Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments multiple grade skips

I am interested in feedback or experiences of those who have had multiple gradeskips or have children that have had multiple gradeskips. I am thinking in terms of 2+ years of full grade acceleration, positive or negative experiences.

We are currently in the process of deciding whether or not to accelerate our DS6 again and are torn about what to do. He is clearly a PG child all around and we are not at all concerned that he won't be able to keep up academically. He is currently in a 2nd grade classroom at 6yo (turns 7 in the summer) after skipping K. He also goes to a 4th grade classroom for math and receives 4th and 5th grade work for math, spelling words that are probably middle school level, and reading comprehension at 4/5 grade level. Next year he will be going to a 6th grade class for math. The school recently threw out there that they are considering another grade skip for next year and wanted to know what we thought about moving him to 4th grade and then still having him go to 6th for math. They didn't say much more about it as he was close to me as they talked to me (intently reading a book), but they said they would talk more at our next meeting next month. DS6 is an extroverted kid, but really doesn't have any good friends in 2nd at all. He doesn't really relate to the kids well because they have such different interests, but does try at times (by asking them questions about pokeman and things he is not interested in just to have conversations with them). He does want to have friends at school. He is a very easy going kid. One of our concerns is gym class (I know how ridiculous that sounds, but we are a little concerned about him playing in a gym with kids 2-3 years older). We just want to make sure we make the right decision, which is so hard sometimes. So that is our story and what we are trying to figure out. Any thoughts or experiences would be much appreciated.

Hi shellymos,

I think that the elementary school years are tough for some EG/PG kids in the regular school setting, no matter how fabulous your school is at identifying and differentiating for your kiddo (and your school system is really wonderful). Like CFK said, sometimes the base grade just becomes too far away from the actual level where your DC needs to be, and if it gets to the point that the only things that your child can benefit from in said base grade are some of the specials and gym, you've got a lot to think about.

I believe that your school situation is also complicated by having grade-based centers, so your DS would be beyond some of the materials that they have at the base school. Would another skip help this situation? Is there a way that your DS can join the lower grades for gym?

My DS is not really in the same situation as yours, because your DS seems to like to take off like a rocket. But we have in effect 2 years of a grade skip (DS skipped 1st this year, and then last month transferred to a school for HG kids that works a year ahead and also provides differentiation). The difference has been amazing for us, because our DS is challenged (for now), whereas he was in many pullouts at the old 2nd grade class and still needed more. So a change in base for us has worked well, but it's apples and oranges because DS is still just a year to a year and a half younger than the kids in his current school, since the second "skip" was to HG school rather than a traditional grade. If we had stayed in our local district, I feel fairly confident that we would have had to do another traditional grade skip.

I know that I don't have useful advice, but I do feel for you! Good luck in your decision making.

When I was jumped several grades, I suddenly had friends I could relate to. And I enjoyed the classes as they were interesting.

As for gym, some things I could not compete in, but others, like soccer and gymnastics, the age difference improved my game and I caught up.

The only issues I can recall were handwriting/notetaking and not being able to see over other kids' heads. The teachers moved me to the front of the class and my handwriting is still pretty bad.

Shelly,

I swear your son and mine fell from the same tree!

When DS was 5, he went to K. The district refuses to skip in K. He spent his day being pulled out for every subject. The only participation he had with the K class was the pledge of allegiance and recess.

Last year, the school radically accelerated him to 4th at 6 with middle school math on the computer with the gifted coordinator. It was a complete disaster. The fourth graders seemed to delight in making my son cry. After 3 weeks, I pulled him out and h/s for the rest of the year. This year at 7, he started as a 6th grader at a charter school that serves 6-12th grade. He is a half day student, taking 6th grade science and LA, 8th grade math and it has been fabulous! He loves school, is challenged and has a very good relationship with his fellow students. I can't say he's found a best friend, but there are several kids that are more than willing to include him in activities.

He is doing well academically, he is challenged and he fits. His teachers place the same demands on him as the rest. The other students expect his full participation in group projects. In addition, this program is academically tough so the kids don't have time to pick on the "little guy". He looks forward to going to school each day. On Fridays, his school has electives (core classes M-Th). My son chose karate. Because the electives are open to all grade levels, he is surrounded by others up to 18 but delights in the advantages his speed give him. I have to admit, the first time I watched him spar a 15 yo that was easily twice his size I almost had heart failure. But he held his own, mostly because the big guy couldn't catch him.


I don't have a good reason as to why this setting works so well, when the other was so horrible. I suspect it has more to do with the peer group (9/10 year old 4th graders) vs. (12-13 year olds) this year.


This is such an individualized thing. It depends on your son and how he feels, his peer group and how they react, his teachers and admin support available. Personality is an issue. My son clearly knows that he is a fish out of water and doesn't care. He has never worried about fitting in. People always talk about the "least worst" but I wasn't willing to settle for that. I consider myself a better than average homeschool mom because I put in the time. That being said, I also realize my limitations and the truth is I could probably succesfully h/s for another year or 2 before he was beyond my ability. Sorry, but I just can't see the two of us dissecting a suckling pig on the kitchen counter and that is definitely where we were headed!


One added bonus for us is that being with kids that are so much older had improved his behavior. His emotional outbursts have waned dramatically as he learns through modeling that there are ways to solve problems that don't involve tears.

For the first time, I don't find myself asking "what's next?". This program allows for dual enrollment in the college whenever he needs it and I'm hopeful that this program will be able to serve him not only through middle and high school but through the beginning of college.

PM me if you want to talk and I'll give your my phone #.

I can only (as others have done) share how we managed this kind of situation with our EG/PG child. She is 11 and while the state considers her an 8th grader (that is, she has not yet been assigned a graduation cohort year), she is taking all high school coursework this year, and has already taken high school courses since she was nine, starting with algebra.

We've avoided the obvious chronological age difference issues by choosing a virtual charter school. This gives my DD (now 11) the freedom to choose when her classmates find out how much younger she is. Mostly, they take it very matter-of-factly-- but then again, they've almost always had a chance to just get to know her as "that smart, funny girl" first.

We have opted not to do a full "skip" since school entry (3rd grade placement at 6yo mid-year entry). Instead, we've compacted/telescoped curriculum so that she could smoothly move THROUGH the curriculum, which avoids obvious gaps. This has the additional advantage of allowing the PG child to work at the increased pace that they often prefer. In a brick-and-mortar school, this can be done by placing the child in a split level classroom during the 'double' year, and letting the child work more-or-less independently through BOTH years during that time, thus preserving social relationships in the acceleration year and the one following. Peers will already "know" the student since s/he was in their class the previous year, socially smoothing things a bit. On the other hand, once you reach the 'destination' grade, keeping them in sync with that reduced rate of instruction again can be a bit of a problem, as we've learned.

The full picture of how we did things with DD:

We HSed for a year beginning when DD would have entered kindy as a young 5yo; we knew she was moving through scope and sequence at a tremendous rate, so we tested her (informally) using a 2nd grade CAT5 after about ten months, which she easily scored 99%+ on in all areas (her first experience with any kind of assessment at all). We then applied to enter the charter school when she expressed interest in "real school" in January of that year. DD did all of 3rd grade in about 8 weeks, then we filled the rest of the school year with electives (Calvert curriculum's elementary mythology, some Latin, and World history), all of which she finished as well. The following year, she finished 4th grade shortly after winter break, but then we had difficulty getting the national organization to ship out the 5th grade materials (yes, due to her age... <sigh>), which meant that she had nothing at all to do for ~8 weeks while we waited, and in the interim, she had a medical crisis that resulted in only getting about 6 weeks with the 5th grade material. So she finished the year only half-way through it. We (meaning parents+school) agreed that having her start 6th in the fall was still the correct thing to do, by any measure.

6th went very well, though she chafed a bit at the pace. 7th, she was less happy with the pacing, and we had a lot of trouble getting her to do assignments from mid-year on. Last year, the problems were pretty severe from January through late April... but at least she was able to happily plan for high school courses.

This year, we are realizing that the underlying pace of the curriculum, even in "honors" coursework, is just too slow, and it has been since 6th grade; not only that, but the spiraling pedagogical underpinnings are a huge problem. She is really struggling with existential depression and is completely disengaged from school in many ways. Ordinarily, this is probably where we'd opt to accelerate again, but for reasons individual to DD's medical situation, we really don't want her graduating any earlier than 14. We're HOPING that we can do the next couple of years with her with a mixture of enrichment, core requirements viewed as "nuisance" chores on a checklist, and independent study. At that point, we'll begin to transition her to college coursework.

We are fortunate in that we have the opportunity to do non-enrolled community college courses at pretty much any point, and there will also be a chance to transition VERY smoothly from the community college into the larger state land-grand university with complete reciprocity at some point in the future, as well. Those are things to look down the road at with PG kids-- just as long as we bear in mind that this is merely "plan A." LOL. We plan, but DD's a wild card and often as not, a complete game-changer.

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The good points are obvious, I think. Super-modified acceleration (as opposed to merely "radical") has allowed her to stay engaged with regular school FAR longer than would otherwise have been possible, and it has been useful to have her experience the school environment (as opposed to completely homeschooling). She has made friends, and even met a few people who are also HG+ among her classmates, even if she is pretty singular even in this environment. Virtual schools tend to have a lot of draw for HG+ kids in my state because outside of a single urban area, there is virtually nothing for them in regular schools. So this is about as close to ability grouping as we're likely to get.

On the down side, being 4-7 years younger than one's classmates means that they discuss cultural influences that she simply isn't developmentally ready for. The down side of a virtual school is that it also often functions as an "alternative school" for kids that had other kinds of problems functioning in regular schools. Struggling students who are doing credit recovery are sometimes in the "basic" version of the same courses my DD is in as an "honors" student-- and may share a lecture section. THAT is not so great, and it sometimes leads my DD to feel a little like an odd duck. But PE is decoupled from the academic environment entirely, so she can hang out with the homeschoolers during the day for that, and get social time with similar-age peers.

I'm not sure it's a perfect solution, and it's one that we've had to make a lot of compromises/sacrifices for, but it works. Sort of, anyway; I mean, it worked for quite a while... which is all I can hope for with DD. You ride the train til the track runs out, right?

Thanks to everyone for the experiences and comments that you have provided. I realize there is no easy answer. I agree that I don't want the reason for holding him back to be gym. He is involved in baseball outside of school and that is age based so not a problem. He is actually big for his age...but I often forget as I often see him with older children. He is even bigger than a 4th grader in one of his classes now. I agree CFK There does seem to be more opportunities for older kids in the high school and older grades, so we are looking forward to that.it seems far away but I realize HS classes will be here very shortly in some fashion.

SPG-yes the centers complicate things, he will be moving to a new school next year that is 3rd to 5th and then will have to go to another school again for math at the middle school. He would be able to go down a grade for gym next year, but I don't know if I would bother because in a year or 2 he will be at another school and not able to go down a grade for gym. Plus, the goal would be for him to be with his class more for all subjects, even though he would get acceleration for math (and I am sure science and english soon enough as well as 2 year acceleration aren't going to be enough for those I am sure). I love you DS's school set up. It sounds so awesome. I am so glad to hear things are going well!!

Shari-Yes, I agree our sons do sound quite similar. And the part about the behavior improving would be great. He isn't that bad now...but still is goofy a little bit. But again, he still isn't fully challenged. It is so hard to know about the bullying issue. I read somewhere that kids more often bully kids their own age and not as much with a 3,4 year gap..but this would only be a 2 yr gap. Oddly enough one of the kids that has befriended him in his 4th grade class this year is a boy who has been a bit of a bully to other kids, but somehow is super nice to DS. The school is really happy about the positive changes they have seen in this kid with all the kids. DS's 4th grade class this year is really great with him...but next year the kids would be a year younger as this group will be moving up to 5th. I really love your DS's school set up. That must be such a great feeling to be able to know that when he is ready for the college stuff they can meet his needs.

Howler Karma - ride the train til the tracks run out. I like that, I am hoping that they keep extending the tracks though and they never run out : ) I also like the idea of super modified acceleration. They are doing a lot of that now so I am really hopeful this will continue.

So the other day I took DS to lunch after a dr. appt and we were playing around and chatting. We talked about school and I asked him what class he feels the most comfortable in, 2nd or 4th. He says he likes them both but he feels more comfortable in 4th. He never could explain why. I also asked DS6 a hypothetical question about what grade he would pick if he had the choice to move to 3rd or 4th next year. He thought about it for a while and then asked what I would do. I explained that I couldn't answer that because I am not in that situation and never had been. He continued to ask things like "but what if you were in that situation..." but I didn't answer. Then after a while he said..."well I guess I would just go third because I already skipped once and I can't keep skipping my whole life." He wasn't definite, it was kind of just him coming up with an answer. He is a very easygoing kid about things...but I still don't want to make the wrong choice. Good thing I have another whole month or so to dwell on it, lol.

Hi. I am new to all this. I found the site because my son is getting fed up with school (again) and I don't know if I should take him out of high school completely and enroll him in the junior college (can I even do that?) or try to make HS work. He is bored in his honors classes. Help! (He skipped 5th grade)

Day-Z, I also have a HS honors student who is just about at the breaking point. She's a lot younger than your son, but I definitely feel your pain. None of her teachers or counselors have been very sympathetic to the very real problems we've been having, quite bluntly. We are sort of at a similar crossroads.

Here's what I'd probably do with a child age 13+:

contact your nearest JC/CC and ask if they'd allow a non-matriculated enrollment in a course or two. Then try it. Such institutions often offer coursework in the evenings or at times when it wouldn't be necessary for your child to miss school.

This might be a way to try before you buy (ie-- try the college courses before leaving high school). This also leaves a lot of choices open--

If a single college course in an area of interest makes high school tolerable, great-- you can do that.

If the JC/CC level isn't right, then you know that full-time isn't going to be significantly "better" than full-time high school, so maybe looking at other options for higher ed makes more sense.

If it feels like a liberating epiphany, then you know that it is the right thing to do.

My best friend did this, btw, and it was easily the right decision for her-- she had an AA by the time she was 18, and was happily stepping into her career at 21. But then again, she was a person who always seemed to just KNOW what she wanted to do. I changed my mind once I was in college, and lots of people (especially those gifted people who have multi-potentiality at work) can find that they need the extra time to make decisions about life direction.

I am really appreciative of this info. I am seriously going to look into our JC and I think trying it out first makes a lot of sense. Thank you Howler and CFK. Also, does anyone subscribe to a magazine that addresses our issues and is a good resource? Thanks again. Oh,and as far as teachers, it is a real battle. I wish they could see how lucky they are to have a student who really actually cares about the material and is crying out to be challenged more, not trying to get out of working....and I am a former teacher. I used to "employ" students like that in my classroom. They could (and would) quite literally teach the class. What an incredible resource under their noses!