OT - moving daughter up a grade - opinions?

[laughlaugh18]

My brother skipped 5th that same year, but he was much better at making friends (including by hiding how good he was academically -- not even the teachers knew and my folks had to insist that either both of us skipped or neither; . . .

And sometimes even the parents are clueless. When the school system told my parents my older brother was gifted, no big shock. When I tested in 1st grade even higher than my brother, my mom was surprised. I still have the envelope with the test results on which she wrote: "Cathy is very, very bright!!" (notice the exclamation points ) At that age I wasn't hiding it; I just had a more gregarious personality. My mom said she knew I was bright, just not that bright . . .

I did alot of skipping and was another 13 year old high school student and 16 year old college freshman. Outwardly I handled it well (much praise for how mature I was), but looking back I realize I hid myself from alot of social stuff cuz I just wasn't ready for it. Skipping may be fine in the lower grades, but I've come to believe that it's really important developmentally to be the same age as your peer group when you're a teenager and college student.

[pooks]

Outwardly I handled it well (much praise for how mature I was), but looking back I realize I hid myself from alot of social stuff cuz I just wasn't ready for it.

My niece, the "life of the party," took a Myers-Briggs test and showed to be an introvert. We all said there had to be a mistake, but she said, "You see how I act. This shows how I feel."

Even her own mother was stunned. So much as we'd like to think different, moms don't always know their kids as well as they think they do.

As a 14-year-old sophomore, I recall taking some antibiotics with my lunch. (Before such things had to be taken through the clinic.) A senior guy sitting at our table asked what I was taking and I joked, "Birth control pills," and laughed because in my world/experience, no high school girl would be taking the PILL, for God's sake. Clearly anybody would know that was a joke.

I didn't realize that one of my closest friends (sitting at the table with me, and a couple of years older than me, though only one grade ahead) was sexually active.

I also didn't realize that the guy believed me until a few months later when he stopped me in the hall and asked if I was still on the pill, and I didn't even remember what he was talking about or why he would ask such a stupid question until a few hours later.

And I also didn't realize until the next year that I had a "reputation" in some circles, even though people who really knew me, knew better.

Hello, high school!

[winddance]

You know, it almost makes me feel better to know that I wasn't the only one who had these issues. Looking back on the experience, I really don't think I would've noticed had I been 17 and everyone else 18, because that age difference could be measured in months. Two years was a lot, though.

When you're a young adult you begin to pass milestones (learner's permit, drivers license, first job, 18th birthday, legal drinking age) and you're two years behind your peers...that creates a lot of social tension. I always needed a ride, because I didn't have my license. I would be invited out while in college, and would have to explain that I wouldn't turn 21 until after I had graduated.

If anything made me feel out of place, this was it.