Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps you've already done so, but before taking drastic action, get your child professionally tested so you can get a better idea of your child's needs and how far ahead they are. Most of the testing done in school isn't really going to give you an accurate view of your child's level, and parents aren't necessarily the most reliable at gauging their kid's ability. Some assume that because the kid is reading a 5th grade level book in 2nd, that means the kid is "3 years ahead," when in reality the kid would only test as on or one year above grade level. Others downplay the kid's ability and don't realize that the kid is a true outlier.

I would consider grade skipping if your child is toward the older end of their grade level, can handle themselves socially, and wants to do it. I wouldn't skip ahead if the child is already on the younger side or struggles socially, unless the kid is struggling socially because they gravitate toward older kids.

What type of testing would this be? Why would reading at a 5th grade level in 2nd only be counted as one grade above? Is this the same with math skills?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps you've already done so, but before taking drastic action, get your child professionally tested so you can get a better idea of your child's needs and how far ahead they are. Most of the testing done in school isn't really going to give you an accurate view of your child's level, and parents aren't necessarily the most reliable at gauging their kid's ability. Some assume that because the kid is reading a 5th grade level book in 2nd, that means the kid is "3 years ahead," when in reality the kid would only test as on or one year above grade level. Others downplay the kid's ability and don't realize that the kid is a true outlier.

I would consider grade skipping if your child is toward the older end of their grade level, can handle themselves socially, and wants to do it. I wouldn't skip ahead if the child is already on the younger side or struggles socially, unless the kid is struggling socially because they gravitate toward older kids.

What type of testing would this be? Why would reading at a 5th grade level in 2nd only be counted as one grade above? Is this the same with math skills?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grade acceleration is generally a bad idea because the kids can end up being socially isolated. I know more than one person who skipped grades and then ended up dropping out of college for a while because being so much younger than their peers made it hard.

Your anecdotal experience has long been disproven by actual research.

There is general consensus in the field, supported by the extant literature, that acceleration is a uniquely appropriate instructional strategy for gifted learners (Argys, Rees, & Brewer, 1996; Colangelo, Assouline, & Gross, 2004).

(...) Few studies find negative social or affective consequences associated with acceleration for groups of students,

Read it yourself:

https://www.apa.org/ed/schools/gifted/rethinking-giftedness.pdf

This literature review does not say what you imply it does. First, it does not deal with social maturity, friendships, etc. Second, accelerating groups of students (in the line you quoted, which is nearly the only on-topic line in the article) is different from one kid skipping a grade and being socially younger than classmates. Third, later in that same section they say that students who skip grades may have difficulties if not appropriately assessed for readiness and maturity, which is a hand-wavy way of saying that everybody who has problems wasn't ready.

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps you've already done so, but before taking drastic action, get your child professionally tested so you can get a better idea of your child's needs and how far ahead they are. Most of the testing done in school isn't really going to give you an accurate view of your child's level, and parents aren't necessarily the most reliable at gauging their kid's ability. Some assume that because the kid is reading a 5th grade level book in 2nd, that means the kid is "3 years ahead," when in reality the kid would only test as on or one year above grade level. Others downplay the kid's ability and don't realize that the kid is a true outlier.

I would consider grade skipping if your child is toward the older end of their grade level, can handle themselves socially, and wants to do it. I wouldn't skip ahead if the child is already on the younger side or struggles socially, unless the kid is struggling socially because they gravitate toward older kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grade acceleration is generally a bad idea because the kids can end up being socially isolated. I know more than one person who skipped grades and then ended up dropping out of college for a while because being so much younger than their peers made it hard.

Your anecdotal experience has long been disproven by actual research.

There is general consensus in the field, supported by the extant literature, that acceleration is a uniquely appropriate instructional strategy for gifted learners (Argys, Rees, & Brewer, 1996; Colangelo, Assouline, & Gross, 2004).

(...) Few studies find negative social or affective consequences associated with acceleration for groups of students,

Read it yourself:

https://www.apa.org/ed/schools/gifted/rethinking-giftedness.pdf