I think sitting in on a classroom is always a good idea. Your son knows what Grandson can do and would find interesting, and can size up the teacher's attitude. Is there a lot of scarcasm or are kids who are 'different' in some way treated with restpect. Is the environment structured 'enough' for the particular child? Talking to the teacher can help to weed out a teacher that is overtly against the acceleration, but in general, watching what he or she actually does seems much more valuable to me. I've often been mislead by a teacher's ability to connect to me.
I have found that the Adults in the room set the tone that encourages or discourages Bullying, outside of the unusual 'kid with problems' that you can find in any classroom. What makes the difference with Bullying is how the 'audience kids' react. From what I've heard the older kids can be more vocal about sticking up for the smart, but younger, kid.
Of course everyone wants what is best for the child. Possible cons include missing the chance to be dominant in sports, or certian academic competitions. For my child, I'd rather have him in a classroom of academic peers and loose that competitive 'giant-step' but learn how to work hard to get the edge, because I think that will serve him best in the long run when he is finally placed with kids who he has to compete with, but I'm not in a position to be totally dependent on athletic scholarships, and the schools that I'm hoping for don't do academic scholarships.
Genirose, do you mind my asking how you found this list? If you mention it, I might be able to answer your 'question behind the question.' Also, it might be nice to give your son a little 'gifted family tree' of which family members did some of the classic 'unusual things' that gifted people often do, and what was tried to accomdiate their special academic needs, and how things turned out for them.
Love and More Love,
Grinity
