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I haven't read all the way back thru this thread. We were told by several teachers that our daughter could skip a grade academically but they didn't recommend it because she was already one of the youngest in her class. We now are sorry we didn't put her in the ungraded private school in our community.
Is that nationwide? My kids attended school in NJ, FL and GA.
I have heard in teacher forums that it is. I teach in NJ and I can absolutely tell you schools hate out of school placement. Many of the better school have GT or enrichment classes but not all. For those that do not have enrichment programs their first course of action when confronted by a parent of a gifted student tends to be accelerate.
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The eldest was given a spot in a gifted group removed from his classmates in 6th grade (different school that required busing), and it was not a great experience, as he wanted to be with his friends. The accelerated curriculum the youngest was exposed to was much, much better. He graduated hs with 42 college credits, but didn't miss out on socializing with his age group.
I understand the cost benefit, but aren't gifted students also a protected group?
Many parents do not realize that they are protected though, and many do not know how much better enrichment or outside placement (say in an academy) is for truly gifted students (obviously not in your case).
Personally, I think most AP is not particularly for gifted students at all, it is geared for above average students at best. My daughter did not find it challenging in anyway and given the ease with which gifted students get the magical 4 or 5, I would suspect the same is true for most of them as well.
Again, especially by high school, gifted students can really benefit from a program based on depth of knowledge rather than just taking college freshman course in high school. Our classes are only at an Honors level at my school but the depth of engineering or research they get to participate in is something unique and rewarding for our students (obviously not up the alley of all). Our type of engineering program and research programs wouldn't be found until graduate level but has been scaled to fit their current knowledge base. It works well.
So, you're saying that people are fibbing? Perhaps, although I don't understand how response bias, or how to determine it here, accounts for the posts noting the experience. It's not just who goes to this forum, then this sub-forum, this thread, and then who chooses to respond. Are you using the number of times the thread or posts are viewed to come up with a calculation?
I would use views by poster, not overall views.
I have been doing statistics for 20 years. I have a pretty good base for speculating. I am not going to calculate it, what is the point? I am not publishing anything here.
I was a straight A student that didn't have to study and I had no interest in skipping a grade when it was offered as a solution to my boredom. My boredom was with the institution not the subject matter. Skated the rest of the way through school. Run your stats on that. Appears the intent of your post to claim some of the posters are not telling the truth.
Keep in mind that the thread would most likely attract people who had or had offered a skip and that you are talking about numerous years, mine over 40 years ago. Also, "gifted" is not necessarily the ones that are offered a skip in grades. They didn't even have that category 40 years ago. I could remember the material and take a test about something I knew nothing about and do well. I sure considered it a "gift" that I didn't have to study!
School was such a waste of time. The only thing of value beyond reading, writing and arithmetic was typing class. The rest? I have no idea. What a waste of some of the best years of my life!
They didn't have gifted 40 years ago? IQ tests have been used for nearly 100 years. My mother and father were both tested in school (one private one public) in the late 40s and early 50s.
And yes, gifted students are the ones skipping grades.
I didn't respond that I had skipped a grade and I actually did...for three months and then I went back, the math was too hard. I don't think that counts But I did talk about my gifted kid, who is in fact gifted. He's also socially immature and awkward and has an adhd diagnosis so not really all that high on the "mompetitor" scale
I didn't respond either until now because it actually isn't relevant but I also skipped 4th grade. Once I caught up, I was then bored in that grade. When we got to middle school we had a G/T class which was much better and more interesting (we did things like make hypothetical stock portfolios, did experiments cross breeding plants, etc.) When I got to high school I was able to take AP courses but half of them were taught mixed in with another class.
My child was also one of the ones the school tried to accelerate because they did not want to offer enrichment in elementary school. She is young already for her grade but is tall and has always looked older. This bothered me more than if she had been smaller. Looking back I wish I had put her in the elementary school I went to because their GT program was pretty good.
Schools like acceleration because it is cheaper and easier to schedule than moving a class into just one or two advanced classes. Enrichment or gifted classes require a teacher to teach them and that costs money. Frequently the best option is placement with other gifted students in their same age group outside of the school. All the benefits of increased depth, challenging work, challenging peers, etc and less of the social and emotional maturity issues. Granted I am biased as I work at one of those schools but it works astoundingly well in our district.
I wish we had something like that around here. My kids would probably have stayed in public school if we did.
I wish we had something like that around here. My kids would probably have stayed in public school if we did.
On the top of the "if I ruled the world list" would be to make academies for all school districts on the county level nationwide. Not just STEM ones but all sorts. We have one based on communication studies like journalism, advertising, film, I am boggled by the amazing things those kids and teachers do.
But do you really think thats good for a kid? To go into 3rd grade at age 6 or something similar? I don't. I don't really understand the obsession some parents have with wanting their children to learn more and more at younger and younger ages.
I agree completely. I think it's an ego trip for the parents, sometimes, though the issue of a bored child can be very real. My son's preschool teachers wanted him to start kindergarten a year early, but his dad and I refused. We felt that the social issues of being a younger boy in junior and senior high school were a potential problem. Instead, we sent him to a school that allowed him to be placed in classes by ability, not grade.
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But I did talk about my gifted kid, who is in fact gifted. He's also socially immature and awkward and has an adhd diagnosis so not really all that high on the "mompetitor" scale 
