[FoRK] to skip or not to skip

[Stephen D. Williams]

I think it would be good if the child is happy and has fun with being 
challenged rather than being overwhelmed with work to the point of being 
turned off.  I've seen a couple children suffer distaste for school for 
years from things like a bad teacher or overloading of homework at an 
early age.

The other negative can be being the youngest in your grade.  For girls 
this is probably less of an issue, and it sounds like you would have 
insight into it.  One of my children was very late developing physically 
and was very small for his age.  Striving to overcome this by being 
hypersocial, which he succeeded at mostly, meant that he derailed his 
education just in the last two years of high school.  He was destined to 
be a good mechanical engineer and had already mastered 3D modeling and 
animation to an impressive degree at 16 which neither I or the other 
children have managed.

The other possible benefit is to get them out of high school earlier in 
the phase where they have out grown that kind of environment.  That 
depends on what kind of school system you are in.  In Virginia, and 
pretty much in Ohio also, they have a more or less standard high school 
that is run pretty much like a middle school or elementary in terms of 
strict structure, locked down building, and treating the students too 
much like children.  Several of the boys chafed at it big time.  So far, 
I'm pleased with my decision to move to Mountain View for my daughter.  
The high school is an open campus and treats, as far as I can see, the 
children more like college students.  They can come and go as they 
please pretty much, starting whenever their first class is, leaving 
after their last class, going wherever when they don't have class.  
There is a full-time tutor facility.  They have ipods, cell phones, etc. 
everywhere.  Pretty inoffensive from a teenager's point of view.

sdw

Corinna Schultz wrote:
> Do any of you have an opinion on the notion of skipping a grade? I'm
> wondering if I should push for it for my daughter (she's in 2nd grade
> right now, in a mixed 2nd/3rd grade class). I casually broached the
> idea at the beginning of the school year, just to plant the idea in
> her teacher's head, and got a "hmmm" kind of response.  Most school
> are very reluctant to skip grades, for some reason, but if I made a
> pest of myself, perhaps I could get them to. She's above grade level
> on just about everything, except, perhaps, writing composition; she's
> very bright (they're going to test her for the TAG label at some
> point) and socially well-adjusted if a bit naive. Skipping a grade
> probably won't matter in the short term, since elementary school
> focuses on reading and math, but I think it would serve her well in
> Middle and High school, and I think it's easier to adjust if it's done
> early.
>
> I've read that research generally supports the idea of skipping a
> grade, if there's no social issues, and I myself skipped 2nd grade
> with no ill effects, and my sister skipped half of kindergarten. In
> fact, I think it was good for us because of a more mature peer group,
> and being able to finish school earlier.
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Stephen D. Williams 703-371-9362C 703-995-0407Fax 94043 AIM: sdw