Hi,
he is the happiest that I have ever seen him at school.
((happy little tear in the corner of my eye))
I'm so glad to hear that!
It sort of depends on your child - I've always found that my son is 'better' at reading kid social situations than the adults around him (myself included) so I wouldn't dream of not following his lead on this sort of thing. Perhaps you could ask the school to be flexible and allow him to choose for himself. I'm thinking if the neighborhood I grew up in - it wasn't age segragated and we played a variety of games, some of them were physical, but everyone seemed to look out for each other and themselves. If need be, offer to sign a paper 'absolving' the school of liability issues if your child does get hurt. Personally, I'd rather have a broken arm and good friends in a reasonable fit classroom, than be 'forced' to play with the 'little kids' if I was a 5th grader. My DS13 would have been very upset with the indignity of being forced to play with 'little kids' if he had been in your son's situation. Even if he is the same chronilogical age as those so called 'little kids.' Weird, but I think kids see the world a bit differently than adults, who, might work with or marry someone not of their 'agegroup.'
Either way - best wishes,
Grinity
