Our DD will skip K this coming year at a small private school. Because she's starting off with a skip, it will seem normal to her.
DS9 skipped grade 3 and changed schools at the same time. He complained about missing his friends at the new school, but he would have missed them anyway if he'd stayed at the old school due to the skip, so...it's hard to say. We found an after-school program where he sees his best friend from the old school twice a week.
Our thinking is that skipping K will a good for DD as an individual. She's very tall and very mature for her age and no one would ever ask if she's a year younger than everyone else (really, more than that due to a late summer birthday; she's still 4).
I agree with others that this option won't work for everyone. It might not have been a great option for DS9 at that age, for example. It's hard to say.
A boy in DS9's old class skipped grade 1. He's tiny (as small as the kindergartners) but had no trouble at all fitting in. He seemed mature for his age whenever I talked to him.
I agree with Master of None about starting now. It's hard to start too early with something like this.
My advice with private schools: never, ever give them a check until you have an agreement from them, ideally in writing (e-mail, letter, etc.). They want your money and it's your best bargaining chip (i.e. "We'd love to enroll little Timmy at your school, but there are a few details we'd like to nail down first.").
Be careful about buying into their marketing material too much, as well. They're trying to sell a product like anyone else. I wrote up a tongue-in-cheek analysis of school marketing efforts in April. It's
right here. Val
