My son, 7 years old (turns 8 in late March) and in 2nd grade, had his IQ tested in October at the request of my wife and I. Typically in our county they don't test until third grade but we were urged to have him tested by a couple of close friends who have been in the teaching profession for over 20 years each. We got the results back about 2 weeks into December. He ranked 7th out of all the third graders in the county (and he's in 2nd grade). The only reason I mention this is so you will have all the facts before you give me advice.

At that time the person over the AIG program for the entire school system sent an email to my son's principal, teacher, and the AIG person at his school saying that they needed to meet because significant modification was needed for him.

The school system AIG person met with the people mentioned above for two hours today discussing all the possible modifications that they could do for my son.

When I returned her call this afternoon she said they felt like Grade Advancement to 3rd grade would be the best for my son.

My main concern is:
Is this really a good time to be advancing him a grade?
- he has missed almost half of the third grade year
- students are given End of Grade Test for the first time in 3rd grade (missing half the curriculum has me worried he won't do well; which in turn means it may hurt his self esteem and possible placement in higher classes later on)
- how do I catch him up with the curriculum he missed
- how will students in third grade treat him after seeing him move up from 2nd grade

I mentioned some of these concerns and she said that she didn't feel like him catching up would be a problem and they could give him some help in doing so. She said right now he's just spinning his wheels in class, he may even do some of that if moved to 3rd grade, he's explaining the Math to the teacher before she teaches it, and that his teachers say he is easy going/goes with the flow so they felt he would handle the change well.

The county AIG person said that in our meeting (my wife and I, her, teachers, principal) later this week we can discuss all our concerns as well as other options if we (or our son) don't feel comfortable with grade advancement.

I mentioned possibly having him go to 3rd grade for a couple classes but remaining in 2nd grade and she said that was a possibility and something we could look at in more detail.

I would greatly appreciate any help and advice you can give my wife and I on whether grade advancement at this time of year is unwise, what might be other options we should consider, personal experiences with this decision, and any other information you can give to help in our decision!!!

This is a huge decision (my wife and I are almost physically sick over it) and we just want to make sure we look at all the options available, look at each option under a microscope, and decided what is in the best interest of our son.

Thank you very much for your time!!!

TripleB

Last edited by TripleB; 01/06/15 02:36 PM.