Hi Kickball,
Sorry to be late to respond, but yes, I agree that Gradeskipping isn't the final answer, or good for everyone, and that 'having a policy' isn't the same as having a good policy. But I'm still excited, as I believe that the atmousphere at a school changes for the better for almost every kid when one kid skips successfully.
One of the key weirdnesses of schools in general is this "All grouped together by age all the time" thing which is so seldom questioned.
I like policies explicit. When we asked our local public school, they didn't even have a clue where to start. They gave IQ and achievement tests and then denied even subject acceleration, and tried to convinse us that in the Middle School they had 'handfuls of kids just like him.' I'm not kidding or exagerating here. ((LOL - I didn't think to ask that if there were handful of kids who are 'like' my 4th grader, shouldn't my 4th grader be in Middle school? OR If there are handfuls of kids in the Middle School who are 'like' my son, where are they now in the elementary school? Is there some magic dust that is distributed at the 5th grade graduation ceremony?))
Anyway - the real magic is that most kids doesn't need school to be a perfect fit. It's like the difference between personally taylored clothing, off the shelf clothing, and wearing a plastic bag with holes for your head and hands. For my son, pre-skip, It was as if I was sending him to school in a plastic bag with holes. After I advocated for him, it was as if the school provided duct tape to hold the bag in place. After the skip is was as if we had a whole row of ready made clothing for him to try on and see if they fit. A big improvement. Enough? We'll see.
((For those of you who are totally confused, my son left the public school after 4th grade, and got his skip at a private school. This year he is returning to the public school district and keeping his skip. I'm thinking things will go really well..))
Love and More Love,
Grinity
