I guess it really doesn't compute for me to consider "holding back" a child who is gifted-- no matter when his/her birthday happens to be.
Those of us with kids who have SUMMER birthdays are, in fact, a bit fortunate in that it's almost an automatic freebie in terms of "acceleration" given how common redshirting has become.
I agree!!! DD8 is one of the youngest students in her grade. I wondered briefly back before K if I should be even considering holding her back, since so many other children with summer birthdays were being held back. She is also rather short, so she just looked SO SMALL next to the other children (especially since some of THEM had been held back). I am SO GLAD now that I did not hold her back! Since she was already reading chapter books, I decided holding her back made little sense. Since that time, she has done extremely well on nationally-normed tests for her grade, and made it into the G&T program that starts in 3rd grade. She is still managing to excel.
Some tests will be age-normed, some will be grade-normed - in all likelihood, a bright child will do well on either, even if they are young for their grade.
I am personally very happy that DD has the "small extra challenge" of being one of the younger students in her grade.
If you are looking for age-normed tests, most IQ tests, the WJ Achievement, and the CogAT, can all usually be age-normed. Still, if your DD is gifted, she is actually at an ADVANTAGE to be already young in the grade, as this is a bit of "natural acceleration."
Best wishes to you and your DD!
