Hi Elizabeth
My son skipped 1st and went to 2nd this year and my daughter is in the 4th grade and will go to 6th grade this fall.
I think the answer socially depends on the child. My son is mister popular. Skipping grades suddenly made him the "talk" of second grade. He has a positive, outgoing personality and playdates for his 1st and 2nd grade buddies are many. Plus he is in scouts with his 1st grade buddies and baseball, too. No issues at all.
DD is an introverted child with a high IQ and very different interests than most children her age. She is not going to become more or less social in 6th grade, but she will finally be around children who at least on some level have more in common with her intellectually. She is well aware that the 6th graders are more "worldly" and since she had already taken some classes with the 6th graders, we have had a touch of that. However the teachers have reigned control over the class and it has not been a problem.
Yes, you are going to have him come home with a few choice new words, and there are boy-girl issues that rear their heads. None of it will be perfect or without issues, but I have not found it to be a problem thus far or frankly very often. We just deal with it.
I will tell you in 5th grade in my school they have "the talk" and so if you haven't gotten there yet with your son, better do so now.
