my basic feeling is that it is seldom the case that a "gradeskip solves problems."
Agreed. Our district is one in which The Only Official Options are either a skip or a subject acceleration, both of which are available in theory only by following a narrow and prescribed path, guarded by people who don't know your kid. And even our great principal and guidance counselor, who do know DD and are generally supportive of her zooming ahead, still make noises about "maybe she's just too young" and "she needs time to be a kid."
My DD (now a 9yo 5th grader) was a late bloomer, and it wasn't until midway through first that school became intolerably slow, so I'm also in the camp of "don't have experience with a K-1st skip."
Skipping 2nd was clearly the least-worst choice for DD; I can't even imagine what it would be like for her to be a 4th grader this year. But having a 9yo grade-skipped 5th grader with an additional stealth math acceleration is not at all the same as having an optimally gifted 10-11yo 5th grader.
