Should You Grade Skip Your Child?
Aug 7th 2006
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By Donna Betancourt
Is your child bored in school? Does he need more advanced academics? Are you thinking that he needs to be put ahead a grade or two? Making the right decisions for your child can be a hair pulling, sleep losing, teeth gritting experience. Deciding to skip your child ahead is a difficult process because society doesn't like parents to take kids out of the 'traditional' way of doing things. Grade skipping is not for every kid, but absolutely essential for others. Is it the right choice for your child?
Misconceptions
Grade skipping and entering school early is not illegal. Schools may not let you do either one, but that is not because there are laws against grade skipping. Schools do not have to let your child skip a grade. Even if you're child is a little Einstein and you can prove it, you and your child are at the mercy of whatever school system you're in. That school system may be pro or con grade skipping. Most of the time parents approach the school system and request a grade skip. Schools very rarely (almost never) select a bright child to be skipped a grade. Testing is not always required to skip a grade although many times it will be requested. It is important to decide what you think about grade skipping and how it can benefit or hurt your child before entering the process.
Parental Honesty
Making the right decision about grade skipping requires a parent to answer a lot of questions honestly. Is your child mature enough to handle both the advanced information and to interact successfully at a higher grade level? How are you going to feel when your child is exposed to social topics of older children such as sex, drugs and dating? How will your child feel when confronted with these topics ... comfortable, embarrassed, influenced?
Pros of Skipping a Grade
My daughter skipped kindergarten and high school. She now has years to hang out and have fun because she skipped grades. She does not define people by age, but recognizes their individual contributions as people. Not sitting in a classroom for the entire teen years has helped her become a more healthy individual. She entirely skipped teen angst, peer pressure, drugs, violence and avoided kids who were having problems in those areas, but at the same time got to participate in extracurricular activities with her age peers in soccer, dance, music and other group/club activities. Skipping grades helped her think about her career goals at an earlier age and exposed her to many more possibilities.
Cons of Skipping a Grade
Social pressure is the greatest con of grade skipping. Everyone has an opinion and many times those with the strongest opinions have never had any experience with grade skipping or known anyone who has grade skipped. Strangely, battling opinions of those not involved is the hardest part of the process. Also, school systems are not thrilled about skipping grades. They, many times, strongly believe in keeping kids on one track ... k-12. Here are arguments some schools use to stop you from grade skipping:
1. Your child is not socially mature enough to enter the next grade level.
2. Although your child may be socially mature enough now, he or she will have trouble when he/she gets older and other kids start physically maturing.
3. Kids at this age tend to even out by middle/high school.
4. Skipping a grade will hurt your child socially.
It's important to know the arguments and how you will respond to those arguments before you start your grade skipping process.
At what age should a child skip grade levels?
From my experience, kindergarten is the best year to skip. Other than that, experts agree that kids have the most success grade skipping if it's done before the ninth grade. After the ninth grade, it's my opinion that grades should not be skipped, but the focus should be on early graduation.
The best part about grade skipping is the time you save your child in life. The arguments about missing out socially are, in my experience, overrated. Most of the time kids are herded in a classroom and not allowed to talk. How can anyone socially interact without talking? So, social interaction has to occur in the few minutes between classes or at recess, leaving real interaction for extracurricular activities. I'm a big fan of grade skipping and I think it can benefit, not only bright kids, but society.
Part II will discuss how to grade skip.
About the Author
Donna Betancourt Co-author: You're gonna miss the prom? A True Life Account and Guide Book for Gifted Kids and author of Before College Book for Women: Protecting Yourself from Campus Crime. Her daugher skipped kindergarten and high school, entering full-time college at the age of 13. You can read more on this topic at http://www.extremeintellect.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donna_Betancourt
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Comments
i want to know how can a sixth grader skip to the 7th
hey i think a 7th grader should not skip a grade.
We have chosed to skip K for our 5 year old boy. We expected that socially he would be lagging. He is a very active child so this comes across as inattentiveness. We are in the second month of Gr 1, and he has difficulties with staying on task and getting work done in the classroom, but he knows the material and maybe bored. We actually thought about putting in K, because of these behaviours, is it better to wait it out till after Christmas to give it more time? or should we consider putting him where he should be?
My daughter is in the sixth grade, how can she skip to the seventh? please answer to ek_energy@hotmail.com
I was skipped against my will at a parochial school. Being a dutiful child, I put up with it, though I went from feeling normal before the skip, to having no friends and feeling alone after it. I suffered from what is now known as selective mutism from then until well into high school. If the decision to accelerate is not presented to the child as a choice that is entirely up to the child, then what you have are arrogant parents seeing what simply may not be there. Have you, Ms. Betancourt, been skipped a grade? If you haven't, you don't have the right to recommend it to others. It is quite simply, playing God with an innocent, mostly defenseless life, and that is an abomination.
Hi, I skipped 7th grade on the suggestion of my middle school guidance counselor. I was excited about it and my parents really did not push me one way or another.
I will be a senior next year, and I should mention that everything is absolutely fine; I don't feel that I really missed anything socially or academically, and it's not anything that I really think about, at all.
I am currently rank 1 in my class of more than 250.
Hi, my name is Keambra.I would like to skip the eighth grade,but I dnt know how
we adopted a little girl from Russia when she was 8. she should have started in 3rd grade but she was so far behind academically she was put in 1st grade. it was a struggle for her but with good tutoring she made it. she finished 2nd grade in a private school and did much better even getting A's and B's in a few classes. My concern is that she will turn 20 a couple days after she graduates high school. she will be able to get her drivers license in December of 8th grade. most importantly she is very athletic and will not be able to play sports her senior year. I'd love for her to skip 2 grades but I know that is highly unlikely. any suggestions on how and when we should plan to skip one grade? what is the least worst grade to skip? is it feasable to think that i could home school her one year at an accelerated pace or over one summer?
UMM i AM workinG hard to skippiNg a gradE and i ThiNk iT wiLL BE a Big HElp ANd i ALready Know EVERYthiNG i nEED tO know to gO to the NexT grade AND iMA put My mind to iT and iTZ noT really a bAD thiNg....it KinDA helpS YOU!!!!
My son is about to skip 5th grade. The school recommended it. Academics was not their only criteria by far. It was his maturity. His birthday is late October so he missed the cut off at a previous school and we were happy to keep him back. He is socially mature and spends more time with kids 1 to 3 years older than him. He is also abou 6 to 10 inches taller than most 5th graders and taller than most 6th graders so that is helpful ( I was the opposite). We let him decide and he was ready for it. Tomorrow is his first day. Our school is very small so that is also a plus. Let us see how it plays out...........parents should not push this. The kid must decide and be mature enough socially and resilient.
My daughter is in PK this year, but is academically ready for 1st. I would by no means skip her to 1st right now if it was an option because she couldn't handle it. I am thinking about trying to get her into K, but I'm not sure when or if I should go through with it.
im in 6th grade and i want to over the summer learn everything in 7th grade and go straight to 8th. But my mom and dad aren't sure is I should. How can i convince them that I should.
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