We got an interdistrict transfer to get Wolf into 1st instead of K this year. We tried for early enrollment in K and were told to homeschool it then move into first (which they then forgot saying... Sigh....). Wolf is doing wonderfully and can't imagine being in a K class and we can't imagine it either!
I've thought about and defended our decision a lot. Here is some of what I have come up with:
Socialization? That is EXACTLY what you are concerned about the next time the school brings it up, thank you very much, nice of you to mention it, I was just going to bring it up myself. Wolf does so much better with the 1st grade (1-2 year older) cub scouts he's with and the up to 6 year older Independent Study kids he works with. He'd be gong nuts stuck with ONLY kids his own age. The majority of them have no idea what he's talking about half the time and have no interest in multiplication or predation or knowing every detail about whatever the current passion in. Who says good socialization means children of the same chronological age? You are looking for a good social fit not just age wise, but brain wise. Same chronological age kids are easy enough to find outside of school.
Puberty? Kids hit puberty at different ages anyway. Not only that, but in outside classes your child will be around kids of varying ages so what does it have to do with the price of tea in China?
Getting to Middle School? Won't be an issue if we skip him now because he will grow up with the same kids he'll be going to middle school with. It will be a lot harder socially AND emotionally to do a grade skip later.
College at 16 (or 15, 14, 13...)? That's what community colleges and online college classes are great for. Community colleges often have high schoolers enrolled taking supplemental classes (at least around here). They have students ranging from high school age to grandparent age. What makes my kid so different? Also there are TONS of online classes where age is not a factor at all. The kid will be judged by their work and involvement even more so than in physical classes. Besides he might not even want to go straight to college anyway, what's wrong with taking some time off for real world experience?
