Hi all!

My son just finished Kindergarten this year. This summer we had him tested for the gifted program, and his IQ on the SB-V is a 129, with a 138 fluid reasoning. His Quantitative Reasoning score was his lowest at 116, but the psychologist said it was mostly because he just hasn't been exposed to some of the higher level, multi-step math.... FYI - He missed the deadline for Kindergarten by 5 days.... so, he'll be 7 before he starts 1st grade.... and thus, has only been exposed to very simple math.

Anyway, academically, he is completely ready for 2nd grade, in my opinion... especially based on reading and math levels.

Physically, he is average to a bit above average height for his age.

Socially, he gravitates towards older kids and preferred to play with the girls in his class because the boys were too crazy.

So, I brought up the idea of grade acceleration to his new principal. She spoke with the old principal and they agreed that 1st grade is a hard grade to skip due to academic and social issues, but they would place him with a teacher that will challenge him and will monitor him for a grade skip next year.

Also, she said that since he'll begin the 1-day per week pull-out gifted program this Fall, that might make it better to wait to accelerate as well.

Which brings my long post down to my actual question....

Does anyone have any opinions about whether it's better to go from Kindergarten to 2nd grade (skipping 1st) or from 1st to 3rd grade (skipping 2nd)?

thanks!!
nicole

My DYS DS7 just finished first. He is not grade skipped and only recently turned 7. First grade was painfully easy and he kept telling me all year that he was not learning anything. His achievement scores are extremely high.

My DYS DD10 turned 7 just before she started 2nd grade. She was not grade skipped and she is also an extremely high achiever.

FWIW, we are in a high performing school system. Red-shirting is not unusual, but it is not epidemic either.

In-class differentiation, in our experience, has almost never worked.

In most cases (depending on the kid), I would want my already 7-year-old in 2nd grade - not first. Based on the fact that he is also gifted, I would definitely push to have him in second.

I am worried your DS would be bored to tears in 1st. I don't even know that you have to "sell" this one as a skip - more of a "placing him with the more appropriate grade" based on his calendar age and abilities. If you need to use the Iowa Acceleration Scale (IAS), though, it would help you advocate based on his age-for-grade. Best of luck!

In our school system JK/SK is play based, very active and has little to do with traditional academics. Then they go into grade 1 where they are expected to sit at a desk, work independently, do lots of reading and writing, etc. Many kids struggle with the transition and not because the curriculum is too advanced, it is all of the other changes. I suspect that is what is behind the easier to skip 2nd than to skip 1st view. Skipping into 2nd means that you are now in a class that has had a year to figure out the sitting, desk work type stuff. There isn't as big of a difference between 1 & 2, or 2 & 3 (at least in our system).

That being said, if he can sit still, focus on things, work independently, etc it wouldn't be enough for me to rule it out. I think it really depends on the kid (and in a way his peers that he will be compared to). If you are in high performing school with many red-shirted kids the "average" 2nd grader is going to look quite different than in some other schools.

A teacher that is willing and able to go above grade level AND compact AND add depth/breadth can be even better than one grade above at the pace of a normal class. Then again - many schools think their teachers differentiate and challenge far more than they actually do.... I'd want more info about what they mean when they say they will place him with a teacher that will challenge him. When I say info I mean very specific details, in writing. TBH - I'd ask for this even with a skip....

Great points. My son was in half-day K, but because they have more full-day students, the half day kids were expected to keep up with the full day curriculum. This meant scheduled recess only on Fridays, and that only actually happened about once a month due to assemblies and precipitation/cold weather.

They spent the day sitting and working at literacy and math centers, reading groups, writing in journals, doing math and more writing. A and C days had gym. B and D days were either art or music. Library time only came every other week at most.

My son actually said early on in the year that he liked kindergarten much better than preschool because in preschool you just played and in K you get to learn. He would get annoyed at the kids that talked over the teacher.

I don't think going to a full day where he'll get a recess or two every day will be a problem for him. And I don't know if the Full-day kids sat as much as they they did, but the idea of sitting and working won't be new to any of them.

While academics is important, the big reason I'm looking into this is because of the social aspect. Maybe the 1st graders will be less immature and less likely to be annoying than they were in Kindergarten, but I don't know.

I don't think the principals are trying to push me off the idea by suggesting a skip next year instead of this year. I just want to think it all through before I agree to waiting a year for a skip.

Hmm. He isn't really young for grade and he's academically ready for second grade already... and you say he does better with older children. Oh, and he also likes sitting at desks doing schoolwork? What social or academic issues is the principal concerned with, exactly? If they were looking at him as an end-of-year first grader (let's say they could forgot he has just completed K), would they question him going on to second grade?

I'm going to admit to a certain cynicism, but it is possible that they are indeed trying to push you off the idea.

What ConnectingDots and Portia said.

With that info I'd go for the skip now, you can always undo it if for some reason it isn't working.

After reading the wonderful and well-thought-out responses you've received, I noticed that on a previous post, the school's thoughts on his WASI testing indicated he did REALLY well in some areas and not as well in others, but the school didn't elaborate. Might they have concerns of a possible 2e?

To help get all the salient issues on the table, you may wish to consider using the Iowa Acceleration Scale (IAS)?

It sounds like your son is nearly in the exact same situation as mine... just finished half-day K and will be 7 when he starts 1st grade, completely ready for 2nd grade from the parent's perspective, similar size, prefers older children (particularly older girls), have the same resistance from the school admin to skip... Mine started off liking Kindergarten quite a bit but then about halfway through was clearly not learning anything academically. He's not to the point he's bored out of his tree, but if he were going to 1st grade next year at that school, I have little doubt that would have happened. Not only would he know most of the curriculum, he'd be at the school twice as long as next year (half-day to full-day). I can't imagine he'd cope with that well.

There have been numerous studies that indicate that grade acceleration does not have a detrimental effect on the social well being of the child. If anything, it seems like being too cautious about grade acceleration when the social aspect is the concern has a much greater potential to cause harm. A child should be adequately challenged in the classroom, period. If they are placed into a classroom where they aren't being challenged enough, they run the risk of becoming an underachiever, or possibly even someone who "checks out" from school. So from that perspective, I'd push for the skip to 2nd grade and not wait for the situation to worsen.

Don't count on the school to be proactive, by the way. They will likely be reactive and wait for the situation to get bad before response. And that response will probably not be, "Your kid is acting up... he must need a bigger challenge and grade acceleration." It will probably be, "Your kid is acting up... he must not be mature enough to accelerate a grade."

Thanks for all the encouragement and great responses. In regards to his testing, I didn't believe the scores from the school tester so I had him privately tested by a psychologist that specializes in gifted students back in early June. These results were in line with what I thought they would be and did not have any differences alluding to 2e.

I think I'll ask the principal if she has the IAS and go from there.

This is exactly what happened (in addition to many other things) to our DS in 1st grade. It took half a year to even get them to let him use the 2nd grade math workbook on his own, to basically teach himself. He's accelerated two full years in that subject now, btw.

It does sound like the same story, George! Have you already gotten the ok to grade skip? Nevermind, just saw a post of yours that says you are heading to a gifted school that accelerates as needed.

Our district has both a 1 day/week gifted program and a full 5 day/week program for those above 140 IQ. So, I would assume they would be proactive with it all, but maybe not at the individual school level. Definitely going to ask about the IAS.

Yeah, I've learned that they're quite confident that their differentiation process will be adaptive and work for everyone, that they can meet the needs, if you just hang in there a little longer (and longer, and longer...). If you believe in a grade skip, and they are resistant, you'll need to be assertive. I'm gearing up for that, contingent on testing results.

Yeah, we unfortunately didn't really get the opportunity to have the "big meeting" in time with school admins, teachers, psychologists before having to make the decision about the gifted school. That kind of sucks, as I would have liked to have given the public school a more thorough chance. I think we made the right decision, though.

The gifted school essentially starts a year ahead as a baseline (i.e., their first grade starts out at a "typical" second grade level), and then will further accelerate as needed. We'll see how it goes, but I'm optimistic.

That said, a full 5-day program for the highly gifted sounds pretty awesome (and rather rare). We had no such option. Does that start at any particular grade, or would your son be immediately eligible for that kind of program?

Yup. They said that a lot to us, and it never made enough of a difference. I think it was wishful thinking on their part, because there isn't a whole lot more you can do in a fully mixed classroom.

His score wasn't high enough for the 5 day/wk pull out, and I didn't expect it to be. It didn't surprise me that his Fluid Reasoning was the highest, and I do think his overall score would go up if he had more exposure to math, but not to an overall of 140 on the SB-V.

There is some thought that the Knowledge and Quantitative Scores would be higher if he had been in 1st grade this past year instead of Kindergarten. It could be thought that the test would expect a 6 year 10 month old kid to have already finished 1st grade and thus would score it as such, but I don't know.

For fun, here's how his scores came out:

FSIQ - 129
NVIQ - 127
VIQ - 129

Factor Index Scores
Fluid Reasoning - 138
Knowledge - 126
Quantitative Reasoning - 116
Visual Spatial - 120
Working Memory - 126

These were the general observations made about him:

He seemed comfortable and relaxed during the testing process as he was friendly, sociable and exhibited a good sense of humor. His vocabulary, expressions and style of interaction appeared advanced for his age. It was apparent that he was quick to develop strategies to facilitate his cognitive processes. His level of motor activity fell within the normal limits for his age and no signs of impulsive behavior or inattention were noted. He showed exceptional verbal reasoning skills, as his choice and use of words was highly developed. Instructions never had to be repeated and he was totally focused at all times. Reasoning skills were advanced as evidence by his effective use of inductive and deductive thinking.

Now. Unless you intend to after school he will make less than a year's progress this year and they will say he no longer needs to skip.

In general, I would say it is much better to skip 2nd grade than to skip 1st grade and to not skip the entry point to a GT program. It is less stressful on the kid and it makes sure that he doesn't miss crucial transitions at optimum times. Having said all that, I think it makes sense to skip 1st grade in your DS' case for a host of reasons, including he is old for grade and average-to-above in size and he appears to be academically oriented.

You might want to remove his name.

My personal opinion, based on the information in this thread, would be to advocate for a whole-grade acceleration now (skip 1st).

There are many resources available to help him "catch up" in a fun way, at his own pace, over the summer before school starts in the fall.

The research George mentioned may be found at the website of the Acceleration Institute, including
- A Nation Deceived
- A Nation Empowered
- Iowa Acceleration Scale (IAS)

Thanks, indigo! Amazingly enough, I hadn't found that website yet. Great stuff!

I have a kid who will start first even though he is a few days beyond age cutoff - in a private school that requires testing (but cutoff is well below gifted - and I suspect he tested far above most kids there). We didn't send him to K. In many ways he is ready for 2nd grade material and beyond (he learns without being taught, really; could easily start 3rd grade math). The grade guidelines here are really frighteningly low. We did find one school willing to consider 2nd grade placement. The one academic concern that gave me hesitation is that perhaps he is not writing fast/well enough; and his spelling is still awful (this may have to do with him reading and writing in 3 languages). How does your son compare to rising second graders in those dimensions?
Overall I think skipping 2nd is likely much easier than skipping 1st (the half day to full day will be a big adjustment!), but as others have said, it may never happen. Another thought: How is your district? Lots of redskirting? Highly educated population? If you can answer yes to those questions, your son may be just fine in 1st- as there will be plenty of kids in your son's IQ range (I think the SB tests a bit high).

The district does well for a public school. They make sure everyone knows that they "lead the state in academic achievement, ranking No. 1 for the fifth consecutive year." I think that claim has to do with standardized tests. The schools my kids are in are in the more highly educated areas. Not all schools in the district are in those areas.

I don't know about redshirting. I think people stick to the July 31 birthday deadline, except for one or two summer birthdays where they held them back a year, but with a grade size of over 100 kids, that's not too many people. My DD10 also has an August birthday, but we skipped pre-K and sent her to a private school a year early. She'll be going to 6th grade this year, and it has been great for her. She was always in the top groups of her class. With spelling, reading and writing she was still further ahead than what they were teaching.)

As far as writing and spelling.... I have no idea if his writing is up to par. I don't know what 1st and 2nd grade handwriting looks like at our school. For spelling, our school uses Words their Way, and I gave him the assessment the other day as I was evaluating him before talking to the school. It looks like he would need to start on Middle Within Word Patterns on the long vowels. Looks like typical end of year spelling goals are Early Within Word patterns for end of 1st grade and Late Within Word patterns for end of 2nd grade.

Thanks for bringing up these points! I did email the principal to see if they have and can use the IAS for him.

p.s. Thanks, Indigo, for the links!

Just a quick update... The head of the gifted program has started working on the IAS for my son. He is contacting DS7's old teacher for input, is planning on calling me for more input, and will be scheduling a time for my son to take the Terra Nova. The gifted director said he is all for skipping if it is right for the child. I'm so glad they are willing to take the time to do this.

Thank you for sharing this good news.

If the results of the IAS do not recommend whole-grade acceleration at this time, possibly the results may be utilized to advocate for other advanced curricular opportunities:

- Some schools may use the IAS to prepare a complete record of a student's scores and "thoroughly discuss the case and to consider other curricular options and recommendations for the student." (Manual page 34)
For example, single-subject acceleration.

- A student performing above the 50th percentile on above-level material may be ready for "more challenging material".(Manual page 120)

- Consideration is given to the student being successful under the expectations of the new environment and also being successful in the long term. (Manual page 5)

Page numbers were provided above so that interested parties may locate and read the selected statements in context.

Update... My son got a 76/80 on the IAS so he's skipping to 2nd grade!

A score of 76/80 indicates that he'd be a good candidate, so with that in mind it is good to hear that your school is supportive. Has everyone signed off?

Please be aware of threads about possible downside or trade-offs to grade skipping. This is not to dissuade you or cause you to second-guess the decision, but to remain prepared for the differences this may make in your child's journey.

It's a done deal. He has already been assigned a second grade teacher. I'll check out the link for sure. Thanks.

With his age, size, personality and great scores on the achievement tests (both at and above level), I'm not worried one bit. Apparently this was good timing because we have a new principal this year. I inferred that he would not have been allowed to get to the IAS evaluation last year.

P.s. My DD11 is entering middle school. We sent her to Kindergarten early so she is in the same boat, age-wise, as he, and we've had no problems. We talk openly about puberty and other such topics so she gets that some will be ahead of her. I was the youngest in my grade as well so I'm aware of the issues they will face.... Hence the open conversations! . Thanks for you help!!

Excellent. Thanks for sharing your good news.

When you read the posts on future considerations after acceleration you may notice that issues which may be a large hurdle for some may be a mere speed bump for others. It helps that you have experience with being young for grade level.

Great news! I am so glad that the school took an objective look at your son and came to a reasonable conclusion!