Skipping K is more about the adults then the kids - since the peer group is just curious. More pointed questions they ask we found to be feed to them from adults. Agree with grinty - keep all talk what you don't mind hearing them tell anyone.
The one upside to older skips - I think sometimes - kids who were in the class or know the child - kinda get it anyway. Even when our pre-schooler told her friends she was going to first there was some huh but frankly I think it made some of the parents feel better. Like this isn't the basis for comparison - your kid is really bright. ours is just different.
We had one awkward moment with a neighbor kid who seemed to ask about every six weeks. In a not so great moment, I just said God made her brain different. I'd take that back if I could but in my head I often think of the little boys next door who were without training wheels at 3 years old. Just because they were 3 nobody kept saying stick the training wheels back on. I think like many posts here it is just getting comfy with it as the parent. Like Grinty or others noted, smile and ignore the stories of lives ruined by being youngest in grade. I think almost all the ones we heard were about the youngest in grade or a few who started a little early. I just figure that the decisions for those kids weren't made with the bevy of data we held on ours.
I'm a work in progress. But I'm striving to be a person who only address the issues that will impact a difference for my family. And that means just letting a lot of what people say go... I will say I think 90% (how is that for made up) of inquiries, critical comments, etc. came during the summer before either made a move. Now we only get the occasional, huh, when folks try to figure out the grade/age disparity. They say, I skipped. And that is it.
BWBShari, I wish we'd done that... would have been better to get it right the first time.
The part of your answer that I bolded made me think of how many like to say, "all kids are gifted". But I doubt it would go over well to say, "You know what they say, 'all kids are gifted', academics is my kids gift." I say sticking with saying the school thought it was for the best at this time for your child.
