Should I allow my gifted child to skip grades?

Grade skipping affects more than just academics. If you grade skip, she will be younger than her classmates for the rest of her school career. Some kids can handle this, but for some it can be disastrous.

Is she socially advanced? Does she tend to hang out with and enjoy kids a year older than her? Do the kids a year older than her enjoy her company?

Remember when you were a junior in high school? Didn't the sophomores seem so young to you? A year is a big deal socially at that age.

Also, I'd seriously look into [an] enrichment program. I have many highly gifted friends who thrived on enrichment programs. Besides enriching the academics, they also often have cultural and creative enrichment components. Some enrichment programs are really fabulous (I have heard about the projects adult friends who were in gifted enrichment programs did, and they were amazing). An example a friend just told me about... in her gifted program they did a research project in geography instead of studying things like place names and stats about countries. She got to research a particular country and write a paper... the gifted program teacher used this as an opportunity to teach about paper outlining, thought organization, etc. This was much different than what the kids in basic geography were doing.

When it all comes down to it, it's a very individual decision based on your child's individual needs.
Posted by Ambrey, 2-23-2001
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My middle child is in the correct grade but has always been very small and is now dealing with delayed puberty to boot! It has been difficult--sports are, like the above poster, what HE cares about now (I could care less). When he didn't make the 7th grade basketball team, after being A team in 6th, I was a hair away from consulting a psychologist about depression-he stopped eating, couldn't sleep at night--was a different child.

Consider your family history--I matured emotionally/socially late and my hubby was late physically. I felt young through school--he had no discomfort being one of the oldest. That pretty well adds up to--don't skip kindergarten! Kids tend to come out like their parents--heaven help them! On the other hand, there are obviously moms here who felt good w/skipping--chances are their kids will as well.
Posted by Windrush54, 1-10-2001
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I happen to be one of those FOR early admission - my son was 9 days too young for the cutoff here (they changed it the year he turned 5; no testing, no chances, etc.) so I sent him to private school for K, then transferred him to public for 1st the next year. Any chance of doing that, and not having to go through all the 'hoops' your school requires? K was pretty much an academic write-off, but he truly enjoyed making friends and the classroom atmosphere (different from preschool, plus being in a school with kids thru 8th grade), so it wasn't truly a 'waste' in my book.  But what WOULD have been is to wait another year. Here he's now in 3rd grade, turned 8 last August, and made the gifted program (6 out of 66 kids in his 3rd grade class at school), so obviously he SHOULD have gone when he did (he's been bored in 2nd grade; I can't imagine having waited another year for the state requirement!)
Posted by Suzyk2118, 1-28-2001

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