Gifted Education/schooling

[pbnesbit at msn.com]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "Tabouli" <tabouli at u...> wrote:

> Hmm.  I realise I'm treading on dangerous ground here, but as a 
veteran of Gifted Children's programs myself I've begun to question 
them.  Certainly telling children they're simply brilliant at the age 
of 5 or 6, name up in lights, anything you want to do, etc.etc. puts 
an incredible amount of pressure on them: I've met several adults who 
have never quite gotten over their gifted childhood predictions of 
glory, and feel more and more of a failure every year they age 
without having achieved something Great.  A few are even totally 
paralysed by this, can't bring themselves to do anything in case 
they're not a genius at it, feel crushed if they are bad at anything 
at all, feel resentment and despair when the "less gifted" with more 
application overtake them in their 20s, and so on.
> 
> Of course, a MG class in itself won't do this, and insightful 
teaching and parenting should avoid it.  However, I'd be very very 
wary of telling *any* child at a very young age that s/he is an 
absolute gifted genius who will have the world on a plate when grown 
up.


I would too, but in my experience, most gifted children *know* 
they're gifted--or at the very least "different" from their peers. I 
knew I was smart and talented, but my parents didn't let it become 
the focus of my life.  They always told me I could be anything I 
wanted to be--"as long as you're happy doing it."  So, I had 
absolutely no pressure to be a super-everything.

 I spent my school years bored to tears in classes.  How I wish I'd 
had somewhere to go where I wasn't considered a freak because I was 
exceptionally smart.  
> 
> Ebony:
> > As a TAGged kid who struggled through major social angst from K-
5, I 
> am SO glad that my stay-at-home mom made the decision to send me to 
> school anyway.  Even when things were the worst, she told me I had 
to 
> tough it out... that "you just can't run away from a problematic 
> situation, honey."  It was good for me. < 
> 
> How bad was the worst?  I'd like to believe in the power of good 
parenting giving children the self-esteem to cope with bullying, 
drugs, bad teachers, etc., but there are some situations I just don't 
think a child should have to deal with.  Having your self-concept 
annihilated in your teens can affect the rest of your life, and a 
heroin addiction can end or wreck your life.
> 


How about having it annihilated on your first day of school and every 
day thereafter?  (for the most part--there *were* a few teachers who 
understood me)  I was a perfect candidate for home-schooling except 
that the concept didn't exist when I was young.  I was reading at 
two, reading Shakespeare (and anything else) at four.  When I got to 
school, I often knew more than the teachers.  

I spent my school years dreading each day I had to be caged in a 
place that didn't know what to do with me (as well as peers who 
thought I was a freak).  Part of my problem was that I *didn't* & 
*couldn't* relate to people my own age--they were too busy worrying 
about what to wear & who would be their date for Friday night, while 
I was busy worrying over whether my dad would get sloshed *again* 
when he got home from work.

This led to a suicide attempt at 14.  I really didn't develop any 
kind of self-esteem until I went to university, where I had a chance 
to get away from my classmates.    

Peace & Plenty, 

Parker