Thanks Dottie for the reply.
My gut is very conflicted. I want DS7 to be happy. Option A would make him happy in regards to staying with friends but it would make him miserable in the classroom since he is already growing bored and frustrated of independent project learning. I also think that the fact that the principal has admitted that there is not a good teacher in 3rd grade sends me a big red flag.
Another thing to add to the equation is that the prinicpal is leaving to return to teaching at the end of this year. She wants to make sure something is in place so that the future administration will have to follow it.
I think we are trying to avoid acceleration mid-year since DS7 has switched schools/grades during the school year ever since preschool when he was 4. I really want to give him an opportunity to spend September to June with one teacher and one set of classmates. IMO, with acceleration he really doesn't also need to feel like "the new kid" more than once a year.
No pullouts. No GT programming. I live in a red state with nothing. We are actually lucky that our public school will even talk about acceleration and differentiation. Once the student is age eligiable for 1st grade the placement is up to the discretion of the principal of each school. We have talked a lot with the school about subject acceleration but it just doesn't seem to happen due to scheduling.
I am also pretty scared about a skip to 5th grade while DS is still 7. He does not turn 8 until Decemeber. I also live in a district with K-5 and 6-8 schools. I fully realize that my 8 year could not attend 6th grade the following September.
Has anyone else made this drastic of a move? What did you base it on?
