My family has found that the earlier the kid grade-skips, the easier it is for them.
Cym, thanks for that advice! I have read that earlier skips are easier, so I'm trying to take that into account. If we put DS into this language immersion program, he would miss out on the early skip.
And then, I'm afraid that even if we do an early skip now, he'll still need at least one skip later on, then we'll need to look at completely different options for middle school. The older he gets, the more apparent this becomes, and the more "different" he seems than most kids his age.
But as Trinity just advised, I should look at what fits right now. Thanks for that advice, Trinity, because I have been completely stressed about what's coming later on down the road. Yikes! So it's okay to plan for "now" and leave the rest for later?
Also Trinity, you gave some good ideas for partial acceleration within the language immersion program. That would be essential, I think. I'll just have to ask more questions about it, and the possibilities. Unfortunately, he'd have to change schools for this program and I don't know the principal at the other school. Our principal has been accommodating to DS's needs, and if he passes the test for a grade skip, she's willing.
While I'm far from happy with the school's progress this year, they really have stepped up the acceleration in the last half of the year. I wish they did more of the acceleration IN CLASS rather than sending it as homework, but at least in kindergarten there is a lot of "work at your own pace" opportunity.
On another note, we are having out of level testing done on DS this year, so we'll be able to complete the Iowa Scale. We partially did the scale last year but didn't have the out of level tests (however, he was still a good candidate even without those tests). I ~know~ in my heart that a grade skip is needed. I'm still really unsure about the language immersion. I so appreciate all the good comments about it and I will keep those in mind.
It seems that the success of the language immersion program hinges on how the program is run, and whether it allows for any flexibility.
Christi
