DH and I have reservations about the whole grade, simply because ds has perfectionist tendencies which slow him up and though he's working on it and we've seen some improvement, he's not socially adept yet. He has friends, but doesn't have patience for some kids.
I understand what you are saying because these were my concerns too. However, we did a whole grade skip for my DD, skipping 6th grade. Wow, what a difference. The best decision we ever made. She has taken off more than we could ever imagine: academically, socially and it helped with her extreme perfectionism too!
PM me if you want to talk some more.
