Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Grade skip in science and social

Ds 5 is homeschooled through a public homeschool program.
He is working in 1st grade. Lots of it has been really easy, some perfect like math, and some things like science a little pointless and obvious. So I add my own stuff, to give him more learning opportunities.
Anyway, my question is whether he could handle another grade skip in just science and Social Studies. Which were both way too easy, starting next school year. I don't know how much writing is needed in those subjects at the 3rd grade level. He writes well enough, better than age i believe, but he hates to write, and often will think up the shortest possible way to answer a question he has to write an answer to.
His school is very flexible in letting you teach your child the way you want, so i doubt the skip would be a problem there. I just need to figure out weather a 6 year old will be able to handle 3rd grade science and social...
any advice?

Hey Jenafur -
Great to see you here!

Can you take a look at the material in advance?
Do you know other families who are using the same program that have older children?
Can you do a 6 week trial and bump him back if it doesn't work out?
Can you let him 'audit' History and science at a middle school level just reading together out of Middle school textbooks while leaving him at 2nd grade level for output until he learns to type?

Smiles,
grinity

At this day of age, I would think twice about skipping grades for more than a year.

For course materials, you can always find enough books, online classes and problem sets and community to interact with. So there is no problem if your child wants to advance his or her learning in any subjects.

So I would ask myself -- what does my child get out of skipping? Nearly every time I thought about it, the final answer was "shortened childhood and joining the workforce early".

At 5 my son's favorite book was a science encyclopedia. He took it to Kindergarten and read from it in front of the class for his letter of the week show & tell. He also liked history and trivia questions like you see on Brainquest cards.

He has been homeschooled since he finished Kindergarten. I let him choose his own books. He did not choose grade leveled reading books for reading. When he was about 8 or 9 he found some of his sister's college level books. I wasn't going to tell him he couldn't read them.

A majority of people in my small town hold their children back a year in school because they want to extend their childhood. Two of the girls in my son's acting class are older than he is and when I told their parents I was glad there were several middle school aged kids in the group, both the moms, public school teachers, said they held their kids back a year so they were not middle school aged.

I don't believe I am shortening my son's childhood by letting him use above grade level materials. Instead of joining the workforce early I hope that he will continue his education past a bachelors degree level. I want him to have the best education he can get before he has to enter the workforce. Holding him back to grade level never made sense to me. I am still trying to understand why so many people in my town feel it is wrong to let a child work at the highest level he is capable of working because that somehow shortens his childhood.

I think it boosts my son's confidence to have kids his age tell him they think he is really smart, especially the girls. I think he feels good about having adults ask him about his IQ after listening to him talk. I think allowing him to learn as much as he wants allows him a better quality of childhood than he would have otherwise, especially since my son is twice exceptional.

Thank you.
All good things to think about. I do worry abut the childhood thing. He does have 2 younger brothers though, Ds4 and DS 18mo, and one on the way and does lower level activities with them too, so he still gets lower level kid fun too, singing art stuff, I think.
I also know that my son loves science and social. He does NOT love most of the science and social he has to do in his 1st grade books though. The things he loves are the geography classes I Add, the ancient civilization studies we've done, and the chemistry and extra science activities I add to give him more from the science subjects in his books.
SO maybe I should just keep doing what I am. It is a worry what Dottie says about math and science staying together. He would not be ready to move up in math. so I don't know. I suppose i could discuss it with his teacher who orders our books, and who we meet with each month to turn in work. She is also his Art teacher on Thursdays and science teacher on Tuesdays. So she may also have insight into his readiness.
I also wonder all the time whether i need to have him tested to know where he really is. I stop now and then and think, maybe he's not as gifted as I think, maybe I'm just an admiring parent. .....Ha that sounds weird using the word gifted I try to never ever use it when discussing my son, It makes people get funny, but if you don't then they bring up the idea and you just nod and say really...

Good to hear from you too by the way Grinity. Thanks for all your help so far with DS5!! This years successes have come in help from you to help me be brave enough to make the grade skip to 1st not to mention all the other good advice in the past. I bet you have influenced many...

At eight, if my son were in his "age appropriate grade," he would be in either 2nd or 3rd this year. Instead, he's finishing 5th grade this year (along with 6th grade math). Clearly, his placement is not age-appropriate by our state standards, but I think instead he's in a very child-appropriate situation.

I think that gradeskips are cumbersome to undo, but not impossible by any means - so long as there is something better to do than keep moving along - there are as many ways to decelerate as there are to accelerate.

I think that if we concentrate on meeting each individual child's needs as best as possible (as least worst?) with the available materials then we are doing the right thing.

I have started to notice that as my son gets older, he is interested in a wider variety of things than when he was young, so there is more for him to be advanced in, and it is less often obvious that he is as advanced as he is. Plus he has much more control about how much of his true self he shares in various situations.

Food for thought,
Grinity

I have some ideas about your question.

My son (10) skipped two grades. He finally does work that's interesting and not too easy. Ditto for my daughter (5), with one skip and lots of subject accelerations. They aren't underchallenged in school. They also get to take classes that aren't super-easy for them. This is important for learning how to solve hard problems when they grow up.

I don't think that skipping a grade equals ending childhood early. The point of skipping a grade is to challenge them in school, not to push them into the workforce early. These are totally different things.

I'm planning to give my kids time between college and high school, if they want it. They can do internships, get part-time jobs, do a sport, or take classes at a community college. They can do two or more of these things at once. It will be up to them.

The reality is that if a five-year-old is working three years above age-level, there is nothing a kindergarten classroom can offer her. These kids tend to fit in better with older kids, as well. Their minds are functioning more like the minds of older kids in many cases.

Val

What has my child gotten out of a grade skip?

Friends... real friends, not just kids who are nice to him because he does their classwork for them.

Peers who are into the same things he is.

A teacher who challenges him and understands his unique needs. Who doesn't get offended when he argues his point because "adults are always right". Who has taught him that handwriting matters, even when your brain is moving at 120mph. Who is already working with the next teacher up to give a smooth pass over summer.

A GT class full of kids who are closer (though not quite close enough) to where he is academically.

Losing his freak-flag as the only kid in the room reading a chapter book. Losing his identity as the one who gets frustrated explaining the math for the 20th time.

The confidence to make a mistake and try again. And the wisdom to know that even smart people make mistakes (still working on this one!)

Energy, enthusiasm and love of school again.


I think those are all worth far more than a thought of joining the workforce early. And if it becomes necessary, and it likely will, I will not hesitate to consider another skip.