Okay everyone, I need a little bit of help here.
We just got back from an acceleration meeting with the school this morning. To review, DS8 is now in 4th grade after a mid-year grade acceleration last year (a jump from 2nd to 3rd). He has a summer birthday (and so he just turned 8), and is a year and a half to two years younger than most of his current classmates. Most of the summer birthday boys that are DS's age are in second grade currently.
The school is proposing that he be subject accelerated in science to 7th grade.
My brain is completely overloaded with shock and a healthy dose of panic. Can anyone walk me through processing the idea of an 8 year old taking Jr. High Science with 12 to 13 year olds?
I think that he has the conceptual knowledge necessary to handle the work. They gave him the Woodcock Johnson Revised test on science and he scored at a grade equivalent of 16.9th grade, which is what... graduate school level? He loves the very abstract concepts of science, but I'm not to sure about the nitty-gritty details and calculations. But he does not have the writing skills necessary to write papers or lab reports. His writing skills are probably below 4th grade. And the question of social issues??? The school committee members looked at me and said that 7th graders would be no worse a social fit for DS than the fourth graders that he is currently with.
We have a day or two to think about the acceleration. Can you suggest questions that we should be asking? There is another kid in school, a 6th grader, who will be transported up to the Jr. High for the same class, and so DS could ride the bus with him or her. So the transportation is not an issue. My biggest concern is the handwriting, the ability to write long paragraphs about scientific observations, working with lab partners and other group work, and the level of homework (time commitment and ability to focus). Other issues might be the fact that, in two years time, he would be in classes with high schoolers (puberty issues, driving, alcohol...) and he would run though all of the science curriculum by the time he is 13?
Any thoughts would be much, much appreciated!
