Gifted in mixed class

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Home : 2003 : September : 11

Gifted in mixed class
By Sonya

I agree with other post as to please do not punish your gifted students this way. It was done to me from 5th grade on through my ending the misery my senior year in high school. Right now I see it with my own 5th grader.
Though she is out of the regular classroom once a week for the gifted program there is always project work at home and some make-up of work missed in class (although they are supposed to be exempted). I guess some assignments are just too important, right? I feel it discourages and spoils the fun, excitment and curiousity of learning that we, as parents, used to see in these dynamic

kids.
Helping them to achieve more in class through more individualized (or group), accelerated, fast moving academics and more intense, class topic derived, research type projects that can be worked on at a station when work assignments are completed and using the gifted-class time for completion of more diverse topic and creative projects would be most gratifying. The very worse thing is the extra homework, research projects, book reports, etc. The amount of homework now in 5th grade for my child is approx. 2-3 hours per night. Already finding time to allocate for karate, gymnastics, sports (whatever), or even playing outside, is a luxury. I remember having time to play outside after school with friends. It is sad that the children now put in more time at work than adults do that work 40 hour a week jobs. They get no recess time, are made to sit and concentrate in a desk for 6-7 hours a day, come home to sit and concentrate on homework, and we wonder why there are so many labeled as attention deficit, we wonder why adolesent obesity is at epidemic levels, and still test scores across the majority country are worst than they have ever been. The children need more actual teaching and less worksheets and chapter questions.