Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Acceleration question

If his writing AND his reading aren't up to the more advanced level, maybe kindergarten would be a better fit, especially because of early entry.

Writing is one thing, but if his reading also isn't at the higher level, he could get very frustrated at not being able to keep up. If his reading improves quickly in kindergarten, you could ask the school about acceleration later.

Last September, one of my son's teacher's (7th grade) decided to use a history book that was written at a college level. All the kids in the class struggled just to understand it, because it assumed knowledge they didn't have yet and analyzed ideas they were just learning. Families were spending hours getting through each reading assignment. The kids got almost nothing out of what they read, primarily because they couldn't see the forest for the trees in such an advanced text. We convinced the teacher to switch to something different.

My point in telling that anecdote is that if your son has to work too hard just to get through a sentence, he won't be in a good position to retain the information in it.

Also, you may know how bright he is, but he'll only have the kids around himself to compare with. He doesn't have the perspective you have. So if he can't keep up with the reading or writing in the older class, he'll be at risk for feeling inadequate.

EDITED: I've re-read your message, and am now not really sure what you were trying to say. You started off talking about acceleration but then said that you're not talking about putting him in the older classrooms. So, do you mean that you really don't have an acceleration question?

I'm leaving most of my original message as food for thought, but it would be good if you could clarify precisely what you mean.

Your son will presumably see the older kids all day long and at recess unless the kindergarten is really segregated, and you can get any materials you like from a library or a bookstore. If the kindergarten is completely separate from 1-6, you might want to reconsider how you feel about that idea, which could be the problem here (?).