Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy how do you know how much to accelerate

DS took MAP test recently. He is in first grade. Scores at the 75th percentile for third grade and 50th for fourth. Does 75th count as mastery? Which grade should we try to accelerate to?

MON, fantastic response! The school is allowing DS to test drive forth grade right now. DS is very happy and loves being with them. The school is concerned about the gaps that he has and that he has stumbled in fourth grade. We are trying to educate them about how quickly he will master the gaps, but they don't quite get it.

MoN is absolutely right.

We basically just go with our gut and do what feels most tolerable. We never wanted DD to be operating below about the 75th percentile, though-- that felt unhealthy. So we've tried to walk the line between extracurriculars that range from 70th to about 99th percentile (with acceleration in place) and academics that are (ideally) about the 95th percentile.

The unfortunate reality is that most of the time, DD jumps back into the 99th percentile within a year or so from that 85th-95th immediately after acceleration.

Often you don't really get to choose a "best" fit, but one that minimizes problems-- or more likely, selects for particular problems and minimizes others.

Which problems are preferable is highly individual and depends on the child and the family.

My long way of saying... I'm not sure that anyone ever really knows where to accelerate to. Not really. You just try things and see if it works and feels okay.

So DS just told me, "I don't want to goto fifth grade next year because fourth grade is a little too hard right now." So I questioned him a bit. He says he loves the class, but it's only a little hard. He thinks it should be easy for him. So my mother guilt is coming out now...thinking I am pushing him too much to send him three grades up. But he is so happy with them. More importantly, it concerns me that he ALREADY thinks that school should be easy. What do I do?

I think you're right to be concerned about his idea that it should be easy. If the class is "a little bit hard" and he's happy, that sounds good. The key thing is that he's happy and challenged. Don't feel bad if he's happy

I would be reluctant to skip more than two grades in one hit personally. I sometimes wish we had skipped two instead of just one when when had the chance. But three grades sounds too much for me in one hit, it's all the other stuff that goes with the academics that you won't know about until he's been there a good while. The difference in executive function requirements is huge between 1st and 5th.

It's just for math. 45 mins a day

Oh, right, sorry that changes my thinking entirely.

Mastery is 95th percentile.

When I look at the curriculum (everyday math), I just don't see how I can put him in 4th grade math next year. There is very little that he doesn't know. Yes, there are a few things. And yes, he is still slow with his facts. But those are the only things in the way. When I look at the 5th grade curriculum, I see that they review 4th grade for the first few units. Shouldn't that be enough for him? Do we need to hire a tutor? I'd love to hear from anyone else who has done a radical subject acceleration.