Hi OP, if you are still out there, I recommend this book that I am reading now called "Simplicity Parenting." I got it from the library and it has a lot of practical guidance for how I can help my precocious child put down deep roots and make our home a more calm place. We are all for education and meeting our child where he is, but we also want him to be a balanced person. Childhood only comes around once! We will probably not "red shirt" even though almost every other summer boy at our private school will. What we will do is be intentional about our home life. Hope this helps, I wish that I had it all figured out! http://www.amazon.com/Simplicity-Parenting-Extraordinary-Calmer-Happier/dp/0345507983

As for the teacher with the anecdote on the boy skipping a grade, a highly smart child will often have issues in the early school years because he may not have a peer in the whole elementary school. And given how rare his talent level is, most teachers may never meet one in her whole career. Many truly talented people won't have a true peer group until college years, or at least high school. So no wonder he struggled, he would have struggled not having skipped too. It can even be argued that he was not challenged enough even with a single grade skip.

I'm the teacher with the anecdote. I agree with what you say--I was not his teacher, though. I do not think he would have "fit in" anywhere in that school. However, he did not benefit from being skipped.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you insane? Yes. She will never catch up to her brother, duh.

My sister was allowed to skip a grade. Puberty was excruciating and difficult b/c she was behind everyone else as they were developing and 17 when she went off to college.

I skipped a grade, as a girl. Puberty was excruciating and difficult, but not because I skipped a grade, but because it was puberty. I went to college at 17. Nothing bad happened.

PP, Good for you!

As for the teacher with the anecdote on the boy skipping a grade, a highly smart child will often have issues in the early school years because he may not have a peer in the whole elementary school. And given how rare his talent level is, most teachers may never meet one in her whole career. Many truly talented people won't have a true peer group until college years, or at least high school. So no wonder he struggled, he would have struggled not having skipped too. It can even be argued that he was not challenged enough even with a single grade skip.

Anonymous wrote:Are you insane? Yes. She will never catch up to her brother, duh.

My sister was allowed to skip a grade. Puberty was excruciating and difficult b/c she was behind everyone else as they were developing and 17 when she went off to college.

I skipped a grade, as a girl. Puberty was excruciating and difficult, but not because I skipped a grade, but because it was puberty. I went to college at 17. Nothing bad happened.

Don't most kids like to play with older kids? That's our experience. The younger the child is the harder it is for them to manage their emotions and effectively respond to other children's actions and emotions. All that is easier with olders. But the real work for kids is building themselves through practice including with age peers.

Anonymous wrote:

A year later why is that child ready now to be a mature 6 yo Kindergartner but not a mature 6 yo first-grader, if academic readiness is not the issue?

Because the child is emotionally at the level of a Kindergartener.

So you're saying that child has matured during the year of being held back, but has only matured to the level of a Kindergartner in that time? They were too immature for K and the extra year has them ready for K emotionally. Academically it doesn't matter if that child is now at a first grade, or even second grade level.

Anecdotal: as a teacher, I saw a kid skipped a grade because he was so much "smarter". Guess what? He was smarter than the grade ahead, as well. Kid was brilliant--but did not fit in. It was a terrible call.

Are you insane? Yes. She will never catch up to her brother, duh.

My sister was allowed to skip a grade. Puberty was excruciating and difficult b/c she was behind everyone else as they were developing and 17 when she went off to college.

That is why I thought the OP should consider grade skipping. Not that she should definitely do it but she should think outside of her own box and really see what benefit her DD's unique needs rather than her own perceived notion of what a childhood should look lie.

Remember, this child is still three.


She is on the cusp of starting next year--so you would start her this year? Really?

Like not lie.