My son (summer birthday, age 9) was recently grade skipped from 4th grade to 6th grade (school goes grade 4-8) and is happy at school for the first time in his life. My wife and I pushed for this but were obviously primarily concerned with the "social" piece of the short and long term skipping equation (puberty, friends, etc.). So far, this has not been a problem at all at school and the academics are finally acceptable (rather than painfully slow). My son still has his same age friends outside of school and in sports.
However, yesterday a permission slip for a 5 day, 6th grade "retreat" came home (April time frame at a conservation/outward bound camp in the woods). This trip is one of the highlights of sixth grade at his school and looks like a lot of fun, but I can't help but be concerned. My son is begging to go. Parents can chaperone 1 day of the 5 (they rotate), but realistically, even if one of us went for the whole time, there is likely to be some interesting social situations (particularly girl/boy at off hours). What I am wondering is if anybody on this board ever dealt with a cominaton of a grade skip and an overnight field trip. The idea of sending a 9 year old with a bunch of 11-13 year olds overnight seems pretty crazy. I can't even begin to imagine what high-school situations will present some day. Would love to hear how others here might have dealt with similar situations.
Jona
