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Home : 2007 : July : 3

NCteacher
By josephineg

You wrote:

"My teaching assistant who has an 11 year old daughter who skipped 2nd grade. Frankly, I am stunned that this is still allowed."

Why are you stunned? See "A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold
Back America's Brightest Students", downloadable at http://www.nationdeceived.org.

"Some gifted students have a difficult choice to make. Should they excel academically even if this might mean social rejection? Or should they minimize their abilities to gain peer acceptance?" (p. 42)

"But high school is where attitude really begins to matter. People and activities are

labeled 'cool' or 'uncool.' What's cool to most students is often irrelevant or boring to the academically advanced student. It's a lonely discovery, and it comes at a particular volatile time--as identity and self-esteem change with the hour. Typical teenagers are thinking about parties, friends, and love relationships. But studies show that academically gifted students are thinking about these issues and something else, too. They're thinking about thinking. They want to be challenged--academically. They love learning and they love many subjects. And they require a very different curriculum, a curriculum planned for the motivated and highly able student." (p. 42)

All the best.