Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy adjustment to acceleration

So we are on our subject acceleration path with DS 6. He is first and will be in fifth grade math next year. I am curious. Those of you who have grade skipped or subject accelerated: what was the transition like socially and academically. Was there any stumbling? What made it easier/harder?

My son was homeschooled for grades K-4. We put him in school this past fall. He is 5th grade age but we put him in 6th grade in school. He was ready for algebra, but we decided to aim low and started him out in prealgebra (7th grade math) but it became rapidly apparent that he needed to move into Algebra I. So he is accelerated 3 years in math and 1 year for everything else right now. We have decided (with the school's enthusiastic blessing) to have him skip 7th, so he will be entering 8th in the fall.

The transition has been fairly smooth. The school is very supportive of his acceleration, which is immensely helpful. It is a small school (only 6 students in the 6th grade, for example) so the culture is quite different from what you find in larger schools. The kids aren't hung up on grade level at all. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that the school culture is very important for a smooth transition.

I think it has helped to do the acceleration in stages. The initial skip into 6th with 7th grade math and then a few months later the skip into Algebra I. By that time it was obvious to everyone involved that that skip was necessary. And now after a year in 6th grade it is apparent that the skip to 8th is needed as well. I think if we had just plopped him into 7th grade and Algebra I at the beginning of the year things might have been rockier and any problems might have been blamed erroneously on the skip.

The thing that has been more difficult has been the increased output expectations. This is mainly a problem in the algebra class. Related issues are things like organization, writing neatly, time management, and so forth. I have been giving him a lot of support with the executive functioning stuff, with the idea being that he will gradually take over in a year or two.

The thing that has been more difficult has been the increased output expectations.


Yes. That and increased executive function demand.

I also second the recommendation to do as little as you must at once.

I personally tend to think it's a very bad idea to actually "skip" more than one grade level if you're talking about undifferentiated curriculum and expectations. That is, with chronologically normative peers, the developmental expectations increase fairly smoothly from one grade level to the next...

and are developmentally aimed at kids who are neurotypical in development. This means that you are pushing the boundaries with every year of "gap" between placement and chronological age.

So yes, baby-steps into the desired/appropriate placement always seem like a wiser strategy to me.

That way you know when you reach the limit of what is wise before you go past it. KWIM?

I never want my DD to feel that an acceleration is a "failure" because she, being a perfectionistic kid, would see that as a personal failing-- a catastrophic one.

Absolutely make contact with a kid this young. My ds was 12 going into a Math class at the HS with kids 2 to 6 years older. I was significantly more hands off because he was older. I went to the parent information night and introduce myself. I let the teacher know I would not be hovering over him or his work. If she saw anything concerning to please contact me. He was older and I felt it was important for him to understand the expectations of the class would be the same for him as any other kid in the room. Socially, he made great friends and it is a non issue, but again the age group is very different. It was also an Honors class and the kids in there are more interested in doing well than my ds's age.

I would contact the teacher and try to get a feel on his/her attitude about your ds. Consider asking her for any expectations in EF area and work on any weaknesses with it over the summer. Ask for other suggestions the teacher may have for the transition to be as smooth as possible. It starts the relationship on a positive note of you asking for advice on how to best prepare your ds to be just like any other student in the class. Social issue is probably a wild card depending on the students and teachers response to it. The kids are old enough to look pretty bad picking on a 2nd grader and hopefully that's a deterrent for any nonsense from them.

Another thing my kids sometimes do better and feel less stresses when I over play the difficulty of something. When Ds went to take ACT I told him it is super hard and lots of people don't finish it in time. It lowered his anxiety when he had to guess on problems. He walked out feeling that was easy. Not a good idea for everyone, but it works with my kids. They come away from the conversation understanding it will be difficult and my parents don't expect perfection. It works great with my ds. My dd6, I recently noticed the more I tell her something will be difficult the more she response with "a rise to the challenge attitude." She started reading Lemony Snicket books last week because I told her they were probably to difficult

Maybe prep him emotionally over the summer with things that work to motivate him and reduce stress for him. If nothing else he knows you are expecting him to not be perfect and just be himself.

Another thing my kids sometimes do better and feel less stresses when I over play the difficulty of something. When Ds went to take ACT I told him it is super hard and lots of people don't finish it in time. It lowered his anxiety when he had to guess on problems. He walked out feeling that was easy. Not a good idea for everyone, but it works with my kids. They come away from the conversation understanding it will be difficult and my parents don't expect perfection. It works great with my ds. My dd6, I recently noticed the more I tell her something will be difficult the more she response with "a rise to the challenge attitude." She started reading Lemony Snicket books last week because I told her they were probably to difficult

This is what I told my ds11 before he took the Explore and it relaxed him. It was the first test he took in which, after it was over, he came out smiling. Ds is also a perfectionist and I could tell just the act of taking a test like that helped him let some of his expectations go.

We subject-accelerated rather than grade accelerated. There are two things I'd add to what's already been said - first, I think the experience is going to be highly individual based on the classroom teacher. Folks above have mentioned the higher demand on EF skills, being organized, being responsible for assignments turned in etc. What happened with my *highly* disorganized ds was that he landed with a teacher who was extremely structured and his EF skills actually benefited from being in her class. What I've seen in the schools my kids have been in is that as kids move into 5th/6th grade the teachers start expecting a higher level of organization etc, but they are also actively *working* with the kids to get them there - so while it's something that might crop up, it also may very well be a non-issue.

The other thing our ds experienced - frustration at the pace of the class. Even though he moved up, he still was capable of learning at a much faster rate than the classmates he was with, and at times that has caused some frustration.

Good luck to your ds, and congrats on advocating successfully!

polarbear

ps - forgot to add, ds' homework load definitely increased, but his teachers have been very good about recognizing that he picks up the concepts right away, and they have told him that he can selectively limit the # of problems he is assigned for homework if he doesn't have time to make it through the full assignment.

Polarbear, would you be willing to talk about why you chose subject-acceleration rather than whole grade?

*Trying to make that kind of decision ourselves at the moment.