Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments To skip or not to skip -- kindy

My child is 4 and in a very cute preschool. He has a late birthday, he will turn 5 right before the kindy cutoff date. He is also on the short side.

I'm told, however, that most kids going into kindy are 6 now days.

This little guy started memorizing some site words at 2 (without my help). Now at 4, he is reading well.

His math skills are also advanced.

I found out that there is a private school that will take kids into kindy without being the right age, then I could have him start 1st grade next year in public school BECAUSE he would have an official transcript saying he had finished kindy.

I can't decide whether I should take this chance. I'm not ready for him to tackle 1st grade next year, but I live in a district that is very anti-skipping. We have a friend with a 5th grader who is testing out in math at the 9th grade level and reading at the 12th grade level. This 5th grader continues to score in the 99% on standardized tests, yet the district refuses to skip her because kids SHOULD BE with their age mates.

So, I'm torn. Do I go around the system now and get him skipped even though I'd actually like for him to have a kindy year? Or, do I just go for it because it may be the only chance I get???

I'm really struggling with this decision.