Highly intelligent kid but lacks motivation

Sorry if wrong forum , I wouldn't describe my kid as having a particular disorder but my son (aged 10) has tested as being exceptionally intelligent which may bring its own issues. But "I" have a problem with his attitude to school work etc. He just seems to lack self motivation which is a shame as he is so talented educationally and playing the piano. We have tried all the usual rewards , letting him come up with his own timetable to do stuff but essentially if he was not monitored he would do the bare minimum school work (not to get into trouble) and wouldn't practice his piano.

I understand that he could be bored by the slow pace at school. When his reports come in he gets top grades but usually there is a comment about "being chatty in class" and one teacher described him as challenging to teach.
On the other hand his piano school is top notch and will go at his speed. He is about 2 years ahead of his peers but again only with a lot of reminding to practice while again he trying to do the bare minimum. At the same time he enjoys doing the concerts and being seen as the best student in his age group.

He is a sociable child , no issues with friends , friends parents love to have him over.

When he does face a challenge he would prefer to avoid it rather than overcome it, we noticed this with one of his classes where he learns a second language as a native speaker, he would prefer to drop to the middle group (and not work so hard) rather than work on staying in the top group. My future concern is that if he doesn't find "his spark" while he might do well in school he could under perform in college or get a fright as he is now in a world where he is not able to get by coasting. (maybe he will learn then )

Anyone been in a similar situation as a kid or parenting a similar type of child. as 2 parents Im mister average I always had to work hard to get by while my wife is a high achiever she is a very methodical type so you can imagine how he baffles both of us....

He is probably more interested in socializing than in being the top of the class. It's not easy to socialize as an equal when you are winning all the best grades. I doubt there is much of a challenge for him at this stage.

I could read adult books when I was five but I preferred to read Dr Seuss. The teacher said Dr Seuss was too easy for me but there is a lot more to Dr Seuss than meets the eye. I had my own learning priorities.

Perhaps he is motivated to learn but not the things that you want him to learn right now.

Don't let him quit piano. Piano practice is very useful. The important thing about practice is the quality of the practice you are doing. There is no point banging away for an hour and accomplishing nothing. Let him look online for practice techniques. Also there should be some 'fun time' at the piano used for composing or for playing the songs he likes.

i was exactly the same. what's unfortunate is i've realized as a adult that even things i want to do (like music) are still a struggle to do...and now it is even more difficult to motivate because i'm not in a structured environment like classes or school and the highest authority is myself.

i taught myself piano and then stalled after i had mastered a certain level, but i still played it here and there. eventually i was put in classes and i did eventually quit. i didn't like the pace...or the teacher (hehe). i can't really say what would have been the best thing to do for me. my parent's never forced me to do things and i imagine if they tried at that point i would have said it was too stressful with my workload from other things (aka i would have lied). although i very much liked pleasing my parents, so they might have gotten away with keeping me in it if they had acted like it was important i do it. like it pleased them a lot for a few reasons. and then asking me to stay in it for another month or so and then making my mind up.

in school, always average/above average but never putting in effort. i think habit might be a big thing more than attempting reward. it was and is easy for me to just let rewards go by, and even to accept punishments. what is the most successful is habit. and habit is a constant struggle with adhd. you can;t just start it and hope it stays, because there could just be one single time you break the habit and then the habit can be gone forever.

i was put into a special school at one point. each kid got their own cubicle and was given workbooks to teach themselves with. we moved at our own pace and the adults were there for monitoring or for questions we might have. i was going at twice the pace of other kids because there was nothing else to do. if my pace stayed the same i would have graduated extremely early, and that is why i chose to leave. the following year i was going to be moved into a room with kids a few years older than me. i wanted to play with my friends and i felt like i'd never be with them.

anyway, the point of sharing that is that maybe implementing this type of style of studying at home (a sectioned space facing the wall in a place where he is visible) and giving a specific allotted time he needs to stay there will help. there was other things, like putting stars on a graph for every section completed. i liked seeing the stars fill up the graph and once a row was complete i got a new book. so i could visualize progress. also, i knew exactly what i should work on because of that chart and also because i was told how much of each subject was expected for the week. so i'd have my five different subject books and work on whichever one i wanted for however long i wanted and then switch it up when i got bored of that subject.