Oh, thank you Dottie for that thoughtful piece about the "down the road" topics to consider. We did skip our son from middle of 1st to middle of 2nd, and now that he is in middle school, I am having the slightest regrets.
Perhaps most importantly, I'm wondering, "What was the point?" A single grade skip did not make school that much more challenging. Only in the very shortest term--perhaps a month or two were challenging! Then it was still all pretty easy for him anyway. I think once a kid fills in whatever gaps they'd have in doing the skip, if they are truly gifted, regular school is simply not going to be particularly challenging.
So, given that nothing would make school as challenging as ability-grouping would, I can't say I saw a big benefit. So the downsides:
* Yes, sports. My son really does enjoy sports, and he is pretty good at them. Not in a super-star, will-get-recruited-to-a-Division 1 university-kind-of-way, but at a level that if he was playing in his original grade, he would be in the top 15%, and probably LOVE that. Instead, he's probably just a bit above average in his current grade. One year of physical development--especially when one takes puberty growth in to consideration--makes a HUGE difference. Sports are not necessarily the center of our world, but if your child likes them, there are SO many positives to being involved. As of now, when I look towards him being in high school, I think it is a big "if" whether he will make the high school teams that he'd want to be on, whereas if he stayed in his grade, it would be no question.
* Dating: not just, as Dottie mentioned, about their opportunities (looking younger than the girls in their grade), but also being exposed to stuff perhaps before they are ready, or need to be ready. I'm somewhat horrified to discover some of things going on in my town with 8th & 9th graders, so an extra year away from that would be a good thing in my mind. I think these issues are the ones that trouble me most--I am in no hurry for him to grow up extra quickly on these types of "sophistication" topics!!
* I hadn't really thought about the academic competitions, but of course this is something to think about! For example, I think for so many of these kids, their vocabularies develop so much on their own, through their reading. An extra year of that makes a difference!
* But it isn't all about competition, of course. It's about fitting into a happy place for you. It is just that I think it is important to think of that place beyond elementary school. I am also not sure I fully regret my decision--I probably would do it again, given the chance--but I would be FAR LESS BLASE about it!!! Middle School has made other issues apparent, that I seldom see addressed on these forums.
