Parents seeking advice.....

[DGhost]

I dunno. it is a tough choice. I look back at my educational experiences and am not really sure what to make of it. I can't say that I would have been better off if I had been skipped a grade. I don't think it would have mattered that much for me in the long run - I wound up skipping a number of classes in elementary and middle school for similar reasons. Once I was in high school there were a number of ways for students who were exceptionally gifted to do work beyond what the average student would - it just took having councelors and administrators that truely cared. Sadly, mine didn't.

Funny thing is that I think the best thing I did as far as my education was drop out of high school.

more on topic - my experience was that every time students switched schools people also tended to make new and different friends. I stayed in touch with a lot of my friends from elementary school while I was in middle school, but by the time I switched over to high school I wasn't keeping in touch with them. Same thing between middle school and high school. personally, I think I probably would have done better in a private or alternative school - those are always options available.

like others have said, the choice is up to you and your son. it is a tough choice and it is *never* easy to stand outside of the norm.

[Dr Mordrid]

He'll be 7 in March, so he's in the middle of the age range for 1st graders. He's also very mature for his age and physically taller than many of his peers, so it's not like he'd stand out as small.

My wife (a learning center teacher) thinks that if a promotion is to be made it should be now instead of at an older age because young ones are often more adaptable. Thing is she's also in a bit of shock since she usually deals with kids at the other end of the scale.

Looks like he'll mature into my physical build (big chest/shoulders/legs etc.) since he's almost a ringer for me at that age. He's also very strong for his age, which tends to confirm this idea. He works his arms out with 8 lb dumbbells.

Decisions, decisions....

Dr. Mordrid

[KvHagedorn]

Well, whatever age group he happens to be in will not necessarily be more equal to him in intelligence, just level of knowledge. He would do better in a school or classroom where there are other intelligent kids his own age. The difference in reading or math level now will be less when he is older, say 6th or 7th grade, and he will notice that he remains unchallenged by normal curriculum. Another, not inconsequential point.. the normal teachers are not as bright or qualified as they might be in a magnet school. How can he be challenged by a teacher who is not as bright as he is? Teachers teach to the average or lowest common denominator in public schools, and often leave the gifted to fend for themselves. The mind becomes flabby if not challenged, and such students often become bored and disinterested in school. Public schools in America are a pathetic place for intelligent people to grow up in. An amazing amount of potential is wasted here because so much attention is paid to getting sub-par minds up to their own level, yet gifted students are neglected. My own experience was this, as was apparently DGhost's. There have been others I know also who fell into the neglectful clutches of American public schools and wasted their potential.

[Dr Mordrid]

My experience was the opposite.

I grew up in a small farm district that had the foresight to hire very good teachers, some from Europe, and retain them. Ex; my physics/advanced maths teacher in HS was a very sharp Greek.

They also had a program for advanced students where things like grade restrictions on certain classes could be waived.

One thing in Michigan is that if the local district can't meet his needs we can petition to have him evaluated and if he meets the criteria the district pays for him to go to a gifted program in another district. Michigan also has a dual-enrollment program where kids can be enrolled in both high school and college simultaneously.

Dr. Mordrid

[DGhost]

let me get something clear right now. just because someone does not go to school and get a formal education that pushes their minds does not mean that they have wasted their potential. I have seen far more people who throw their own potential away outside of the classroom while being challenged in school than the other way around.

there are all sorts of minds. there are people who are challenged by remembering and using knowledge. there are people who are not. there are people who choose to try hard at what challenges them and those who do not. different minds, different people.

Doc - I would agree with your wife. Children, especially at that age, tend to be far more accepting and a lot of the differences that divide teenages have not really come about yet. I would guess that a change at that age would be easier to overcome because of social issues...