Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Grade Acceleration K-1-2

My DS turned 6 this past December and recently was identified as a gifted kid by the psychologist that tested him. He currently goes to Kindergarten at a public school and the school approached us couple of months with the recommendation to move him to first grade for rest of the school year and have him progress to second grade this fall with his new classmates. We got him tested after the school came to us about this (he had high scores on a test at school and the teacher's observations in class is what led to this). I've been doing a lot of reading and research on gifted kids and grade acceleration. I also looked at a couple of old threads here but I wanted to still post this and get some opinions.

He is a social and reasonable boy. He does do goofy things and enjoys silly games that any other 6 year old would but he also does say that he likes to learn new things and school is boring most times. We asked the school to challenge him in class with advanced materials so he can stay with same age peers and it can be done. However, it depends on the bandwidth of all his teachers up until 3rd grade when he will first be able to get the gifted programs for reading and math at his school.

I want him to learn if that's what he wants too and I want him to have friends and be happy. He is not particularly unhappy in his current class, rather just bored. Should we move him to half year of first grade followed by second grade? or just let him be where he is and try to give him whatever enrichment or advanced work wherever possible?
Also, would accelerating him this way negatively impact his readiness and confidence and ability to perform well on the second grade cogat test etc? I would love for him to get the gifted programs in 3rd grade regardless of acceleration now.

I have no professional experience with this, but if it's the school that's pushing for advancement I would consider it. I think it can be difficult for elementary teachers to differentiate instruction, and it may depend on the luck of the draw with a motivated teacher.

I do think it's beneficial that he's on the older side for a kindergartener - so it's not like he'll be miles behind other kids in age or socially. I assume your district has a Fall cutoff for kids turning 5 for kindergarten, so I assume he'll be the youngest in the class, but potentially only by a few months. My child has a late summer birthday, so she's almost a year younger than some of her classmates already, and so I'd hesitate to advance her if that was an option just from a social perspective.

Good luck!

My dd (22 now) had similar experience. Prior to enrollment in K, the teachers who knew her from when she tagged along with older brother, recommended advancement. Principal said no worries, skipping never needs to happen. However, on enrollment, they had her visit the classroom and all thought it a great fit. We reluctantly agreed after negotiation.
And..... it was the right decision. As she grew, we would look at her age grade peers and realize it would have been a poor fit socially and academically. Never regretted it. (til drinking age, but that's another story)

What I'd recommend is to have him visit the first grade for one or two classes over the period of 2 weeks. Let them all give it a try to see if it's a good fit and what issues there might be. Now is the time that you have the most leverage for a successful placement. Is there a neighbor who is not a good fit? You might be able to keep them in different circles. Some math concepts he doesn't quite get? You might be able to see the curriculum and pre-teach for success in 1st grade. Now is the time to ask. Regarding the testing for GT, I'd negotiate that no matter how he does on that testing, he will be admitted to the GT programming.
My little one started to tank again in 3rd grade emotionally from boredom. So needed to skip to 5th (preplanned to be temporary) when the real GT testing happens. First timed test. Was really enjoying the test and no clue about needing to perform. Failed it miserably, but they put her in GT anyway (til we undid the skip and the middle school tried to take her out but that's another story). It's all in the negotiations.