Is there any reason at all to jump a grade?

[Halcyon]

Just musing aloud. My father and i were talking, and he has a daughter from his second marriage who is in 6th grade. He said, "Well, L*** (my son) is pretty much doing 6th grade work, at least." my younger is doing 3rd grade work, or 4th.

 

Dh asked me tonight why i dont just "say" (to whom, i do not know, lol) that they are in 6th and 3rd grade. "One less year of homeschooliing for you!" ::glare: :tongue_smilie: He was himself accelerated, twice (once in 7th and once in 10th) and went to college at 15. I am in no way interested in having my kids go to college early, and he doesnt think it is a good idea.

 

Would there be any other reason to accelerate? The only reason I Can think of is access to FLVS courses, which start in 6th, but i doubt we will ever take advantage of those. Maybe the chance to do commuity college courses earlier? Or is that age-based?

[regentrude]

I see much less need to accelerate with homeschool than with public school. In a homeschool, you can tailor the curriculum to the student's needs and abilities and teach them at the appropriate level without grade skips.

I do not believe in going faster through the same material; my gifted students will get to learn much more in the normal time. So if DS takes algebra in 6th grade, this will allow him to take more math - not be done earlier.

 

This said, we did let DD skip 8th grade: she was taking a College Physics course at the university and finishing on top of her class - so we decided that we may well call it 9th grade and high school. She is extremely mature for her age, needs the company and academic challenges of a college environment and will have no problem going to college at 17.

I won't grade skip my son; he is accelerated, but not that dramatically more mature that he would need to be in college early. So, if he works ahead, he'll just do college level work in high school, but not graduate early.

[EKS]

I would accelerate when it is necessary to do so, which is usually when the child enters a b&m school.

[thewaka]

The only reason I am considering skipping my 12yo 7th grader is because she is doing the same curriculum as her 8th grade sister. Next year they will both be doing 9th grade work and it would be nice for it to count on a transcript for her. If I don't skip her, I'll have to figure out a different 12th grade year for her (probably independent projects, more science and math, max classes at the CC). This is probably what I will do, as she is immature for her age and I don't expect her to be ready for college at 17 (birthday is in August, too!).

[Arcadia]

I would request a grade skip for my 6 year old if we go back to B&M. My boys are a year apart but one is before cutoff and one is after cutoff. The virtual academy lets him do subjects at his level but our school district won't be accomodating.

[kiana]

The only reason I am considering skipping my 12yo 7th grader is because she is doing the same curriculum as her 8th grade sister. Next year they will both be doing 9th grade work and it would be nice for it to count on a transcript for her. If I don't skip her, I'll have to figure out a different 12th grade year for her (probably independent projects, more science and math, max classes at the CC). This is probably what I will do, as she is immature for her age and I don't expect her to be ready for college at 17 (birthday is in August, too!).

 

Well, you can always keep records as if it were 9th (lol, since you'll be keeping them for her sister anyway) and then decide in a few years whether it really was 9th or not. :)

[Ellie]

On paper? No.

 

"Grade levels" are protocols established by institutionalized education to indicate the approximate age of children in a specific group. They are irrelevant to homeschoolers, so IMHO, homeschoolers should just slap that label on children when it's necessary, such as Sunday school teachers, or grandparents, or soccer leagues. They have nothing whatsoever to do with the real learning ability or achievements of the children.

 

You teach your children at the level they are capable of; on paper, you do the grade level the children would have been in if they'd been in school, according to their date of birth and the cut-off in your state.

[Melissa B]

Would there be any other reason to accelerate? The only reason I Can think of is access to FLVS courses, which start in 6th, but i doubt we will ever take advantage of those. Maybe the chance to do commuity college courses earlier? Or is that age-based?

 

You have to check with the schools around you. Each is different. Around us, the university will accept any student 9th grade or above (with test scores.) The CC requires the student to be in 11th grade and at least 16 years old (again with test scores.)

[walkermamaof4]

I was accelerated and so was my nephew. Both of us regret it- not from an academic standpoint as we both graduated with honors and went on to grad school and thrived. But both of us were small for our ages and were emotionally tortured by classmates. And while a parent might deem their child mature, in truth neither of us was mature enough to enter college at the ages we did. But neither of us was homeschooled and I do believe this can make a big difference. Had we been homeschooled we might have been more mature and also not tortured by peers throughout grammar and high school. There is so much to learn. I think I'd rather have my child have an extra year of learning at home or travel before I would let them enter college early. A gap year is appealing and can really help a child gain independence before entering college.

[Dmmetler]

I think the rule of thumb is "If they were to go back to a traditional school tomorrow, what grade would you want them in?".

 

For my DD, the one year acceleration she got when she was in PS isn't a bad fit socially. She can still fit in physically, still has similar interests, but it just seems to click a little better when she's at the young end of the age group vs the old one. But if I were to accelerate her to her actual academic grade, she's more like an advanced 6th grader. And there's no way I'd want her in middle school, nor that she'd be able to cope socially and emotionally there.

[Halcyon]

I think the rule of thumb is "If they were to go back to a traditional school tomorrow, what grade would you want them in?".

 

For my DD, the one year acceleration she got when she was in PS isn't a bad fit socially. She can still fit in physically, still has similar interests, but it just seems to click a little better when she's at the young end of the age group vs the old one. But if I were to accelerate her to her actual academic grade, she's more like an advanced 6th grader. And there's no way I'd want her in middle school, nor that she'd be able to cope socially and emotionally there.

 

If he went back to school tomorrow, I would put him in 6th, no doubt. Younger would go in 3rd academically, but he is small and in some ways "younger" than his age. So I don't know for him.

[8filltheheart]

Have you searched for this topic on the accelerated forum? If you search that forum for the term college, you will find numerous threads that discuss grade skipping. There is a really long one that is probably in the first few pages bc it took place not too long ago. (the op deleted her post, but the thread itself has a lot of valuable discussion.)

[justLisa]

I was put ahead in a B&M school. I was HS'd and when I was 7 my mom needed to put me in school. They said I should go in 4th grade. My mom thought that was a bit nutty so she agreed to 3rd. I probably didn't learn a ton of new information but socially that would have put me in HS at 12. As it was I was 13 my entire freshman year (early summer bday). I didn't get to drive until I graduated LOL.

 

Having said that. I told DS he is 4th grade this year. His friends are 10 or older and he does not work below a 4th/5th grade level in any subject. It was just the right thing for him.

[Aoife]

I am not worrying about it unless the far off unlikely chance they'd have to go to a B&M school otherwise I would have a 5yo in 2nd grade which is insane with him being so small and socially immature

[Mommee & Baba]

Depending on the child and your personal opinion.

 

For us we have a bright 2nd grader. Majority of her school work is 3rd grade. I consider her 2nd grade because emotionally she is 2nd grade, physically she is small like her 2nd grade peers, and she fits well into the rest of her 2nd grade AWANA class. She wouldn't feel comfortable in a classroom with 3rd graders socially and she'd look much smaller than most too. She'd enjoy the workload of the 3rd graders, but for me that's not worth the other negatives. We send our dc to AWANA to build faith and friendships. It'd be silly to send her into a class that I consider appropriate for her skill level and not for her social skill level. Make sense?

 

IF we were ever faced with having to send her off to public school, I'd be really torn! She socially would need to fit in and physically as well. I'd be worried that in order for her to meet those two important things she'd lack the academics. She needs to be able to excel on a rather quick basis, she is a very independant worker and would bore if I set her into a 2nd grade class. Her acadmic level is 3rd grade, so she'd be one of the students in additional classes allowing her to take on a challenge and not get bored.

[Alte Veste Academy]

The only reason I would consider letting my kids skip grades is if they went to school. Then I would have to do a lot of soul-searching and there would be lots of pro/con conversations with my kids.

 

It is not something I think I would do while still homeschooling. I have an incredible opportunity with my children, the ability to structure learning in ever widening circles in each and every subject. I don't want to go faster and more shallow. Yes, even though my kids seem to learn at lightning speed, the education they would get at an accelerated pace would be more shallow simply by virtue of being more restricted by time.

 

To me, it matters little how fast my kids can get through a traditional scope and sequence because there is so very much more to life than the traditional scope and sequence. There is always more to math, science, history, literature. They will never get to it all. So, I'm going to take my time with them and do as much with them as I can before real life gets hold of them. Though my kids are working ahead of grade level, I simply see them as a 4th grader doing ___ level work, a 2nd grader doing ___ level work, and a 1st grader doing ___ level work. With me, in this bubble of a learning lifestyle, they gain the gift of time to explore and dig deep. I see no reason to accelerate them out of that richness.

 

To me, a PS year accelerated is a year gained, but a homeschool year accelerated is a year lost.

[EKS]

Well, you can always keep records as if it were 9th (lol, since you'll be keeping them for her sister anyway) and then decide in a few years whether it really was 9th or not. :)

 

This is what I did. As soon as my son started high school level work (and for math, that was 5th grade), I kept careful records.

[Mrs Twain]

Though my kids are working ahead of grade level, I simply see them as a 4th grader doing ___ level work, a 2nd grader doing ___ level work, and a 1st grader doing ___ level work. With me, in this bubble of a learning lifestyle, they gain the gift of time to explore and dig deep. I see no reason to accelerate them out of that richness.

 

To me, a PS year accelerated is a year gained, but a homeschool year accelerated is a year lost.

 

:iagree: This is how we do things. The grades are solely for social purposes right now. I guess grades could matter for enrollment in certain external classes as the OP mentioned, but I can't think of any other academic reason to accelerate accept that one would want his children to attend college early. I don't want my kids going to college early. I want to keep them home until they are 18, even though I have at least one child who would be able to do it well.

 

One way I look at it is this---

Why accelerate the child so that he is young and at the bottom of his class, rather than have him be regular sized and at the top of his class?-- (Thinking of the child going to B&M high school, college, or wherever the child may enter the educational system.)

 

BTW, I do think it is very important for kids to know what grade they are in. Not knowing this information (irrevelant as it may be academically) can create innumerable socially awkward situations. I feel very badly for the homeschooled kids who can't tell anyone which grade they are in!

[boscopup]

BTW, I do think it is very important for kids to know what grade they are in. Not knowing this information (irrevelant as it may be academically) can create innumerable socially awkward situations. I feel very badly for the homeschooled kids who can't tell anyone which grade they are in!

 

This reminds me... Just the other day, my DH asked what grade DS1 was in. :lol: DS1 knows his grade is "3rd", and he also knows what levels most of his subjects are (the ones that are leveled). If he were to go to school right now, I could probably get him in a 4th grade class and not do too bad (now that writing is catching up - he might still struggle for a bit, but he'd probably catch up quickly). Socially, he often does better with kids a year younger than him. The biggest reason why we are homeschooling is that he doesn't fit in a "grade" per the school. Even in 4th grade, he'd be bored in math and reading. So if he went to a b&m school, they'd have to do placement tests and just figure out the best fit, given the circumstances. I don't think his mommy-given grade would matter in that case.

 

I did bump him up in Bible class this year because we needed more kids in the 4th-5th grade class. There were only 2 kids in there, and that makes for very little discussion. One is a redshirted 11 year old boy who is in 5th grade, and the other is a bright 4th grade girl. My son is doing great in the class, and the 11 year old has actually latched on to him lately. They've played together before, but I think he usually saw my son as "that little kid" instead of a "friend". Now, he's asking my son to sit with him during services and catching him in the hallway to tell him things. There is a huge size difference, but they have common interests, and I think they're both typically social outcasts amongst their same-age peers, so it's been nice to see them make friends. I'm not calling my son a 4th grader, and I plan to keep him in the 4th-5th grade class for 3 years. The middle school class won't have the issue of only 2 kids in it.

 

Like others, once my kid starts doing high school level courses with appropriate high school output, I will go ahead and keep records, just in case. I don't know the future. There may be some reason that he wants/needs to graduate early later on, and that's fine. I'd prefer he graduate just before he turns 18, like he's "supposed to", and I will provide whatever is necessary to continue his education that long, but I can't say 100% that he won't graduate early. We'll cross that bridge later.