San,
Let's accept the premise about social skills being important, but let's not accept the unspoken assertion within the argument the teacher makes - that age-peer interaction is the best way to build social skills.
How do we make connections with others? There has to be mutual ground.
How can a 10 year old kid develop social skills when he is intellectually ready for high school but is in a 5th grade classroom? Or a 7 year old who is ready for middle school but is in 2d grade?
What is there for the GT kid to talk about with her age-peers if she is reading the Wall Street Journal every morning and listens to the Presidential News Conference on the radio on the way to school and then gets to school and her peers in 6th grade are talking about their dolls?
She wants to discuss Haikus and they want to discuss Hannah's Hair Do.
This is a sure recipe for social isolation and the stunting of a child's development.
