The Magic of Skipping a Grade
(and why it isn’t as bad as it seems)
Many an overachiever has experienced the dreaded first day of their new grade, with mind racing, heart pounding. Everybody’s heads turn as a grade of people the same age is now accompanied by someone one, two, in some cases three years younger than them. The kid who just skipped a grade sticks out like a mouse at an elephant convention. However much their older, wiser, bigger classmates might make fun of them, nobody can get around the fact that those people weren’t the ones who were intelligent enough to jump a whole grade like it was nothing. Realizing that skipping a grade isn’t so much of a hurdle as it is a gateway is the first step to making that opportunity worth the
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While it is possible to keep friendships, unless the old friends are close, making new, more mature friends helps with communication skills with people who are older or of higher authority later on. Another issue is the unexpectedness of having real challenges in class again. A common misconception is believing that being moved ahead is no more difficult than staying in the current grade. Intellectual growth stagnates if the student isn’t presented with a challenge constantly, so being hit with the reality of the competitiveness and difficulty in school after years of slacking off isn’t a very nice experience at first. After some time, this challenge will show through deeper understanding of their subjects, and interest in what they like and want to do. Aside from knowing what they are doing and taking in, skipping ahead can also prepare an advanced student for college by utilizing their full intellectual ability and crafting it based on their interests and academic