Eagle Mum, I find this interesting as in my case I was a bit of a late developer. Though, I wonder if I had been given sports science information and time to train, perhaps I could have used my older environment as motivation to improve my cardio base, and my academics?
I stayed amongst age peers through most of my school years. 1 subject was lagging, and I wasn't very well-behaved. Despite that, in hindsight these weren't sufficient reasons to deny me a grade skip. I could simply receive intense tuition in that subject, some ADHD coaching and tolerance from teachers.
I wonder how bad was your child's behavior when he was younger? I wonder if they didn't want him to skip grades or do similar things, or if he rejected them? If so, why? You do not need to be extremely mature and well-behaved for a grade skip as there is a large range of maturity in a grade. Academics is a different story, though.
In hindsight I would probably have skipped 1 grade first, then if I still wasn't challenged try enrichment/subject acceleration. Something similar to a "blend" of your daughters and son's experiences
Alaanc64: Yes! I agree with you! If they still have time left, they can try cycling/running/rowing at 60-80% maximum HR for 80% of the time, then hard workouts for 20% of the time to build their aerobic base and speed respectively! (Stephen Seiler's rule, check it out). Then gym wouldn't be as bad!
