Hm, I think I come from a slightly different place on this. That school is being absurd. Nevertheless, I believe that school is a place for both academic *and* social learning.
School personnel should never make a blanket statement about how a grade skip will hurt all children socially-- as we know, there are lots of examples where the child fits in better with kids who are closer to being their intellectual peers, even if those kids are much older.
And yet, I think social factors should be weighed with the academic factors in making a decision about placement. I am NOT talking about the imaginary long-term factors (talking about driving when it's a 6 year old makes no sense, for heaven's sake, how do they know who that child will be in 10 years?!)-- but the factors immediately in view for the next year or two. The Iowa Acceleration Scale does a good job of identifying social elements that should be considered and balanced along with academic needs. I don't think we should dismiss this part of a child's life: social development is actually very important for intellectual growth.
My DS, for instance, would be capable of a grade skip academically, but not socially; for now we have settled on subject acceleration as the right solution for him. We'll see how long it works.
What I would like is for school staff to be nuanced enough in their thinking to weigh the needs of each particular child, and educate the child accordingly. Shouldn't be too much to ask.
DeeDee
