with a grade-skip and high levels of asynchronous skill development, there is also a real danger that a child will assume that his/her weakest skill set is what defines him/her as a student.
This can be so frustrating. My daughter thinks she is not good at math.
So I ask - "Do you think I'm good at math?"
"Oh yes. You are great at math."
"Well, with your grade skips and subject acceleration, you are three years ahead of where I was at the same age."
"Hmmm..."
"That boy in your grade who you think is a math genius? He's only one math class ahead of you, yet is well over a year older. And those math geeks from a grade below who are in your math class? They are also older than you. You are NOT bad at math."
Urgh. And she still thinks she is not good at math...
Asynchronous development is fun to deal with. Quite often I have to remind myself that no matter how ahead she is academically, she is still very much a 12 year old in other respects.
S.F.
