Hi all - I wrote a bit on the "anyone skipping K" thread, but I guess we belong here too.
We had our DS tested when he was 4 to see if he should start kindergarten early, since he pretty much knew the kindergarten curriculum at age 3. The psychologist recommended not skipping K, but think about skipping 1st instead, for many of the reasons others have mentioned here, but mostly to "let him play another year" because he'd need lots of differentiation/adjustments throughout his schooling. For us, it boiled down to several factors: our DS5 has no interest in writing (but is starting to show a little interest in spelling now), he is shorter than most of the other kids, he likes to run around a lot when he's learning something, and he would be ahead of everyone in 1st anyway. We don't have a lot of school choices here, at least not nearby, but our local public is bending over backwards trying to help us out. The school tested DS earlier this year on WJ-III to see where he is academically (and socially, i suppose), they are hand-picking a kindergarten teacher who is willing to differentiate, they are even letting us recommend a friend or two to be placed in the same class. Also, the principal has said we can meet up again on a regular basis or as needed if things aren't working. So, although we haven't been there yet, we are pretty happy with the placement in kindergarten, so he can learn to "do school."
On a side note, I realize that I am much calmer now than when we first came to this forum. I was pretty panicky about whether or not we were doing the right thing. Now, I realize that DS's schooling needs will change quite a bit, and we just need to be flexible, and hope the school system will be flexible too.
