I went thru the 2nd version(not the latest) of IOWA accelloration with DS in 3rd just to see. I didn't have the explore test scores so that could be up to 10 pts added max, The attitude and support section was hard to anwser because I never asked some of the questions to the school or my son. I just scored this section with less rather than more. The total score without Explore added is 59 which says he is a good candidate for full grade accelloration. 60 points says he is an excellent canidate. I'm thinking he would at least gain a point after the explore test?

I still have some hangups despite this information. I really would rather he just go to a more vigorous academics at another school and then just bump him up in the Math and do some enrichment. I found a school that does differentation. I go to talk to them this week. Any thoughts?

Onthegomom,

My DS was full grade skipped from Kindergarten to second grade with no formal evaluation. The skip was very successful and I am actually considering another.
What are your concerns regarding a grade skip? Aside from the Iowa scale what are your thoughts? What are your son's thoughts on the grade skip idea?

I don't think either option is wrong. It comes down to what is best for your child. My only suggestion is to consider what your "hangups" are and whether they are based in reality or myth.

Have you read "A Nation Deceived"? http://www.accelerationinstitute.org/nation_deceived/ It's provided for free--via download or by mail--and is based on actual research, not lore handed down from school administrator to school adminstrator.

I wish I had read it before we made decisions about DS8. I had hangups about grade acceleration based on what I'd heard then that I do NOT have anymore, after I'd read the research. I think we would still have chosen to homeschool, and certainly that has worked well for us, but I prefer to make choices based on all the evidence. We didn't have it then.

The nice thing about grade skipping is that you are not relying upon the good graces of the classroom teacher. A grade skip is guaranteed and institutionally accepted. Differentiation can get dropped if the teacher forgets, has a busy week, decides to punish your child, etc. It's less dependable.

On the negative side of grade acceleration, your child is in that grade for academic competitions, sports, etc. And one skip may not be enough for an HG+ child. You might need two or more, or a grade skip (or two) and further subject acceleration.

HTH!

I think a whole grade acceleration will put him with his age group. I think it would be difficult to ask a school to keep a child at a year behind his age-mates while asking for more advanced curriculum past the grade in which you've enrolled him. If you are moving to a new school, he'll be making new friends, so it would be the logical time to move him up a grade.

I'm confused. Maybe I have missed to back story from other threads. Is your ds older than typical for his current grade?

Dd#1 came in right at that same point (1 pt below excellent candidate without the EXPLORE scores). Once we had the EXPLORE scores, she was in the excellent candidate section as well. Her skip has been successful for her.

My DS9 has a summer birthday, so he is one of the oldest in his grade. We held him back for maturity reasons. We had no idea school would be this bad for him. We thought it would helps his confidence to not be one of the youngest and smaller. The cursive writing has been so fustrating that I don't think he could of grade skipped until he got past that anyway.

I have not spoken with him about a grade skip at this point. My instinct, for whatever that is worth, is he should be 2 grades up. I really was wanting a better definition of where he should be before he is skipped, if he is skipped. He will take the explore next week and we are awaiting being able to take advantage of DYS anyday. The grade up math this year has been a bit disappointing and feels like more busy work. I wouldn't want to move him up a grade and just give him more work that is too easy.

He is not one to go thru changes really easily. Increasing homework time has been a concern. If he goes up two grades that's 20 mins. more HW. He is making all As at this point and is doing well with behavior. I think he feels insulted by the 3rd grade work and betrayed by the grade up Math. He complains to me about school and wishes they would let him do more appropriate work.

He has progressed this year with classmate friendships but feels a bit outside. I think he is making a best freind this year with smart boy in his class. He has never been around kids older than a year. He just started Chess club at school so he will be getting exposed to older kids.

I'm concerned about the sports with accelleration. I really think for him this is a big connection with his classmates. His size is good for this grade among the smaller boys. The school basketball has been amazingly fun for him this year. There are lots of out of school sports available but he says it's been more fun with his classmates.

Ah, my dd's bd is just a bit after that and she was able to start K shortly before she turned 5 so she was already one of the youngest. She is not a DYS level kid. If yours is DYS and already on the older end, I see why you would want him up two grade levels. Up one grade level would put him where my dd already was pre-skip and that was insufficient for her. I imagine that that would be insufficient for your ds as well, then.

We've been pretty good with a single grade skip for a few reasons. One, she was already young like I mentioned so she is quite a bit younger (up to 2 yrs). Two, she skipped 5th which put her into middle school and there seems to be more ability to differentiate in middle school b/c there are more kids and there is more moving around btwn classes happening already.

Would your school even be willing to consider a double grade skip or would they want to do it one year at a time? This was a long time ago, but my grandmother did it the one year at a time way. She skipped 3rd and went to 4th. The next year, she skipped 5th and went to 6th. Do you think something like that might work for him? It sounds like it might be harder socially for him to have to remake friends twice. Maybe if they could skip one grade and do subject acceleration in math again, he would have the chance to meet some kids in the next grade above that helping with the transition the next time he skips.

If I remember right you said you held him back a year so I have to agree with this statement. A move would be a great time to make a skip. Then the school might also be more willing to extend subject acceleration like you are discussing.

It might be harder for them to validate a fourth grader doing sixth grade work versus a fifth grader doing sixth grade work, since most just don't understand this level of giftedness anyway. It kind of falls back to some of what has been discussed with redshirting (I am in no way implying this in your case), the difference between a four year old needing higher materials and a six year old who could easily be in first or second needing higher materials. Throw in your DS's LOG and I imagine the waters just get to murky for some school officials to wade through.

Best wishes with your decision. I know it's very difficult to find the right balance, a magic ball would be very helpful in these situations. We just do the best that we can.

I have read Nation Deceived. Maybe I need to read it again. I believe all of the accelloration can be good and understand the benefits of intellectual peers but he's my boy and I'm scared for him. I understand there needs to be comprimize no matter what I do.

2 Grade accelloration:
Sports disadvatage hurts self esteem, he loves sports
Going to college at 16?
lack of maturity
too much HW, 5th grade adds 20 mins.
managing with 5th Grade peers, he still likes to play with toys

current situation:
Hurts self esteem
doesn't like school, mostly cares about recess fun
doesn't prepare him for challenges/time management/study habits ect.
discourages advancement
thinks challenge = more busywork,(lost trust with 4th Math)

I really wish he could just stay with the grade he is in and get what he needs.

Would the new school be willing to look at a single skip and subject acceleration versus a two year skip? Or some kind of compromise that would keep him in a single skip for most activities but move him to a higher grade for the math? I know I have read of some kids of parents here doing something of that nature.

While your other concerns about skipping a grade are things that you may want to think more thoroughly about, I would take this one concern off your plate. Our dd, too, will be in the spot of starting college shortly before her 17th bd. Some of the better advice we got when making the decision to skip her, though, was that we should consider what was in her best interests right now and not try to look at what might be the best in the future. None of us has a crystal ball that would allow us to see how this is all going to play out in the long run.

Going to college at 16 was a worry of ours before we skipped DS. But now we're working on a "gap year" plan. Somewhere, likely for a year in high school either at the end of high school or in the middle, we will either homeschool and travel or he'll do a foreign exchange program or take an internship and research or something along those lines. Lots of families work with a gap year and have different ideas how to make this work.

I want DS to have the full dorm, college life experience that both DH and I had. But I don't want him to have that at 16! So he'll have time to do something bold and different that he wouldn't otherwise have.

I agree with CAMom and Cricket2: I'm actually thinking the gap year thing might be a plus, not a minus for finishing earlier than the norm. Think of the opportunities! Foreign travel. If you have a science-minded kid, there's time for some research. If you have a service-oriented kid, he could work for or even create a non-profit. If the child is an entrepreneur, she could start a business. A writer could write.

So many really amazing possibilities...

I understand how difficult it is for you to make this decision; I hope my experience can help you. My Ds1 was advanced academically as a child, when he started kindergarten he read at a fourth grade level and math was at a third grade level. He tested into the school gifted pull-out program (waste of time), and at the time I thought it was fine. I did not pursue any sort of grade acceleration and he progressed through elementary and middle school with a straight A average. He never studied; school work was easy for him, he received a lot of homework, but it was always easy. We moved to a district that had one of the best high schools in the country, and the average student in that school performs above level. Now Ds1 had no study habits whatsoever, had never really been challenged, as a consequence, high school was a disaster. I finally pulled him out of school at 15, homeschooled him for a year, had him take the SAT's, ACT and subject tests, and he is in college now (at 16). His study habits have improved, but I strongly believe that the lack of challenge during his formative years were detrimental for his academic growth, and I don't think he will ever recover. If his social life can be managed, I would strongly advise you to do the two year skip. That way he will be challenged, it will make him happier, raise his self-confidence, which may in turn make him more social. If the school will allow him to do advanced work with his age group, that would be great, but that's not to be trusted 100%. Ds1 second grade teacher allowed him to do 4th grade math and 4th grade reading, which was great, but when he went to 3rd grade (same school), he did 3rd grade math and 4th grade reading along with his entire class (every grade had reading 1-2 years above grade level). So if the school will do in class subject acceleration, try to get it in writing.

I would try to get as much as possible in writing, whatever your choice in the end.