And to what extent is it a problem? One of the bits of advice I got when accelerating my girls was that the 'ideal' place for them to be was at the bottom of the top-third of students in the grade-skipped class - just higher than middle of the road, but well below the top of the class.
What do others think? What do 'less than perfect grades' tell you?
jojo
Wow, I don't know if I'd be comfortable putting my dd in a spot where she'd be around the 70th-75th percentile. I was only comfortable with accelerating dd12 b/c she was going to easily be in the top 10% of the receiving grade and she actually wound up much higher than that once she got there. Math is the one area where I'd say she's right at that top 10% point or a bit below or a bit above at times post-skip. However, I wouldn't want her at that same spot in all subjects. I think it would make her feel pretty bad when she was used to being the top student in her grade in most subjects pre-skip. I guess that, if that "bottom part of the top third" was a very temporary thing, I might be okay with it.
With a kid going into high school, I guess that maintaining As is more important when she'll be looking at college applications and scholarships as well.
In terms of what less than perfect grades mean, I guess that it depends on the child. In my family, I've seen in mean poor study skills, 2e issues, laziness... I can't recall for sure at this point, but I don't think that the IAS recommends against accelerating kids who are underachieving. That's a tough one, though, b/c it can breed continued underachievement to never appropriately challenge the kid. I'd vote for supplementation and work on whatever is lacking (study skills, work ethic, etc.) to get the underachievement under control before major acceleration. Perhaps subject acceleration coupled with support could be a good first step for an underachiever. We had some luck with that with our younger dd this past year.
