Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Starting in First vs. Gifted Private School

Hi - With each kid a new challenge... I have one PGDD8 in a private gifted school which is working out just great. I have one "normal/bright" dd6 in public. Now trying to figure out what to do with my HG(mom's best guess on ability)dd4. I think public K would be a disaster... so I feel like my options right now are to send her to the gifted private school with dd8 or grade skip her and start her in first in public. She is a February birthday - so I feel like grade skipping is not such a huge deal (the cut off here is January)... not sure if the school will go for it though. I have heard of some measure or test to determine if your kid is a good candidate for a skip... is this something I can access and do? or to I need to bring her for formal testing.. I really, really don't want to spend money on testing... Would also be excellent if I could make public work and not have to pay for a second private school tuition.

The Iowa Acceleration Scale. Found online several places... here's one link -
http://www.greatpotentialpress.com/iowa-acceleration-scale-3rd-edition-complete-kit

I think the measure you are referring to is the Iowa Scale of Acceleration. There have been several editions and used copies are available online. It's a book you can read and use data you have to evaluate the grade skip option.

Perfect. $179 is steep, but thank you inter library loan! I'm sure I'll post back as I agonize over this decision : )

Our school district has an Early Access program that allows 5 yr olds to start in 1st grade -- have you checked your school district? That is how my DD Jan b-day skipped K. In our case, that program started just the year before I utilized it, so things could've changed since your DD8 started formalized schooling.

It isn't so much a "program," as it is an evaluation to see if your child would be a good fit for the next grade level. I had to submit a portfolio of her work (just drawings, a photo of something she'd built, things like that), an evaluation from her preschool teacher, and she had to go do a short screening test. Kids that passed all that initial stuff went on to a 2 hour long more thorough evaluation. She was the only one who was admitted early access to 1st grade in our school district.

It's more like 50bux at amazon if your are a prime customer and you can make your own forms easily - trust me.