Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Grade level advancement-thoughts?

I need some thoughts from people who have been in this situation. My oldest daughter (of 4) is 7. She has an August birthday and started school just turning 5. Her K year her teacher recommended her for testing. Our district uses a variety of things..but she scored in the 99%ile for all areas. The following year, her first grade teacher was a worksheet factory. She provided NO stimulation and Grace quickly became frustrated and bored. We did a LOT of supplementing at home. 2nd grade comes, and all 2nd graders in our district are screened on TerraNova. She scored in the 97%ile for Math and Reading. Without enrichment or differentiated teaching going on in the rooms, she was put on a WAP-and moved to 3rd for 135 minutes a day for math and reading. Again, she continues to do very well. We are getting ready to take our state tests and they want to keep her in there all day-now for prep. With the goal that she will finish up 3rd grade and enroll as a 4th grader next year. This sounds ok-but she will be an 8year old 4th grader. What I am curious about are your experiences for highschool. Thinking of what she will be exposed to as a 13 year old freshman-not driving until her senior year-will she be able to maintain friendships being so young. Will she be ready for that? I know you don't know her but if I could have some personal experiences to feed off of I think it would make this decision a little easier.

Here's a great thread from December that should give you plenty to consider:
http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....3861/Mid_Year_Grade_Acceleration_fo.html

If you haven't already done so, take some time to read through the report, "A Nation Deceived"
http://www.nationdeceived.org/

There's an executive summary to get your feet wet (http://www.accelerationinstitute.org/Nation_Deceived/Executive_Summary.aspx), and then you can plow into the full report for all the gory details.

You should also take some time to read some of the Personal Stories at the Nation Deceived website from students, teachers & parents:
http://www.accelerationinstitute.org/Personal_Stories/Read.aspx

This article might also be of interest, because it addresses some of the concerns of NOT putting your child into an appropriately challenging environment:
What a Child Doesn't Learn
http://www.wku.edu/academy/?p=430

Our son skipped K, and started 1st @ age 4y11m. He completed a second skip a couple months back from 4th into 5th and is doing very well, both academically and socially. At this rate, he'll be graduating from HS when he is just 15 -- and don't think for a moment that this doesn't cause me all sorts of anxiety. But that is several years down the road... and I'm focusing on what/how/where to do best for him now.

Despite my frequent recommendation of the "Nation Deceived" report, I'll be the first to acknowledge that grade-skipping (single or multiple) isn't for everyone. And, as many have discovered, grade-skipping doesn't always provide a "fix" in and of itself.

But your off to a good start -- you're asking questions.

My DS will be 8 (until December) when he starts 4th. He was accelerated this year from K to 1st. He tested very well, and could've easily been in 2nd (they wanted to put him in 2nd grade ALP), but because he is so young and a boy, we skipped one grade for now. It's been the BEST thing we've ever done. But it has to be right for your child.

Definitely look at the info that Dandy posted!

My son is 13 (fall birthday) in 8th grade, but taking two freshman classes so I can address your question to a limited extent. Students in his freshman classes at his private school assume he is just one year younger. They have accepted him readily to the extent of including him at their table for lunch and willingness to work with him on math and science assignments. Lately he has begun hanging out with them after school also.

He has always fit in better with older kids than his age peers or even grade peers (he is slightly young for grade). His long-term best friend is 2 � years older and two grades ahead at our local public school. His local social/activity group consists of his 15-year-old sister�s friends who are mostly 3 years older and all sophomores at the public school. When she was dating a 17-year-old junior, ds and he went on a few outings pertaining to mutual interests and seemed very much like peers despite four years age difference. DS holds lengthy conversations via Facebook with a couple 19-21 year old college students (whom he has met IRL) and enjoys talking with his teachers during free time.

IMO, the more intelligent the individual or group, the less emphasis they place on proximal age when selecting friends. Therefore, if the school has smart students, the age difference might be less of an issue than if the students are average.

I'm sorry I can't address your questions about HS, but I have a 8yo 4th grader. It sounds like your DD's situation is very much like my DD's was.

My DD has an early September birthday and was early-entranced to K just before she turned 5. In 2nd grade she began going to 3rd grade all morning for math, reading, and writing (and art and P.E. because of the schedule). By the end of that year we knew she needed to just skip to 4th full-time this year. For one thing, she was doing all of the academic stuff in 3rd grade, not second, so she could definitely do well academically. Also, elementary curricula tend to try to interrelate all of their subjects (e.g., they study math during science and vice versa). Third, it is much less obvious to the other students and therefore less socially stigmatizing for her to be in one class all the time rather than constantly coming and going.

Anyway, again not HS experience, but our experience with the type of grade acceleration you're talking about, is that it has been really wonderful. She is still at the top of her class (not always *the* top, but always one of the top)and she has made friends really well. In truth, no one who doesn't know the situation has ever picked her out from among her classmates as different. There are kids 1.5-2+ years older than her, and yet she fits in better than she ever has and no longer has to downplay her abilities.

Everybody always talks about things like puberty being of some concern, but honestly, kids go through puberty throughout a large window of time, and who's to say that your child won't be an early bloomer or wouldn't have been a late bloomer anyway. Also, the driving thing comes up a lot and I think that nowadays driving isn't quite the universal 16-year-old milestone that it has traditionally been. Still, though, even if these issues come up, I'm prepared to talk to my DD about them and console her if she's disappointed. Either way, I think any short-term issue that comes up will be easier to deal with than the long-term ramifications that could come up if we didn't address her academic needs for years on end. I hope this helps, FWIW!

CFK, I am curious why you think this. While I certainly agree it isn't the best option for all kids - it really depends on what other options are available, as well as the child's subject mastery, LOG, maturity, etc. I definitely wouldn't view it as a last resort - in fact, for some kids it is probably the best and should be the first resort.

Gr8Family, you might also want to look at the Iowa Acceleration Scale (more information here: http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/iowa_accel_scale.htm). It takes a number of factors into account when considering a gradeskip, and while I haven't used it, it seems like a very useful tool. Maybe your school already has a copy.

I have to say, I wish I was in a district that was so willing to look at accelerating gifted kids.

Cat

I generally agree with CFK�s statement, but stop short of accepting whole grade acceleration as a universal last option. I will also point out that the assertion that LOG differentiates between students who are or who are not whole grade advanced is an irritant among a more silent population of DYS families. I personally think the choice usually has more to do with options, goals and strategies (such as decelerating a student while switching up to a more rigorous middle school or high school).

My ideal scenario for education would be to allow gifted students to remain identified as an age appropriate Xgrader, while take some or all classes two or three levels up. In this scenario, typical gifted students might get through elementary school two years early, but then spend two extra years at the high school level. Of course, I am assuming that the high school is one that has numerous true college level courses taught by highly qualified teachers. If that were the case, it would allow hs graduates to enter regular colleges as at least sophomore status. If a student�s goal is to attend a very selective, high-level university this set-up would simply allow them to develop into a more viable candidate than if they had graduated at 15 with an average course progression.

Ah, I fully agree and this clarifies our positions - I think a lot of it is where you come from. I am in a place where any accleration is a huge battle. Even a child who is only 1 month away from the cutoff (so very old for his or her current class), high achieving with full mastery of the current subjects, mature for his or her age, (and all those other IAS factors) will have a major fight on their hands - but any other form of accomodation for a gifted student is even less likely to occur - so acceleration is often the only (and sometime a good) option.

Cat

We live in Ohio. Our school district is not really in favor of grade level advancement, but through the state,each system has to have procedures in place for identifying gifted students and different types of services they offer. In my district, if a child scores above the 95th %ile on a group administered achievement test they can qualify for enrichment starting in 4th grade or subject acceleration. The problem we are having is that my daughter was above the 95% in all areas. She is accelerated for 3/4ths of her day. She could enroll as a 3rd grader next year..and go to 4th but what happens in 5th grade-she can't access the 6th grade curriculum b/c they are in middle school. If she is succeeding in the next grade without any problems, then the system will have a psychologist do a full scale IQ and achievement test and give their recommendations on whether or not she would be successful. And then the WAP team makes the final decision from there.

I don't know what other states are like, I just know my district does not advocate grade skipping..but if you know the policies and have done the research, you can have access to anything. But they don't advertise it :-)

Thank you for all of your advice.

The realities of my daughter hitting puberty have hit me hard this last year.

She has always been ahead of her class - even in a really smart class. But, she has also been a rule follower with a style of her own.

She entered seventh grade this year, which is the first year of middle school. She is always a little younger than others since she has a summer birthday. However, there are boys with beard stubble so they must have been held back. There are quite a few girls that are pregnant and most are sexually active.

We have always had her learning other things than what school offers. She is in advanced classes and truly loved middle school due to the "ability grouping" and of course, music classes.

I have held fast to advancing grades and now I am so glad. If she were any younger, this would be way too tough for her. She is old enough to think choices through. I still worry about her choices. She disagrees with me a lot, which is normal.

The best thing we have accomplished is to expect good grades. We have always made her complete her homework and told her that any bonus questions were for her. She still follows these expectations. She is also expected to participate in two clubs and she won first place in science fair (so we get to go to state) and is on the yearbook committee. I made her be in this since they use computer programs and I think she will take this through high school.

Use your influence (while you still have it) to set standards. These are what takes precedence once puberty hits. Due to all the experiences and extra learning, she has a very large knowledge base and vocabulary.

High school is usually fairly flexible with college courses and other outlets. I am more worried about middle school.