Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Skipping grades?

As parents, how do you decide when/if to skip grades? Do children generally adjust well socially and emotionally (both short- and long-term)? What are some of the pros and cons of skipping a grade? Since we are in a school district that is not too keen on students skipping grades, any recommendation or advice on dealing with the school? (We moved here recently and was told by other parents that the school district tends to mainstream students.)

Many thanks!

I can help to answer some of your questions, since this week DS is just in the middle of skipping from K to 1st. Our school district is also very much against the skip, and I assume that child's school has to advocate for the skip. In our case, our school principal requested a meeting with all the teachers that know DS, to ask them, what they think. They also gave DS an end of the first grade test, with some additional proof of DS's capabilities. (His test scores SB5, and WIAT were also included). Then we, as parents signed on it, and the whole proposal went to District to be approved.
I must say that DS's pullout gifted teacher is the main engine behind all of this, and without her it would not happened. It seems that she really understand DS, and is just amazed what he can do.
I think that grade skip is a good idea in our case. DS was complaining how K is very easy. His K teacher started to assign him independent work, which took him out of the classroom flow. He was always watching the other children, what they were doing. It made him feel little bit as a outcast, even thought he enjoyed the challenging work.
I think this way he can be with more of his equals, and it takes him away from the K's training (which he does not need) and puts him more into the learning environment.
Even though he is still many years ahead even compared to the first graders, he will feel more comfortable in a slightly grown up environment. He will still need some extra challenge for example in math, reading and science, but with writing he should be right on the same level.
I will let you know more in the future, how it is working.

We are working on this now. I talked to the principal last week and she's going to get together with a team that she has to assess whether or not they want to skip him. They don't seem to want to skip him and made sure to tell me that it's never been done. I had to call and talk to the principal to request that they even consider it. Nobody in the school has suggested that he move up to me but his teacher doesn't even know that he can read (even though I told her) much less read years ahead of his age.

Right now the biggest problem that I have with DS is that he doesn't want to go to school because he's so bored. Like Niki his teacher has given him a few advanced things to do but he has to do them away from his class and I'm not sure how good that is for him. I want to grade skip him so that he starts to like school again.

DS skipped 1st after a year of K, despite being a young K (June bday). His READ teacher was also the push to get him identified & is just wonderful. He has worked with her since the beginning of K & she provides his "extra" stuff.
The school was great and came to us to ask permission to test him & consider the skip. They don't normally but felt he needed it. When he passed the end of the 1st grade math test & got his SB5 & WJIII scores, we decided to let him try.

He's now in 3rd & it was definitely the best choice for him. Socially, it was a bit of an adjustment but he is an outgoing kid and found his way. I worry he's still not challenged enough & that is another issue. Good luck, it was a very tough decision for us!

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts. My DD is intellectually gifted, but she is petite and socially very shy and reserved. We were hoping that the school will group talented kids of the same age together, so she can be challenged academically yet still socialize with her same age peers. No such luck. So, we have been debating for a while now and wondering how other parents handle the situation.

Many thanks again....

You can take a look at the Iowa Acceleration Scales to get an idea of whether acceleration is likely to be a good fit.

We have two kids grade-skipped, and in our cases, it has worked out beautifully.

My DS5.5 (6 this month) skipped K and went right into first. As the school year approached we noticed him advancing further and further beyond the K curriculum and worried that a K teacher couldn't give him enrichment for all the areas in which he was ahead. So we approached the school wanting their opinion of what would be best for him. They gave him an IQ test, and achievement test, and a end-of-1st test, as well as had him meet with a 1st grade teacher to casually assess him socially. We all agreed that 1st was where he needed to be. Besides academics and his ability to learn more quickly than the general population, things that we took into consideration were how close his birthday was to the cut-off, that most of his friends IRL were in 1st grade (albeit many at different schools), that he physically looks like a 1st grader (helpful, but not necessary, IMO), and that he tends to adjust to situations fairly well. He's still at the top of his class (the idea behind a grade-skip is that no other accommodations at grade-level would be enough for the child and that the child would still be at or near the top of the receiving grade).

Our DD8 was early-entranced into K (just missed the cut-off) and then began her acceleration journey after realizing that she wasn't just years ahead in reading but also in all the core academic areas. Since she was young for her grade, the school (and we, to some degree) were not ready to grade-skip her entirely, so she spent the mornings in 3rd grade (core academics, plus some specials due to scheduling issues) and the afternoons in 2nd. This worked great, but we all soon realized that she really just needed to go into 4th grade full-time this year. And, it has worked out wonderfully. I know that during the first week my DD moved into 3rd last year that the teacher was worried because she tends to be quiet and shy, particularly at first, but with time, she opened up and got comfortable. This year, my shy child has totally shocked us and all her previous teachers with how un-shy she has become! I wonder if she now just feels comfortable being herself and not feeling like she has to hide her abilities. Her school work still requires little actual work, but it is new information to her and she really is so happy!

BTW: my DD is not particularly big for her age, but even in her new grade with kids 2 years older than her, she has classmates smaller than she is. Some people are short, some are tall, and that's how it is in life. School is about learning, and I just can't understand why people think kids should go to school for 7 hours a day and not learn anything just so they can be with people their own size.

Just a thought: have you talked to the school about whether they would feel more comfortable with a subject acceleration? Sometimes schools are more comfortable with this since it addresses both the academic needs and their socialization concerns. And, if it works out and they and you see that your daughter adjusts well to being in the older group, full grade-acceleration may be a more comfortable idea. Like I said, our school district operates on the policy of trying the least radical options first and then if that is not enough, advancing through several levels of increasing "interventions."

Also, I'm sure you've seen it posted elsewhere here, but are you familiar with the Iowa Acceleration Scale? It's a great way for you and the school to look at an acceleration objectively using all the criteria that have been shown to have an impact on the success of an acceleration. HTH!

Thanks for suggesting the Iowa Acceleration Scale book. I have ordered it today. We have spoken with DD's teachers. "Let her be a kid!" was the respond I got. After hearing your experiences, I think we will set up another conference.

Oh, I really don't like when teachers respond like that.
Just to give an update on DS (almost 6): today is his second day full time in first. HE LOVES IT. He was thanking us for helping him to get to first. He feels like he is doing more challenging things (still way bellow his capabilities, but it is a huge step up from K in his eyes). He feels like he can relate more to the children in first. But his favorite time still is when he gets pulled out and is doing math with gifted 3rd graders.
So, as of now. I think he is where he should be, I am really happy that he was skipped into first.(Although, our first thoughts were that one year will not make a difference, and were not ready to move him more than one. But now I see that even the one year makes a difference.)
To him everything is new, classroom, friends, rules, etc. I hope, for awhile, his brain will be busy with that. And we see, what we do in the future, taking it day by day.

Niki,

I'm so happy that your son loves his new situation! No doubt part of the fun for him is keeping his mind busy with all the non-academic stuff right now -- the new teacher, class, friends, rules, etc. Every little bit of brain stimulation has to help! And it's great that he's also being pulled out for math. Sounds like you've figured out a good situation for this year. Yea!