Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy grade acceleration

Mite literally told me at the beginning of the summer that he thinks he should skip to 6th grade! He brought it up by himself. When I asked what he thought sixth grade had to offer him, he said the topics the sixth graders he knew were so much more interesting to him and he liked the books they were reading....Harry Potter, Eragon and Eldest, C.S. Lewis' books..etc.

It was a spontaneous conversation. I hadn't thought about acceleration yet and when the state director of gifted ed suggested it I mentioned Mite's ponderings on the topic. She laughed and said she wouldn't be surprised he really could handle it.

We haven't discussed it with Mite though, since then. So, I think that's a good idea. We'll see what he has to say.

I'll let you know. He's at camp right now. It's his first overnight camp and I'm going through Mite withdrawal:^) I think the separation is hard on me due to all the things we've discovered about him these last 8 weeks. I don't want to miss anymore of who he is and I"m worried how the dyspraxia will be handled by the camp counselors.....

ok I'm rambling now...

Ummmm. Given the Mite conversation, you maaaay want to persue skipping to 6th. sometimes grade skips fail 'cause they aren't radicle enough. there isn't anything "ego" building about doing work that's too easy for you, even if it has a higher grade level tag on it - to build a child's ego, they HAVE to suceed at work that looks beyond their ability to THEM.

srry to stir the pot
Trinity

argh!

If we homeschool (which I think we probably eventually will) then a big skip like that is possible. Maybe the 5th grade gifted reading cluster will be a big enough leap. I think it is reading at the 6th grade level, too.

I know he has gaps in math that would make 6th math grade a leap that would torment me.

I'll probe a bit more when he gets back from camp.

6th grade here is junior high. that kinda bugs me as little as he is. He's quite short and plump 8^)

Willa Gayle
It sure sounds to me like Mite is looking for peers, and yeah, the 5th grade gifted cluster will probably do for him what 6th grade regular would.

How many weeks till school starts? Does his gaps in 6th grade math have to torment you - or can you pay or the school provide someone to midwife that jump. LOL people don't get why a parent would want a kid skipped to the point where they'd need tutoring - but it's all about the social fit, really - we're educating the whole child - and remember - the bigger the gap the more flexible and supportive the other kids tend to be. It's easier to be philosophical about the "tiny freak" while the kid from one grade down who's tall and broad also can be seen as another competitor. Honestly I'm only bringing it up after hearing Mite's comments - he knows where he "feel" comfortable - what might meet his social needs.
Trinity

Deliberately describing a skip as an experiment that he can call off if he finds it isn't working may help prevent the possibility of the stigma you experienced if the situation is not a good fit. We did this when our son skipped from 6th to 7th in the middle of the school year. The kids our son left behind in the 6th grade might have harrassed him if he had returned to 6th after a hiatus, but it seemed worth the risk. Some were already harrassing him, and it seemed good to get some space from those. The older kids weren't as threatened.

bluestem

Hello, I would like to join in the discussion, having just joing the Davidson Institute.

My son skipped third grade and went into 4th at about thanksgiving time. He is in a school system that does not ability group or cluster gifted kids. For him, it worked out really well - although his closest friends are still the ones that are his age (one is another gifted child who just skipped from 4th into 5th last year and will join him in 6th next year).

We are however facing an issue for next year with his math course. He has been doing the Johns Hopkins on-line courses instead of regular math instruction in school since 1st grade. (he was at frist grade about 2 or 3 grade levels ahead in math - but has slowed down because of some of the changes that occured during the year he skipped a grade) He is going into a private middle school (6-8) that empasizes inquiry based learnng and problem solving. He is ready however to take 7th grade math. I am not sure if we should leave him in the 6th grade classroom because the approach will be different and other changes (such as homework levels, appraoch, assignments) could be overwhelming, or ask the school to skip him up for math. The situation is complicated because he has an older brother who is in 7th grade, the school is small (2 classes per grade level) such a skip could wreak havoc with the scheduling, and the school district has just implemented an IB program which does not allow kids to skip ahead in particular subject areas once they are at the high school level. He is also reading at a much higher grade level, but some of his other skills (although high for the grade he is in) do not exceed the grade level that he will be entering.

Any advice would be appreciated! thanks. LG

Willa,
Since you have mentioned the gifted program at your school is pretty much non-existent and that they are going to TRY and accommodate your son I would not see a grade skip as such a bad choice at this point. A lot of people say it is so much easier in the earlier years of school although from the things you have shared about your Mite I don't know that it would pose too much of a challenge even later in life. I do understand the concerns you have with some of his weaknesses but if he is already aspiring for work as challenging as 6th grade work and doesn't feel intimidated by those peers he would encounter then I certainly think he would handle himself well skipping just one grade for now. There is always the standard IEP for helping with his weaknesses and he can obviously handle himself with his strengths and you're obviously doing your part as the parent to see that his hunger for knowledge in his interest areas is quenched as much as you can. I really think if you have good communication with the school and their cooperation with things it will really work out well for him in the end. Of course I'm no expert but my son told me what he wanted to do last year (completing 2 grades in one school year) and I thought he was NUTS but I did what I could to help him reach his goal and by george he did it with ease! These kids know more then we do what they need, believe it or not. I was just telling someone the other day that it's such a shame how little information (like books) there is out there for parents of kids like ours yet you can go find 200 books on potty training and my goodness another 500 books on baby names! Who needs that many books on baby names? Yet we get such slim pickings for some of the brightest minds we'll ever encounter in our lives...that SOCIETY will ever encounter. So I was saying in that conversation these great gifted minds need to start writing books and just telling us what they need or what they needed as they grew up, what would have helped, what would help others, what makes a difference or may make the difference in the life of the next great mind.....what a priceless read THAT would be! Of course the ped. reminds me that they are all so different in their own ways and they all need different things....well then have a few of them write books! I'll read as many books as I need! Anyway, now I'm off on a tangent. Best of luck in this decision for your Mite. You sound like such a wonderful mom and I'm sure you'll make the best decision for him.

M.

LG,

Is the regular public school your only option? Have you considered or looked into a charter school? What about a cyber school (or better yet CYBER CHARTER!)? Is homeschooling an option? I say when the traditional school setting is no longer accommodating to our children it's time to remove them from that setting and take charge of their educational needs or start making some noise to someone who will listen....like political figures etc. I'm a bit of a noise maker though. :p

M.

M - the only options are public school (which, for a lot of reasons will not work at the MS level) and the small private school that he is enrolled in and is excited about. The only options for high school (short of a boarding school) are public, suplemented with some courses at the local community college. Home schooling is not an option because he does not like to "change courses" or move on to new things when fully engaged and working at home...but will do so in a traditional classroom setting with ease. Homeschooling would simply become a battlefield. So we are stuck with "working within the system"... LG

Hi LG, welcome

It sounds like your are willing to let him try out 6th grade math and get his feet wet first. What's his opinion? can you get copies of the books for him to look through? did the school evaluate him? if so, what did they think?

My gut feeling is to take it slow for now, and see what happenes. You son is excited for this change, so that buys you some time to evaluate. Since he's already one year accelerated, and Math seems to repeat over and over anyway - at least this may be a different approach. I tend to think that a good private school "should" be about a year ahead of public school anyway.

Good luck either way -
Trinity