Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Any PG kids never skipped a grade?

Twins are each other's closest friends.

Are they in the same classroom at school?

I was skipped and when we moved I was un-skipped.

I felt a great relief when I was skipped. I felt like I could learn again. I enjoyed my classes. When I was skipped I spent a lot more time socializing.

Most of the time when I was unskipped, I just zoned out or snuck books in. Or went to the library to read during lunch. I was so starved for knowledge, I would grab an encyclopedia and read it. Or get a math book down and look for the hard problems. Or I would just daydream. Except for sports, I had little in common with my age peers.

I had run ins with teachers. To the point where I would get up and walk out of school - as early as the 3rd grade. I was reading at a HS senior level by then. I could do any type of arithmetic in my head. And I felt trapped, hungry, and very, very bored.

Eventually I ended up unskipped in a high school that served kids of a local research community. The classes were all honors classes with a torrid pace with high expectations with some bright kids. Everyone in those classes later became MDs, JDs, or PHDs. The program was essentially what you would find today at a top Magnet school. I was very fortunate to land there.

I ran out of classes to take, won just about every writing or math contest, and nearly maxed out all the tests, by the end of the 11th grade.

The short exposure to this rigor and the fact my mother and grandparents indulged my interests, made me what I am as an adult.

In my mind from a formal education perspective, the years from 9 years old to 15 years old, and my last year of high school, were partially or totally wasted.

I do not think you can have a master plan for your kids. Something like that would not have worked for me as my interests waxed and waned. I needed a lot of un-programmed time to discover stuff on my own, too.

In retrospect, if I could design something to fit me or someone like me, I'd move to a district with objective requirements for skips, a supportive staff for GT kids, a GT set of schools, a rigorous Jr High/HS program with AP and/or IB, and then also find tutors in the specific areas I liked the most - creative writing, math, astronomy, and computation.

Our twins have been in the same class for the past 3 years - 3rd-5th grade, and they are best friends. A twin can be an awesome thing for a pg kid to have.

We decided not to skip our DS10. The principal offered to let him skip 6th this Fall, but our DS was really reluctant to leave his friends. He is also one of the youngest and smallest child in his grade.

When he was in 4th grade, he was really bored, but his close friends kept school 'fun' for him, and I worked with him on his math. Last year, 'armed' with his test results (WISC, WIAT, and SCAT), we were able to get him accelerated in math and science, but he stayed with his 5th grade class for everything else. He will have the same accommodation in the Fall, and we may be able to revisit the skip idea.

I agree- it depends alot on the child, etc. Some kids become so depressed and shut down so much if they don't skip, it's better to skip. Some kids can still function, esp. if their school has enrichment, a good G/T program, etc.
If you look at some of the posters on this site who talk about ADD, etc, some of these kids have been skipped and are 1-3 years younger than their agemates. obviously, ADD is a medical diagnosis, so these could be kids who have ADD and that's it. I will not mention the posters' names since you can see them in old archived messages.
However, I mention this issue since it's something parents may not think about in skipping their 5-year old to second grade. The homework level and the pace in school goes up alot each year, and by 6th grade, etc. it can be overwhelming for even gifted kids. My son tested on the math part of the WJ-III in first grade into the 8th grade part on alot of it, yet he's sat tight (slightly bored but stable) working on speed math tests, since that is what the school wants from him now.
Our gifted program starts in 4th grade and is full-time. It seems to be very good- they kids skip 1-2 grades of math in it. What if we had absolutely nothing for him, which some posters on this site tell us they have? Maybe skipping would be his best option. It obviously depends alot on the child, the family, and the local resources.

I like to dream about what is possible in school sometimes. In reality, I pick my battles because I want to stay employed. But dreaming is good.

Ideally, instead of skipping grades, we would be accelerating along the lines of Renzulli's Compacting Curricula. I sketched out a program once--for fun--where students could take combinations of accelerated and regularly scheduled classes and finish three years of middle school in two years. They would be in at least some of their classes with students in the ballpark of their cognitive ability, and they would be taking their same age peers in smaller doses.

If they chose not to finish the program, they could fill out their schedule with more electives. If they chose to finish the program, they would enter high school a year ahead, and demonstrate all or most of the benchmarks on the way.

But the whole time, I knew it would never be implemented where I work. When I mentioned it to a teacher with a highly capable daughter, she said, "My daughter wouldn't have liked that, though." And I know that my principal considers heterogeneous grouping to be crucial to what he's trying to do. I'm waiting for the right opportunity to change his mind. Opinions are usually based on your own experiences, and that is difficult to overcome.

Enrichment is good, but enrichment is mostly much easier for schools and teachers to manage than acceleration. Pull out enrichment may provide students that critical mass of exposure to their intellectual peers, but it does not address the issue of bad work habits that students develop when they've been cruising through work that's too easy for years.

are there many gifted schools working on acceleration models? we left a school (private gifted) that had all students 1 yr ahead then would differentiate for math & reading. THe program ended after 9th grade and the kids went off to what ever HS to take AP classes etc.

Now I am in a similar public gifted. They are not as ready to differentiate but do it when there is a real need (ie My DS and math) They prefer to keep the kids on the 1-yr-ahead track.

I really had trouble finding a good school on the east coast that could meet his needs. I think what Davidson does can't be beat and we are still tempted to pick up and move west. We are going to see how this 2nd year here goes before making any decisions.

It's a tough one. I have one kid that is great with enrichment, the other needs acceleration. they make me dizzy sometimes! lol

Gracew - from what you say above, you happen to be in one of those 'lucky' districts where your son does have peers at his age-level. If they aren't 'exact' fit peers, then they are 'close enough.'

Here's the Grinity 'qucik and dirty' - "Is my kid ok? Test".

1) Child is happy. happy socially and happy to go to school and do the academics.
2) Child is willing to try new activities that that he doesn't easily excell at the very first 5 minutes.

If both of these are true, and you feel that 'somehow' you child is learning good work ethic, then stop worrying and consentrate on enjoying your family. Look into a few fun summer enrichment activities - maybe!

Love and More Love,
Grinity

Let's look at the facts.

15 year old girl, valedictorian, swim team captain, going to prom, then MIT.

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_n_palm_beach_county/jupiter/suncoast%27s-super-student,-15,-already-heading-to-mit

Well, this guy skipped and graduated at 16. Class Valedictorian and National Merit.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/katy/news/4825422.html

this guy was the class clown but still graduated at 16 as valedictorian.

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index...ledictorian-of-his-class-in-high-school/

Not good enough? How about 16 and Summa Cum Laude from college?

http://carolfinds.blogspot.com/2007/04/16-year-old-up-valedictorian.html

Oh, I went to college with a 15 year old freshman, who went on to get a PhD and has been a college professor for decades. Dated women that were two or three years older than him, including some of my sorority sisters and the woman he married. Don't agree with everything he says, but he seems to be well-adjusted.