> We have had to go to private school because California does not skip grades even though it’s obvious the child doesn’t belong in the grade level for his age.

Be careful what you wish for. Skipping 2nd grade led to bullying hell until I stayed for a second year of 6th.

I think what you want for your kid is to skip N grades ahead in select subjects but otherwise stay in age peer group.

Agree. Social and emotional development is a real thing. I think most students (especially boys) are better off being more challenged in their age-appropriate grade-level than skipping.

On the other hand, I skipped three grade levels and feel that it was absolutely the best option for me. I don’t think there’s any one answer here about the best thing to do — it depends entirely on the student, the school, and the grades to be skipped.

When I was going through school the gifted program allowed for kids to skip 1 grade in math and 1 grade in science. I think this was reasonable and didn’t lead to much bullying. Also helped that we had a large gifted program. A math class might’ve been 20-30% gifted kids at any given time.

I suspect that won't be an issue anymore, as it is no longer possible to skip grades in public schools in many states.

And hopefully private schools would prevent "bullying hell" if they want all those tuition $$$.

Yeah, I’m skeptical about the benefits of skipping lots of grades. If you have money to throw around, hire private tutors to teach them more advanced subjects and let them enjoy the social aspects of school with their peers. Otherwise, what’s the best outcome? The kid spends their entire school years socially isolated from peers who are in different stages of puberty and growth. They enter college at 14/15 and risk missing a lot of what college has to offer besides education. Then, finally, they enter the wage machine at 18-19, having lost a lot of their childhood and now having to behave like adults. Everything may work out and they’ll retire at 40 to live the life they missed, or they may be socially and psychologically scarred by the pressure put on them by others and by themselves throughout their life.