Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments skipping up a grade

The fact that they worked with you right from the start indicates that your son is in a good environment for a skip. I wouldn't unduly worry, just keep an eye out for anything that doesn't look/seem/smell right.

Yup. The easiest skip for people to accept is the early entry to 1st grade. I wouldn't worry, JBD. I don't think it will be an isue for long.

Yup, people forget all about those early skips. It'll be a minor curiosity come birthday-time. :-)

LOL--nice, Kriston. :-D

OP--yes, it's very common for there to be no policy. Our district claimed to use a specific tool to evaluate kids for a skip, but violated their own rules and did the process wrong (on purpose, I belive, so they could deny ds6 a grade skip).

The tool they claimed to use is the Iowa Acceleration Scale --are you familiar with this? It's a set of questions that basically rank whether a child is a good skip candidate or not. We got our own copy of the manual (which is really all you need) for $30 on Amazon. I highly recommend it if you're considering a grade skip -- I'd even say you should bring it up with your school district.

Welcome!

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the discussion. Although we do have our own individual concerns (points were well made: early entry is easier than elementary or later skip), we did have our fair share of hoops to jump through just to get that point.

What I meant to get across was that I agree that it can be challenging to deal within the system and that can go a long way to facilitating a skip versus obstruction. I sympathize. We just got our Iowa Acceleration Scale which I too recommend. I haven't read through all of it yet, but I believe there is one section about the SD supporting the skip which adds to the score. I can see some districts making it unnecessarily difficult to get a needed skip. And I can see why some parents wouldn't bother.

JB

In Texas acceleration policies are established by individual districts and can vary widely. Although it is possible to skip a grade by taking Credit by Exam tests through Texas Tech University or The University of Texas. All districts in the state are required to accept these credits.

Our family lives in a suburb of Seattle, WA. The districts around here have very different approaches to skipping grades. Some have full-time gifted programs all through elementary school and do not like grade skipping or early entrance. Our district, however, seems to prefer early entrance or skipping prior to grade 3, and then a pull-out or full-time gifted program from there on. I think this makes sense for most children based on the research I've seen?

The requirement for early entrance is that the child tests at 5 1/2 in 7 areas (academic, social, fine and gross motor skills, etc.). We'll consider this. I'm not sure how it will go. DS3 will be 4 in January and is already "ready" for kindergarten in some areas, but is still 3 when it comes to buttoning his shirt or tying his shoes...