Skip a grade?

Some informal comments on grade-skipping that might be of interest

The following is a reply I made to a parent asking about grade-skipping. I wondered if others might find it useful.

> Is skipping a good idea? What are the drawbacks?
The major drawback is the transition being handled poorly and conspicuously, thus putting heavy and generally unnecessary pressure on the child, with this pressure coming from peers and/or teachers. Other drawbacks are the possible adverse social consequences of the increased chance (by no means certainty given the large age range for say puberty) that the child will reach biological milestones later than his classmates, and that some existing friendships can be lost. If you are contemplating a change of schools anyway then it seems that many of these drawbacks either do not apply or are minimised.
The advantages are increased probability that the child will find schoolwork interesting and "school learning" meaningful and indeed possible, increased probability that the child will find intellectual and emotional peers to relate openly with, and by no means least that the child will have gained a year of his or her life that might otherwise be wasted in redundant schooling.
There is some debate about whether gifted children are typically more emotionally mature than other children of their age. Obviously each child needs to be considered individually - they are all so different. But research suggests that the emotional age (as measured in psychological tests) tends to lie between chronological and intellectual ages. There has been discussion in this forum of emotionally brittle gifted children - they certainly exist. My view here is that the majority of emotional brittleness seen in some gifted children can be traced to inappropriate placement in school with the child finding themselves uncomfortably placed with children that he feels different to but is told are his peers and equals. This and most children's (and adults') need to belong can lead to all sorts of problems - disastrous self-denial and low self-esteem; clowning and acting-out behaviour to try to gain acceptance/attention; anti-social or rebellious behaviour (particularly in boys); and/or total turn-off and turn-in and/or underachievement.
> Should I pay for an intelligence test?
I tend to agree with some of the scepticism expressed about testing, but I would feel more comfortable with it that without it as I approached educational bureaucrats in an unknown educational system. The local assocation for gifted and talented children may be able to recommend a cheaper assessment path.
What I would certainly do is to ask any preschool or other educational professional that has had contact with your child, particularly if they raised the issue, to put their thoughts about your child's education needs and his/her current educational (academic and emotional status) down on their school's letterhead paper. Quite understandably an educational professional is going to be reassured by another professional's opinion, particularly if this talks knowledgably about the child's needs.
Undoubtedly the state and school district's policy on acceleration and gifted education will be important, but in my experience you need to look at individual schools and teaching approaches. If you have a choice of schools and can personally visit them in advance before making a choice then you have some advantage.
I hope this has helped, if nothing more to balance the range of advice you have received. We had some parallels. Our son was in his final year of a three year Montessori preschool program when he started presenting anti-social and rebellious behaviours that caused us to start some research and exploration. In his case acceleration has proved to be the best of the available options, not a panacea, but has provided him with the best social fit and best range of friends as well as keeping his interest in school learning alive. He is now ten and years younger than most of his friends - it has its problems, which he is now old enough to largely appreciate intellectually as well as react to emotionally - and he has no doubts about whether it was a good idea or not.
I might also add that whatever you decide and do, you might be well advised to do some general reading about gifted education. The hard decisions will continue and it helps to have a perspective and a knowledge of the research findings.
Best wishes and good luck - David.

Acceleration/flexible progression | References

Last updated:16/5/07

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