Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy What if a child doesnt want to be accelerated?

I agree meeting with some of the older kids is good idea. Though, I will interject that I was skipped into a class in which I already had a good friend. She had a hard time accepting me, since part of our relationship had been that she was "bigger" than me. She punished me socially for moving into her space. I know this is a different situation but I don't want people to assume that just having a friend in the next class will always make things better.

There can be real shunning by the old friends as well. I think girls are especially good at ostrisizing those who break their social rules. And in some cases, skipping up a grade is breaking a pretty big rule.

There are a lot of circumstances where this is no problem, so I am not saying that a skip will cause problems. But I would be most cautious of skipping a socially accepted girl in a small school.