My 5th grade DS10 skipped 1st grade, after we suggested using the Iowa Acceleration Scale, which objectively showed he was an excellent candidate for a grade skip. Things were a bit better after the skip, but not enough. He still was not being challenged or learning much of anything new, especially in math where the teacher was giving him the same 2nd grade math he had completed the previous spring in kindy. Grrr. We ended up transferring DS midyear to an accelerated program for HG kids, so effectively he has had a 2-year skip since they are working at least one year ahead in most subjects. My DS never had any troubles making friends, but he had many more friends after the move to the HG school. There was a bigger pool of kids who shared more of his interests.
Our main reason for the skip was so that our son would have the chance to learn new things and be challenged. He is rather unmotivated on his own, and a teacher pleaser, so he could easily have gone under the radar and skated by without ever learning a thing.
If I had known that grade skipping existed, I would have begged for it as a child! Instead, I settled for "skipping" my senior year of high school, going full-time to the local university through PSEO (dual enrollment).
