S.,
My daughter was very bright but was not interested in academics. She was extremely interested in learning all she could about hair, cooking, sewing and other things. I decided that, since she was so bright, she could learn the academics in a matter of weeks. Therefore, I would let her learn what she was interested in learning to make sure she learned to LOVE LEARNING! Sure enough, just when I was about to force her to learn the academics, she came to me and said, "Mommy, would you teach me my ABC's." Less than one year later, she could read at the second grade level. She is now in the second grade and reads at the 5th grade level. She scored 100% on nearly all of her test this year. Her principal says she is one of her smarted students.
She is also good with hair, sewing, cooking, debating and lots of other things. She is very well rounded and I think it is because I let her learn to love learning by learning all the good things that her heart desired when she was actually interested in them.
Granted, each child is different. I should know, I have four of them and they are all extremely different. Therefore, this may or may not apply to your son. But I hope it helps.
T.