I think the key here about "accelerate or not?" is that it is a decision that is unique to each child and each situation. When I talked to someone at Dr. Ruf's by email, she stated that Dr. Ruf typically recommends enrolling the kid in K and then skipping 1st. Her rationale, I believe, was that the K experience is helpful for the socialization and what our school staff called "learning how to be in school." Then, 2nd grade tends to be an opportunity for all the first graders to catch up to each other and be prepared for 3rd (?) so that a GT kid can easily skip 1st and get it all in 2nd when it's presented at a faster pace (more of a review for everyone else?). Seems logical to me, but it would have never worked for my son.
Like someone else said (sorry, I've lost who it was!) - my son would NOT have liked K. He was already acting out in preschool and needed the structure of "real learning" in first grade. Although, about 6 weeks into first grade he did tell me that he was done with first grade and wanted to know when 2nd grade would be starting!!!
We don't have options for schooling - one rural school, no private ones nearby and none that we could afford anyway. Moving is out right now. Homeschooling is out right now. So, acceleration in the small school that has what I think is a non-challenging curriculum overall, is the best option for us. Like the article on Hoagies says, you just have to weigh all the options against what your child needs and then make the decision to go with the "least worst option" for education. And then next year you do it all over again!!!
