angelangst

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Home : 2007 : July : 3

angelangst
By josephineg

You wrote that accent is one of the many differences the OP's child will have to get used to.

But that is something any child, gifted or not, has to work with if the parents move to or from different regions or even
countries. It's not specific to academics or being gifted.

You write: "All teachers should be differentiating their instruction to meet the needs of each child..." Well, the reality is that "most teachers don't really provide enrichment when they claim to. In reality, enrichment usually means 'educational' games and puzzles, additional worksheets, etc." (from "Horizontal

'enrichment' vs. vertical 'acceleration' or Why does the school want K. in 1st grade next fall when he already knows more than the 2nd graders?" by Dr. Draper Kauffman, Doctor of Education and Parent of Gifted Child, downloadable from the Internet at http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/enrichment.htm).

I'm glad to hear you son learned so much socially as well as academically. You will never know how much he might have learned if he had been accelerated. If he were gifted, chances are he would have learned much more. See: "A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students" downloadable at: http://www.nationdeceived.org. In the first chapter, it states: "America's school system keeps bright students in line by forcing them to learn in a lock-step manner with their classmates. Teachers and principals disregard students' desires to learn more--much more--than they are being taught."

All the best.