I'm assuming your child is in the Albuquerque public school system. Our daughter took the test for the "Gifted and Talented" students back when she was in first grade, and we were asked if we wanted to have her skip a grade or two. We chose instead to enroll her in the full-time gifted program, which worked out very well for her. I know of two other kids in her grade level now that have skipped a grade, so I haven't seen any reluctance to skip students anywhere here! Did you have your child tested? That would be the first step.

I whole heartedly agree!! My son should have skipped the 3rd grade, he far surpassed the academic requirments but the principle told me they have major testing in the 3rd grade that determines the amount of money the school gets from the govt. and they needed his superior scores. So unfair to hold my child back for "politics" and money.

jstani's response conflicts with 50 years of research compiled by world renown experts and available on your computer by googling A Nation Deceived: How America's Schools Hold Back its Best Students. Acceleration is the most positively backed curricular intervention for advanced learners. The more recents tudy, High Achievers in an Era of NCLB, also available by googling, would lead one to believe TAG support may well be insufficient. As for growing up, even the author of The Hurried Child, David Elkind, agrees with accelerating gifted students. My daughter could not find a peer group until she was accelerated .In fact, it seems nearly a contradiction in thought to deny an appropriate candidate acceleration. After all, aren't giftd kids advanced by definition? Some require access to content generally associated with older students if they are to learn and not just produce good standardized test scores for the school without making adequate growth. Parents who speak and act without knowledge hurt their child and misinform other parents. The parents of the gifted must educate themselves when policy makes their child extraneous to the classroom. The resistance to accelerate is a tragedy and parents should be adamant that their child's education is made meaningful.

Why would you want to rush a kid out in to the real world faster than you have to?
Socially, they need to fit in and academically, if they are in a good school with TAG (Talented and Gifted) support, they don't need to move ahead. Let them grow up at the speed they are supposed to grow up at!