is a very formative activity and nowadays, at least in Britain, all creed are respected, so usually, it is not too much of a problem if the child is not Christian.
http://scouts.org.uk/home/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Proud_Dad]

At the moment my ds's school like to team him up with weaker students so they can benefit, but there is nothing extra they are doing for particularly able students.

This is no bad thing in my view. Being able to explain a concept to someone else in a way that they'll understand is an important skill in its own right, so I'd see it as a good thing that your DS is given the opportunity to develop these additional interpersonal skills in his maths class.