Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments We can't let the kid skip be-cauuse....

<snort>

Well-played!

I suspect that that they know your child has mastered boredom when he or she no longer asks the teachers any questions, completes all assignments cheerfully and fits in so well in the class any talk of a skip is no longer recognized.

However, I will add, that although we never got a full grade skip, we did get enough of the teachers on board that DS did get some grade skips and special placements for his teachers. His gifted teacher is amazing with him. Other than that, DH and I decided to be the ones that get to challenge and intrigue him outside of school. Too bad it means he does double work. Once to keep the teachers happy and the rest to keep him happy.

This is one of my many needless worries I can let go of! My husband's friend has been a local middle school teacher for ages. I finally asked her what the local school policy on grade-skipping is. She said they test them and if the test says they should be skipped they get skipped, no problem! She has her granddaughter in pre-school so she can skip since she's a late September baby.

Ok, didn't get this from the school system, but my mother-in-law (sigh): You wouldn't want her to go so fast that she'd be odd.
To which I replied, she is odd. Would you rather her be odd and free or odd and caged?

I really, really like the way you said that!

Val

Thanks Val for this post. We have gotten the "Your son is too immature to move ahead anymore" so many times. Sadly, this past year he was told that repeatedly. We are homeschooling this year.

They just don't get that academic abilities and social/emotional development are not equal nor occur at the same rates.

Love the posts on boredom. I never cease to be amazed at the creative reasons not to grade skip.

For me, and I'm sorry if it's a duplicate... but it is a REAL concern in GA, apparently:

We can't skip him now, at 5 (well 5 at the time), because when all of his classmates will be driving at 16, and he will be the only one who isn't.

Thankfully, for us, we got over that little hump.

See, and I can't even imagine driving coming into the picture. In dd9's grade cohort, even if no one skips a grade btwn now and then (no one has yet of her group), the kids will be between 15 turning 16 in late Sept (dd) to 18 their junior year of high school. Thus some of them will be driving by the end of their freshman year and some their junior year.

Thanks Val and Dottie. That's very helpful to hear. Saying that did give her pause... how could it not? But I have a feeling that when she gets older, my in-laws are going to have this "we're very proud of her, even though she is a freakshow" mentality. They're never going to get her. It probably gets to me more than it should, particularly given the fact that I just generally don't see eye to eye w/ the in-laws, but this is my dd we're talking about, you know? grr/sigh/ah well...

So, for those whose DC's have skipped, did you find one skip was enough? We have been granted a skip this year and am anxious to see how much of a difference it makes. I can't help but think that one skip isn't enough, but, at least we are one step closer to where we need to be/get. What did you do? Subject accel. after that? Another skip down the road? Homeschool?

I love these sayings... I have read so many of them and was prepared to answer to them when we had our big meetings, but... we didn't have to worry about them (though we did hear that driving might be an issue! SIGH! We told them, if we don't get accomodations now, that will be the LEAST of our worries at 16!)

For those that went HS route... do you use a computer based program or do you do all of your own curriculum? (Hoping not to need this info. but I am one who likes to be well researched on my decisions for the future...) Did the same thing with the decision to accel.