4.5 year old behavior help/vent

[Artechim]

Dunno. Saw the GP a month ago and still haven't received anything in the mail. Will ring the GP tomorrow and make sure he actually made the referral I think.

[Trillian]

I really think you need to follow this up with the GP. Personally, I don't think a label of *gifted* can be thrown around on his own like that - the bigger picture needs to be looked at too and saying he is gifted is easy - everyone wants a gifted child, but when you add into it that the apparent *giftedness* is a part of something else it's not so good anymore, so it's just better to stick with the *gifted* tag. It can't be looked at in isolation like the kindy teachers are doing. They see this incredibly bright kid at kindy, but they don't see what he is like at home and if they did I don't think they'd be saying he's gifted. And lets be really honest, this isn't just the last 3 months it's been going on, it's been like this for years with a few bright spots in between to lull you into thinking it's just a passing stage or developmental. I have 4 kids all with different personalities and NONE of them have acted out like that continuously. I don't know a single 4 year old who is continuously like that unless they have a reason to be like that. I've spent a lot of time at preschool while my kids have been there and you can tell the difference between what is normal bratty 4yo behaviour and what is a sign of a bigger issue.

I think he thrives on kindy days because he is getting a fully structured day and when he gets home and it's not structured he can't handle it. You know how he likes routine and things to be *just so* and kindy gives him that. I know it puts you in a crappy position because you can't dedicate the time to him to give him the structure and routine of kindy because you have the two girls and a house to run. At kindy the teachers are there solely to provide them with activities and things to do that will engage them. When you've spoken to them, have you talked about what he is like at home? No one wants to contemplate that there may be something else going on, but it can't go on like this.