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.
