To Skip or Not To Skip (a grade)

December 17, 2005

Over at Number 2 Pencil, Kimberly Swygert reports of a friend who has a daughter in Kindergarten, but is academically advanced and socializes with kids older than her.

The public school at which she is due to start first grade next year has recommended to my friend that she be allowed to skip it altogether and start in second grade.

We're shocked that the public school would offer such a choice. Here in Philly we've heard from parents who've practically begged schools to permit their baby Einsteins to enter school in a higher grade than the child's birthdate indicates--apparently many schools are really strict with the birthdate cutoff--as if one's age measured to the exact day is any indication of development.

We say leave it up to the parent when their child can enter school, and at which grade.

Fortunately, in this case the school is giving the parents a choice, but since they're recommending the jump to second grade, we'd say take it! Of course the parents need to speak to the second grade teachers, and see what sorts of things are taught in the first few months, to be sure that their daughter won't have missed any critical lessons in reading or math.

The main reason why we say jump is to prevent boredom.

We've seen many kids who were simply bored with school act up to make things interesting. And many students, especially if they've been stimulated as a child in a book-filled home (and by being around older students), might have already learned a good deal of math and reading skills, so that attending first grade on schedule might just be a yawn.

Far better to challenge a precocious child.

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Update: We found an entry in our archives from last year related to a public school's refusal to admit a child into second grade due to age restrictions: "News Flash: Same-age children aren't all the same!"