Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Full-Grade Acceleration to 1st Grade Issues

I have one October born kid, DS12, who was entered early into elementary and for whom we refused a second acceleration, but who is now in a gifted program where half of the class has been accelerated at some point, one August born, DD8, who was entered young for grade in a split level class and for whom we approved a first acceleration, making her almost two years younger than the other now fourth graders , together with a friend who was old for grade, and one October born, DS 6, who will not be accelerated but be entered old for grade, so I have seen a lot of permutations.

Acceleration is about the least worst option to be found for the often wide discrepancy between intellectual and academic development on the one hand and physical and socio-emotional on the other (called asynchronous development). It is rare to find the perfect sweet spot; usually something has to give.

In DS12’s case, early entry was a no brainer, everyone from preschool teachers to grade school teachers agreed that the fit was there.

Intellectually, a second acceleration that would have made him up to 2 years younger than the other kids in the 4th grade class he would have been skipped into, would have made sense (DH who is a science teacher said that he could just as well have put him in his college prep classes in high school) but would probably have overwhelmed him physically and socio-emotionally. He is somewhat awkward and anxious in both respects, and did not want to leave the friends he’d just made. Nor would he, I think, have been ready academically for this kind of acceleration, because he has (undiagnosed) ADHD and now in middle school, needs all his energy for compensating his executive function deficits (they warned us his grades would start slipping by 7th grade and they have, right on cue).

DD8, different kid, totally different situation. She was entered young for grade into a split level class and surged right ahead to the top of even the upper grade level kids. So did her then best friend, though a little later and not quite as far. The classs was divided into single grades after that year and the teacher said, again, a no brainer for both girls to move on together with the upper grade (they are still friends but have branched out a bit).

Even though socially it sounds like a perfect situation, almost the same class, friends, teacher, and the teacher says everyone is friendly and she fits right in, she still looks like a second grader among fourth graders (cute but tiny) and I know that she doesn’t feel she fits. She is still at the top of this class of mostly 10 year olds, gets the highest scores in reading and maths competitions and only struggles a bit with legible writing, which is the usual suspect with acceleration. If the academic and intellectual demands weren’t such a breeze, I would NOT want her in that grade.

DS6 has major physical disabilities and though we have IQ scores that would normally have made entering him early another no brainer, in his case he needs so much more energy for the rest of the picture, we want the academic (not just the intellectual bit) to be a breeze.

This is behind the school’s reservations: a boy who is two years younger than his classmates will have to work hard to get accepted, probably harder than a girl TBH. It does help with acceptance from teachers, classmates and other parents (who do have a lot of influence over kids in that age group) if it is perfectly clear to everyone, as in DD8’s case, there is no way that kid belongs in the grade below.

There is one boy in DS12’s 7th grade who is young for grade and accelerated, the scores looked right and everything, but he is still struggling socially and academically, a child among teenagers who works his butt off for Cs.

I’d try to stall this a bit, TBH.