Thanks for all your help so far...a lot of fantastic advice with many ideas I hadn't thought of before. Let me try and address all the questions and thoughts one at a time.
@polarbear: In our area the third grade end of grade test helps in other ways than just with teacher evaluations and school evaluations. The two that stand out to me are qualification for the AIG program in our county (the EOG score, teacher recommendation, IQ score, and one other I can't think of) and deciding whether a student passes third grade. I've asked him if he likes school and he truly does...I also asked him if he was learning a lot and he says not really, I already know almost everything we've talked about.
@connectingdots: Yes, we've been very impressed by his school and the three teachers he's had so far...they've really created a true desire for leaning in him. I love your idea of a trial period for the grade advancement. Give it a couple weeks to see how he handles the change and if he feels like third grade is a better fit for him or not. If he chooses to go back to second grade he could always say he went up to third grade to get some needed skills or something.
@st pauli girl: I think the recommendation is based on his InView IQ Test score, the ability he has shown throughout the three years (his current teacher said he was 'labeled or marked' since Kindergarten), and his high ability level through reading test he has been given every since Kindergarten - he maxes out the test when they test for "Reading letter sounds", "Reading whole words", "Reading fluency", "Reading with accuracy", "Retelling a story", and "Instructional reading level." The AIG person today even mentioned some of his scores in Kindergarten. No 'achievement' testing as such that I know of.
I have not talked to my son yet...definitely plan to...but want to wait until my meeting with the school to see what all the options are so I can discuss each with him.
What's funny is that I'm a Math teacher and I think he's much more advanced in reading (got Harry Potter 6 and 7 for Christmas, finished 6 and is half way through 7). I think he's more advanced in reading because he likes it better but also he can push himself in reading more so than learning Math. Having said that, he's pretty advanced in Math as well (adding and subtracting with negatives in Kindergarten).
He has tried 7 sports over the past two years but didn't like any of them enough to repeat any. His athletic abilities definitely aren't up with his intelligence
@ndw: Thank you very much...what you said makes a great deal of since. We've been thinking about the negatives about advancing without ever considering the negatives of leaving him. I guess it's tough because skipping a grade isn't the norm so if it doesn't work out I'll be second guessing myself forever. But then again my son isn't exactly the "norm" either is he?
Thanks for everyone's advice so far and taking the time to respond. It has given me a lot to think about but has really put some things in prospective.
TripleB
