twoin…
The gifted are different. Just as the retarded are. Read the literature! Being a kid is different for the average kid, the bright heading to college kid and the kid who won’t master basic reading and arithmetic as well as the gifted. Being a kid should include doing interesting things- not just what most mainstream kids enjoy. Please do not assume kids are unhappy doing “adult” things.
btw- when son was in middle school he had a moderately gifted friend a grade ahead of him, son was at least 2- 3 years younger. Talked to his mother asking why her gifted son played with son (eg Uno) instead of someone closer in age and same grade. It was more fun for her son to interact with someone on his intellectual level than a more average age/grademate. We were lucky with son when he was young that our small neighborhood had 4 boys within a year of each other- one with a reading disability (corrected with the public schools)had an IQ of 120- likely the lowest of the bunch.
I keep forgetting how lousy many school districts are. So lucky to have had great ones in WI. Wish people would put a whole lot more into their state’s public schools.