I took in the Gross study, as well as "A Nation Deceived," but that was overkill -- "just too many words."
Emphasize that doing nothing is a choice for the status quo. It is not a "safe" option and it is currently not a viable option.
I started down this road last week. But I don't think I've sufficiently wrapped my mind around that argument to be convincing. And without them reading the studies that back it up, I just sound like a worry-wart parent.
THEN they said, "Well, you know, he's not even the top in his class. There are kids who are doing better in some subjects."
AND, "He's making mistakes on easy stuff that he should know."
Ok. Well, now you know how far their willingness to help extends in the direction of reading studies...
I think you can comfort yourself with the fact that you have already gotten the self-paced reading and math, right? So you are not doing nothing. I think you can keep doing what you are doing, advocating, providing them with information...maybe a midyear skip could happen after winter break. Think of the subject accelerations as getting his feet wet in fifth grade. Since they are core subjects, it will certainly support your position that your DS is able to handle 5th grade.
I know those remarks about not being perfect are annoying! And I don't recall either of those criteria as being part of the IAS
I remember a conversation with my DS' teacher last year where I was trying to explain to her that he is a perfectionist. Her reply to that was, "Well, he's
not perfect!"
All kids make mistakes. Perfection is not required of anyone else in order to move to the next grade! You are not trying to raise a child who never makes a mistake, you are trying to give him the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them.
School administrators are fond of telling us that school is about more than academics. When they say things like that,
agree with them! Your child needs to learn important life lessons that are being denied to him when he is underchallenged.
