Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Curriculum compacting experience

So here's another part of the dilemma, I'd really like my son to be in a classroom where he's engaged. Not stuffed in the library researching another paper. He likes the interaction and bouncing ideas off of others.

And frankly, I'm hoping he'll bond with another history buff so the pressure is off dh and I a bit I love my kid but I can only take so much war discussion....

Would a further skip be something you'd consider? What grade is he in now and how young for grade?

Ds skipped 6th grade to enter 7th this fall. He turned 12 in September.

We're hesitant to accelerate him another grade as he breezed into middle school fairly seamlessly. He made friends quickly and even though they aren't quite like his gifted friends at the elementary school, he's dealing.

He's 105th percentile for height and weight so he's taller & stronger than a lot of the 7th grade boys. No one would've known he was a year younger, but a former classmate ratted him out in his P.E. class.

We live in a rural area between two small towns. Our kids attended a very small elementary school closer to the city. It was a mostly great experience, but the kids there tend to be socially delayed (in a good way) when compared to their small town counterparts. Going to middle school is a challenge for these kids, much less skipping two grades.

He'll be going to the local high school for math next year - protocol for advanced 8th graders. I'd like to subject accelerate him so he can take freshman english & history as well. I doubt this request will be honored as this district doesn't understand TAG.

Since we pushed for TAG testing and accommodation when dd was in 7th grade, we've heard a lot of, "I've been in education for 27 years and I've never, seen, done, heard of...." "It's harmful emotionally to skip kids." And the ever popular, "He'll be too small to play sports."

I was kidding about ability grouping. That is what I grew up with and was usually in a group with 1-4 other people. We enjoyed working together and had great conversations. It seems no different than differentiation.

We saw very little of the teacher because in 7th grade, she was helping some students learn to add (all year).

My daughter has never had differentiation even though she is supposed to get it. We put her in a college class in 8th grade because she placed into it and did not learn anything in 7th grade. We live in a highly impoverished area.

Ah, I guess I can understand if socially he is coming from somewhere where kids were more sheltered. FWIW, my oldest has a bd around the same time and is one year older (turned 13 shortly after the start of this school year). She has only skipped one grade, too, but b/c her bd was right before our K cut, she's a 9th grader. It has been a good thing for her but you're right that academics are just one part of what makes it work or not.

We've also found that getting subject acceleration in anything but math is a challenge. Dd has been able to accelerate some in science by taking two science courses this year. By getting that 10th grade one out of the way, she'll have room to take some other science classes she wants, hopefully. Getting schools to let them just test out, like we had hoped she could do for the 10th grade science course, is hard to come by as well, unfortunately.

I'm wondering, though, whether you've thought about whether it is any better socially to get what you want (math, history, and English at the high school) than to just be in the high school. It sounds like he'd be there for a lot of the day anyway if they could make that happen for him. I'm sorry if I'm pushing, though! Further acceleration really may not be the right thing for him; I'm just thinking out loud.

Kids who need this much advancement are hard to find a fit for!

Another factor is that I'm not sure just how cooperative the local high school is going to be as it's our plan to send ds to a prep high school when the time comes.