A perspective from a "skipper". One, many posts that you need to keep the child challenged. Ditto. And most important to install good work habits since so much comes easily, even with skipping.

I am a product of the 1960s acceleration idea. About 8 of us skipped through grade 4. In grade 7 & 8 we had "enrichment". There were only 5 of us from our school at that point. Enrichment gave us some different school situations but also brought in art appreciation -- Group of Seven, Van Gogh. Some music. Report organization methods. Etc.

I always hear things negative about studies and skipping. It isn't the skipping, it is the socialization skills of the home environment. My parents were party animals and I was a cheerleader and on the math team in high school, despite skipping another grade, so I was 2 years younger than my peers. I was also an athlete. My strong social skills translated in a Wall Street career that used both my brain and my personal skills. In my experience, the social skills are critically important.

Because of my track I can tell you many stories of academically successful people, living in beautiful homes, without friends.

Getting close to the personal. My husband did not skip. They did not have it in his small PA town. His parents supplemented with extracuuricular. He won so many scholarships and science prizes that his parents did not have to contribute to his schooling at Harvard. He went on to Medical school and a successful career. Although he did not skip, his parents' social skills were very introverted and his ability to make a friend is near zero to 1 on the ten point scale.

Although I have joined this board because of my little 3 year old, it isn't just about education. I live in NYC, I have great options. But as an older parent, it isn't as easy to create a socail environment as the one I grew up in. I put so much effort in creating a social framework to help her with those skills. I see now, she gravitates towards the smarter classmate as a buddy, though another may be nicer and more respectful of her, she gets bored. So you can skip, who are they going to be friends wiht. If it is the same small circle, they make miss out on building the necessary social skills to make friends and build a community for themselves as they get older.

Ren