We've only done a single skip and with a girl so I'm not sure how much help I'll be but I have a few thoughts. Given what you are saying, it sounds like the math options are a bit slower than what I'm seeing with my 7th grader (she's not the one who skipped). Since this is a private school, how does their math curriculum/placement compare to the other schools in the area? For instance, at my dd11's school, the typical, non-accelerated route for math entails a series called Connect math (I in 6th and II in 7th) and then Algebra I in 8th. The kids who are on the accelerated track are taking Algebra I in 7th. That amounts to a pretty good sized group of kids. There are also a few who are doing Algebra I in 6th, geometry in 7th, and then Algebra II in 8th.

It sounds like you plan to be at this school through the end of high school, so it may be a moot point, but if he were to change to a public high school later, I'd want to know if the math expectations/their accelerated track was similar to his current school's.

How young for grade is he with the single skip? In other words, would he have been older for grade if he were a 5th grader this year? We had a little hesitancy on skipping our older dd b/c she was already the youngest in grade pre-skip (she, too, skipped 5th) but it has worked out well. She's now a 10th grader.

I guess on the 'how do you decide' question it comes down to whether they can meet his needs without doing the skip. What pushed us over the top on going forward was realizing that the school she had been attending at that point as well as the school was set to attend for middle school weren't making it fit at all without the skip. We could have accelerated her to a reasonable point in math with subject acceleration, but she needed major acceleration in all subject other than math and the least acceleration in math.

If your ds is at the point where he really needs major acceleration in all subjects, not just math, I'd be inclined to consider another skip maybe at the end of this year to track with the 7th graders he is working with already.

eta: Oh, and FWIW, my oldest will graduate high school when she is 16 as well. The idea has gotten less and less scary over time wink .

Last edited by Cricket2; 09/12/12 11:05 AM.