Hi Dottie,
I'm glad your little one is who he is, but I'm afraid that some of the ones who need that first skip the most, have already had enough trama that it will be hard for them to be "thrilled."
Mine was more "resigned" than "on board." Again it's another IASM guidline that I think had to be twisted a bit to meet our son's needs. Children are complicated people, and what they show on the surface might not be in their best interests, or what they know "deep down."
Example: I don't want to leave my friends, I'll tutor them all in the afternoon so that we can all skip together.
or-
I don't need a gradeskip, I'll just bring a book with me wherever I go. ((Me: But some teachers consider that rude.))
or-
It's not fair that you want me to do extra work. I'm only going to do what the teacher assigned. ((Me: But most kids are learning how to learn by getting the opportunity to struggle through homework. You are missing all that!))
Finally became: I don't want to do a gradeskip, but I know it's the right thing to do.
A few weeks later, when the gradeskip was approved, he was so happy and excited. It did take time to get his feet under him socially and organizationally. But today he is very happy with his decision. And like the rest of us, on bad days he wishes he had taken some other path, but thankfully those are rare, and he always has the option of going back to his old school or old grade, with the same afterschooling deal.
Honestly, if DS has been willing to Afterschool 30 minutes a day with me, which was shorter than the amount of time his best friend took to do the regular homework, which took DS 90 seconds at most, I was content for him to stay with his current grade. That was the deal.
We also could have chosen from two good schools that would have been two hours of commuting per day.
Every situation is different. Every kid has a different personality, different level of giftedness, different needs. We need lots and lots of reasonable alternatives so that all of our kids can try a variety of approaches. The biggest problem with the Gifted Movement is that Parenting is so short and the Advocacy Process is so slow! By the time we change the world, our own kids will sometimes ((usually? often?)) be too old to get the benifit. And the world will have changed in so many other ways. I think that the best first step is to outline the options, have a good place to listen and be heard, collect lots of stories about "similar" situations, and get enough support to taylor individual solutions for individual children.
Wouldn't it be great to have 100s of other families who are doing exactly what you are doing so we can all feel normal? It would feel wonderful to many of us, myself included. But that isn't availible at this time, and that can be an advantage, because each family will have to come to their own, best possible decision.
((shrug)) and smile,
Trinity
