It probably does depend what your school situation is.
And the child.
And the teachers.
And the parents.
"Whole Social Package?"
I had the whole social package... to the nth degree. Didn't help me much, though, after coasting through school (enjoying all the social stuff... wheeeee...), because when I showed up in college I was actually expected to apply myself. I never figured out until much later that it was the total lack of challenge in school that left me so ill-prepared for college.
-- -- --
We're in a situation for our son where grade-skips have been the only alternative. Our idiot state is practically BK, so the GATE program consists of a letter offering a mixture of kudos and condolences. "Yay he's smart, Boo there's no money."
He's now 9 and in 6th grade after his second skip. This will be the first full year where he has to actually apply himself to get those A grades. The first 4.5 years of rolling out of bed knowing all the answers were cruel in that they gave him a false sense of accomplishment... along with absolutely no appreciation for facing & overcoming a challenge (other than learning to tie his shoes).
Trust me, nary a day passes that I don't fret over the long-term consequences of the choices we've made. But just five minutes in a 4th grade classroom makes it painfully obvious that he's in the right situation. (He'd actually be in 3rd grade in many states considering his fall birthday.)
I'm the last person to suggest that grade-skips are the perfect solution. 'cause they're not. But I'll bet a dozen donuts that the grade-skipped freaky-deakies you encountered in college were anomalies, and that grade-skips saved/helped far more people than you realize. (And just out of curiosity, were there really no freaky people in college who weren't grade-skipped?)
-- -- --
It's been awhile since I've seen anyone mention "A Nation Deceived," which I think is excellent reading for people contemplating grade-skips or other methods of accommodation.
"A Nation Deceived"
http://www.nationdeceived.org/There's an executive summary for the proverbial wetting of the feet: (
http://www.accelerationinstitute.org/Nation_Deceived/Executive_Summary.aspx), and then the reader can plow into the full report for all the gory details.
And lastly, there's the wonderful article, "What a Child Doesn't Learn."
Opening quote:
If during the first five or six years of school, a child earns good grades and high praise without having to make much effort, what are all the things he doesn�t learn that most children learn by third grade?
The full article is available here:
http://www.wku.edu/academy/?p=430
