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    Joined: Apr 2008
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    JBDad Offline OP
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    I'm going to spend my lunch time browsing for some of the published articles that illustrate that grade acceleration is not necessarily harmful (there are a few good resources on Hoagies, particularly http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/portfolio.htm).

    Figured I'd ask her as well. I want to find papers that don't necessarily emphasize PG (I want to avoid getting into nuisances of levels of giftedness if possible). Particularly articles that debunk socialization problems with accelerated children. If you have favorite resources bookmarked, please share. I'm also going to poke around the Davidson's site because IIRC they have a pretty good database of articles.

    Thanks in advance.

    JB

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    LMom
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    JB,
    I could write an article for you about my son. He's working 5+ grade levels above his same-age peers. Although we homeschool so it is easier to advance in grade levels and he doesn't "sit in a class" with children who are older than him. However he has no problems socializing with people of all ages. He has friends who are two or more years younger than him and also friends who are older than him. I guess I've never heard that children who are accelerated have trouble with socialization. If you have references for what gave you that idea, I'd be interested.

    Lemonade

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    Funny coincidence, JBDad, I just logged on to ask folks for their favorite articles on acceleration.

    We are going into a meeting with our local school next week and would like to give them a decent sample of the most lucid current thinking. We plan to focus on two key themes: (1) the social-emotional benefits of acceleration, where it's indicated; and (2) the perils to work ethic/learning enthusiasm where acceleration is denied.

    I've done some reading here, at Hoagies, and at U. Iowa, but still feel as though I'm scraping the surface. It would be great to hear about articles others have found to be especially clear and objective.

    Thanks.

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    Of course you have a copy of "A Nation Deceived," right?

    http://www.accelerationinstitute.org/Nation_Deceived/

    That would be where I'd start if I were in your shoes.


    Last edited by Kriston; 08/06/08 10:57 AM. Reason: Whoops! Cross-post! Sorry to bombard you there.

    Kriston
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    Val Offline
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    Hi JBdad,

    Send me a PM with your e-mail address and I'll send you PDFs of published papers (I'll send them to anyone else who's interested).

    Also, I have a couple counter-arguments that I like to use against the "socialization" argument:

    1. When I look back on my childhood, everyone I knew had friends in grades above and below them; +/-2 years was the norm, and some kids hung around with other kids whose ages differed by as much as +/-4 years.

    2. Socializing seems to happen mostly on the playground, not in class when everyone is supposed to sitting quietly. Kids can play with kids their own age then if they want to. I'm not sure what "socialization" means. Can you explain it to me?

    Val

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    JBDad Offline OP
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    Guys, thanks for all of the good info. I'm putting together my documentation tonight (I'm in meetings a lot this afternoon so I probably won't post again for a while).

    Again, thanks!

    JB

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    Originally Posted by Val
    2. Socializing seems to happen mostly on the playground, not in class when everyone is supposed to sitting quietly. Kids can play with kids their own age then if they want to. I'm not sure what "socialization" means. Can you explain it to me?


    Excellent point, Val! And just as a side note, we who homeschool often ask the same question.

    People often say "socialization" when they mean "socialize," as in "to be social and have fun with other kids." Happy, challenged kids who are well placed in school usually have an easier time making friends and being social than miserable, underchallenged kids who are placed with people who don't understand them. Same with homeschoolers: GT kids finish their work fast and go to the park! More play time, not less.

    Sometimes, though, people mean "to become socialized," as in "to learn how to stand in line and wait your turn," which seems a funny thing to be worried about to me with school-aged kids. I guess there might be some kids who still have trouble with this at 5, but both my kids mastered it at the very start of pre-K, age 3. <shrug>

    Or worse, people really mean "to learn how to be bored." But calling it "socialization" sounds less like the oppression that it really is...

    Anyway, I think it pays to ask for the definition of the word as they're using it so you know what you're really discussing. I totally agree!


    Kriston
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    I guess JBs point is disputing the harm of public school acceleration. Our kids are not in public school. Actually, I think that public school is the worst place for a child to learn how to socialize...

    Websters
    3: of or relating to human society, the interaction of the individual and the group, or the welfare of human beings as members of society

    Public school is the only place in society where children are kept in groups with 30 other kids of the same age for 8 hours a day. It's actually contradictory to what real society is like - that you will go to the store and encounter 50 people of varying ages. That you will have a job one day also working with people of varying ages. Your boss might be younger than you...

    I do, however understand an administrators hesitation to place a child who is more than a year younger than the other 29 kids into the same classroom. The "herd mentality" of the older kids quite possibly place the younger child in harms way. Could lead to anything like teasing, bullying etc. This is one of the big reasons that we do homeschool. I wouldn't really want my child placed in a grade with kids that were that much older.

    C~


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