<p>Periwinkle: Thoughtful post. The only point with which I would disagree is your point about “usual age parameters.” At least at my son’s school, those parameters seem to be much wider than they would be at ps–and many of the kids seems to be older, not younger. Add post-grads into the mix, in a mixed-age dorm, and I think one might make an argument for a student who repeats fitting slightly better than a younger student. </p>
<p>However, all of that stuff–dorm configurations, study halls, check-in times, internet cut-off–vary widely from school to school. But it’s certainly all worth taking into consideration when piecing together the repeat-or-don’t-repeat puzzle.</p>
<p>I don’t like the divergence I see that some kids are held back to gain further athletic advantage while kids, as Periwinkle notes, who are academically ready for their grade, even if young, are encouraged to go for it. It DOES create unusual circumstances in dorms where people in the same grade/form are close to 2 years different in age, and you can bet that in adolescence, that age gap IS significant. I think the BS (and sports-as-a-hook minded parents) have created this quandry and generally tend to turn a blind eye to it, as long as their teams and children keep on racking up Ws.</p>
<p>It does not make sense to generalize. Kids are so different and you should go with your instinct–only you know your S and which grade is a better fit. As far as academics, for the most part, BSs are designed to challenge even the most capable of students, so I would not worry too much about S being academically underwhelmed.</p>
<p>Alex and others: According to Outliers, there are no “gifted” persons. Everyone who has accomplished anything is “created” by circumstances. So why is everybody getting so worked up about who gets labeled “gifted”? </p>
<p>Mensa qualifications are top 2% of population; High IQ society - top 1%; Triple nine society - 0.1%; and so on. I think their members are all gifted, if in nothing else, doing well on tests.</p>
<p>You could easily have him go to a Jr. boarding - a K-9 or 6-9 grade school. Then, it is no uncommon for those 9th graders to repeat, but certainly not all of them do. It’s a good transition.</p>
<p>Yes - and not all gifted chlldren are gifted in everything. Some excel in some subjects and flounder in others. And many gifted children can be dysfunctional in ways that count (social interaction, etc.) So it’s all relatie.</p>
<p>Labels - even as meant as a positive - can be harmful. We don’t call our daughter “gifted.” We call her precocious. Mostly based on the fact that when she was in elementary school she could use post-high school language to ream out an adults so clueless they thanked her for her compliments and then praised me for raising such an articulate kid (he he he). :-)</p>
<p>Our kids are normal. It’s the other kids who are ‘behind’.</p>