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I would much rather have my son in a setting similar to what he was used to in private school, that is mixed age classrooms.
Since that's no longer an option, we have agreed to letting him skip. Actually he'll be skipping 2 grades, sort of. Last year he was officially a fifth grader, but doing a lot of sixth grade work and spending some time in sixth grade classes. He was tested at the end of the year and it was suggested that he stat 7th grade this year. He also excelled in the standardized testing (TAKS, here) for both 5th and 6th grade.
He doesn't have many friends and hasn't had many friends at this school, nowhere near the amount he had in private school, in mixed-age settings. He spends most of his time conversing with his teachers and other adults, aside from one girl he gets along with (and she is very advanced for her age)... he gets frustrated with his peers often, for their "immaturity", and while he isn't ridiculed, he does get a lot of blank stares because he just communicates on a totally different level than other kids his age. His vocabulary is more advanced, his interests are outside the norm, and he just feels like he has nothing in common with his peers. He doesn't understand, for example, why everyone giggles at the nude statue when they are on a museum field trip. He doesn't get why other boys say girls are "gross" or talk about "boobies" and snicker, and he gets offended (and speaks up) if someone makes racist comments about another student.
Now, this may not all be solved by skipping ahead, but I don't think it's going to be much worse...
Since that's no longer an option, we have agreed to letting him skip. Actually he'll be skipping 2 grades, sort of. Last year he was officially a fifth grader, but doing a lot of sixth grade work and spending some time in sixth grade classes. He was tested at the end of the year and it was suggested that he stat 7th grade this year. He also excelled in the standardized testing (TAKS, here) for both 5th and 6th grade.
I don't quite understand what you mean by the bolded words.
If he was in 5th grade and is entering 7th, that's a single skip, not a double skip. ("Double promotion" = "single skip")
I'll also note that 7th and 8th grades are often the hardest to skip into, in terms of conduct of other children towards the underaged newcomer.
I don't quite understand what you mean by the bolded words.
If he was in 5th grade and is entering 7th, that's a single skip, not a double skip. ("Double promotion" = "single skip")
I'll also note that 7th and 8th grades are often the hardest to skip into, in terms of conduct of other children towards the underaged newcomer.
Good luck!
You are right. I am tired, and that didn't make sense.
I think it will be a bit easier because he is in a K-12 school, a small charter school where there is already a lot of interaction between the various grades and they are all in the same building (although they do separate the high school kids quite a bit from the rest). Last year, while officially a 5th grader, he spent class time with many of these same students (they were sixth graders) who will now be his 7th grade classmates.
He is also older due to a late birthday cutoff (his b-day is September 13th).
I may have posted this earlier in the thread, but. . .
In my kids' schools, by middle school (6th grade) a lot of classes were run on ability level, not age level. There were a lot of multi-age classes. Therefore, skipping grades per se was not really necessary. In high school it was even moreso. Oh, there were a few courses specifically for freshmen, but even then occasionally there would be a sophomore in some of them. Plus, your grade level in HS is determined by how many credits you have. I guess what I'm saying is if a kid has gotten to 6th grade and the middle school is fairly flexible, it's sometimes better to stay in their own grade.
I guess what I'm saying is if a kid has gotten to 6th grade and the middle school is fairly flexible, it's sometimes better to stay in their own grade.
No argument.
Doubly true if the Middle School and High School cooperate.
I may have posted this earlier in the thread, but. . .
In my kids' schools, by middle school (6th grade) a lot of classes were run on ability level, not age level. There were a lot of multi-age classes. Therefore, skipping grades per se was not really necessary. In high school it was even moreso. Oh, there were a few courses specifically for freshmen, but even then occasionally there would be a sophomore in some of them. Plus, your grade level in HS is determined by how many credits you have. I guess what I'm saying is if a kid has gotten to 6th grade and the middle school is fairly flexible, it's sometimes better to stay in their own grade.
I don't think grade skipping is much of an issue past elementary school because you can kind of grade skip by subject in middle school and beyond by simply taking higher courses. Unfortunately, at the elementary level it's all or nothing. Skip the entire grade or not at all. Sometimes kids are ready to move on in one subject but not another.
My dd's elementary school had mixed grade classrooms to deal with this. Kids could move to different groups for different subjects wihtin the classroom.
My dd is moving to a middle school, as a 7th grader, this year and will be taking freshmen classes in 7th and 8th grade. By the time she gets to the high school, she'll be in mostly 10th grade classes but may not graduate early because she needs credits to graduate. While she will start 9th grade with about 3 credits, she needs 23 to graduate. With only 6 available per year, she'll still need 4 years to graduate.
What can parents or children do to skip a grade if they think the child's academic standard is above the designated grade level?
If the kid is getting all A's and bored then it is time for him to skip. Tell the school it's time for a skip.
As far as social development goes if they are the one in a million bright kids it doesn't matter because they probably don't care themselves.
If your a teacher hope you don't get someone like John Nash, Jr.who was doing linear algebra in grade school and went on to receive his PhD in mathematics from Princeton at age 21. With someone like that the teacher doesn't teach they just let him go.
I don't think grade skipping is much of an issue past elementary school because you can kind of grade skip by subject in middle school and beyond by simply taking higher courses. Unfortunately, at the elementary level it's all or nothing. Skip the entire grade or not at all. Sometimes kids are ready to move on in one subject but not another.
Everything in the above statementexcept the last line is purely on a school or system by school or system basis.
The phrase your mileage may vary applies to every piece of advice about what can or cannot (and should or should not) be done in a specific school
Everything in the above statementexcept the last line is purely on a school or system by school or system basis.
The phrase your mileage may vary applies to every piece of advice about what can or cannot (and should or should not) be done in a specific school
Well, here, in every school I looked at for my dd, she could pick her class levels past 6th grade. It was elementary schools where we had to find a school that allowed for different levels. Things may be different where you are but I'm talking about how they are where I am.
I, honestly, don't know of a middle or high school that won't let a child take harder classes if they want them. It's simple to do when kids move from class to class. You just let them walk to a different class.
Originally Posted by Ivorytickler I don't think grade skipping is much of an issue past elementary school because you can kind of grade skip by subject in middle school and beyond by simply taking higher courses. Unfortunately, at the elementary level it's all or nothing. Skip the entire grade or not at all. Sometimes kids are ready to move on in one subject but not another.
Everything in the above statementexcept the last line is purely on a school or system by school or system basis.
The phrase your mileage may vary applies to every piece of advice about what can or cannot (and should or should not) be done in a specific school
Well, here, in every school I looked at for my dd, she could pick her class levels past 6th grade. It was elementary schools where we had to find a school that allowed for different levels. Things may be different where you are but I'm talking about how they are where I am.
I, honestly, don't know of a middle or high school that won't let a child take harder classes if they want them. It's simple to do when kids move from class to class. You just let them walk to a different class.
Nobody doubts what you know or claim to know about this.
Nobody is saying you don't have the experience you have.
Let me try to explain this to you one more time:
YOUR EXPERIENCES ARE NOT ALL THERE ARE TO THE WORLD.
Your post at the top, to which I initially responded, and your closing paragraph of this most recent post are both aimed at convincing people that your experiences are what they can and should expect to find. They are not couched in language of "In this part of Michigan, it is like this. What is it like elsewhere?"
The thing is, Ivorytickler, I happen to believe it should be the way you describe things in middle school and high school, plus having those two work together for smooth transitions and cross-enrollment when appropriate.
Unfortunately, it is not required to work that way in any U.S. state, and the circumstances vary broadly, sometimes even to individual teachers within a school or a department within a system.
I know high schools that refuse to accept CTY courses as proof of learning - BUT will not permit students to test out, either. "If you haven't taken OUR course in this, then you need to take it." I've seen it with college transfers, as well.
The other factor you neglect in your over-simplified view of high schools (odd, since you ostensibly teach in one) is that schedules don't necessarily permit one to "just let them walk to a different class."
Not to mention that the class you wish to take early or harder might have a teacher unwilling to have another student in his class! ;-)
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