First of all, I love the IAS. Give me a codified set of criteria, and I can deal with the process much easier. I would recommend obtaining a copy, especially if you suspect there might be more than one round of acceleration discussions.
As for...
Sports: my DD as now been skipped twice (skipped 2nd and 6th). During the summer swim season this is not an issue as they group by age, but during the school year it is by grade (of course). We’ve told our DD to keep her performance in perspective – that until high school the girls beating her are doing it as much by size as technique. The girls that are barely beating her now, she’ll crush once they’ve stopped growing and she continues to grow (of course, were she a boy, this argument wouldn’t work as well since boys continue to grow even into college ages).
Academic competitions: put it into perspective for your kid. Ask her - do you want to appear to be the brightest by winning the award, or do you want to know you’re the brightest by barely missing the award while being two years younger?
Class rank: meh. Not important and overblown. Around here a class of 400 kids will have 20 (or more) valedictorians. Heck, the valedictorian of my graduating class got her 4.0 from avoiding any challenging classes. I’d rather have my kid challenged and really learning than to have her worry about the appearance of learning.
Dating: My wife and I informed my DD that she is not allowed (when old enough to do so) to date anyone from a class above hers. She is also not allowed to date any AK/red-shirted kids from her own grade. My DD’s older sister, who was not a party to the first discussion, gave her a similar set of ground rules.
I cannot imagine him still in the middle school. Some middle schools are great. Sadly, ours is more focused on non-academic issues...
Hear, hear. I’ve been saying for most of the last year, one of the best things about my DD skipping 6th grade is that she will have one less year of middle school.
--S.F.
