<p>I am not an educator, and I have not attempted to study the literature of gifted education. However, I think our school has probably followed the prevailing trends in the field. Our school: In early elementary school, the smartest few kids in each class are identified. These kids are invited to go to a special classroom several hours each week and work with a specially-qualified teacher. They do enrichment activities: brain puzzles, special projects, discussions. This goes on through elementary and middle school.</p>
<p>Having gone through those years of this with my child, my assessment of these gifted classes is that they were a waste of time. Those precious hours could have been MUCH better used by offering an accelerated math class and/or an accelerated reading/writing class for the smart kids. </p>
<p>Thankfully, my district’s solution was to have an elementary school set aside for those identified as gifted, with entrance tests. The middle school program had the four core classes (math, science, English, social studies) set aside, but electives were spent with the rest of the student population. A more rigorous test was required to enter the middle school program.</p>
<p>In high school, an even more elite magnet program was offered at one of the high schools, offering advanced classes in math, science, and computers. For AP classes in other subjects, we took classes with the other students.</p>
<p>An imperfect system, that definitely has its flaws, but better than some.</p>
<p>In my school district, GT students are placed in GT classes 3rd-6th grade. They have extra projects to do (shoebox stuff which parents usually do). After that, students can take the PreAP/AP track classes. Parents of non-GT students may also place their students in PreAP/AP classes. In my opinion, they are only paying lip-service to GT programs and it’s rather meaningless.</p>
<p>In our jurisdiction, we have two programs. The first one, school-based, is as you described where the kids are pulled out of class for special activities. Once they get to 3rd grade, then they can go to the center-based program, where they are in a full-day, everyday program for the gifted or they can continue with the school-based program. The center-based program, which my son attended, was definitely not a waste of time. He was working at a very challenging level most of the time and had the time not only to pursue the regular curriculum and goals of the grade, but to go beyond the curriculum goals in every subject. I think the program prepared him well for his high school years. I am not sure if I would have felt the same way about the school-based program with enrichment activities, which he attended grades K-2 only because there wasn’t an alternative and we wanted to show our interest in him going further in the gifted program. If he enjoyed attending the sessions and didn’t fall behind on other work, then I would have continued to endorse it with the feeling that anything that keeps him enjoying school and the learning process is worth doing. If he didn’t enjoy it, it was inconvenient to attend or it was interfering with other work, then I probably would not have made him continue.</p>
<p>Did your child enjoy the brain teasers, special projects and discussions? Mine did. So thinking of those “precious hours” of elementary school as “wasted time” has never crossed my mind. </p>
<p>There is more to acadamia, more to life, than math and reading/writing. I find the singular focus on those subjects for elementary students to be rather odd considering the normal development of children.</p>
<p>In our school, my kids were identified by teachers (based on tests, observation, etc.). Then each kid was given an IQ test, which they had to score 135 or better on. After that they were identified with gifted. In elementary school they had one day of enrichment opportunites with an excellent teacher, trained in gifted education. She implemented, besides the brain puzzles and projects, accelerated math and other things. In middle schools (two different middle schools for each kid as zoning changed) each child had the option of taking all or a portion of their core courses as part of the gifted program. In my S’s case he had phenomenal english and science teachers for three years and not so hot math teacher. My d had one of the best math teachers in the state for three years and not so hot an English teacher. But overall the experience was beneficial for both of them because of the accelerated nature of the courses. Each continued with gifted math and english for their first two years of high school, but after that the program’s phased out because of the huge AP curriculum. I liked the fact that all the way through school, they had some gifted classes and other “regular” classes, allowing them to have a wide variety of friends.</p>
<p>our district has full time gifted classes within certain elementary schools, then gifted classes within the middle school. (the kids must test as gifted) my youngest, still in middle school benefited from this programming as he was always engaged, stimulated and continues to have a love of learning. my older son, college freshman, says he learned so much in his middle school gifted classes, ie. biology, trig, literature that he was super prepared for high school AP bio, AP calc, etc.</p>
<p>You can provide benefits for your kids by just talking to them throughout the day; at the dinner table, when driving them to and from activities, when they have questions in general. Puzzles are generally good because they frequently rely on information and methods not currently assimilated.</p>
<p>I think that gifted education in our school districts is sometimes more a sop to parents. When you have 1/3rd of the school in the gifted program, is it really gifted?</p>
<p>As a “gifted” student, I don’t feel our gifted program in elementary and middle school was a waste. The way our school identified us was by the proficiency tests already required so maybe it was less “gifted” kids than just the ones that could test well. There were only 4 of us in middle school, but what we did during class was spectacular. Our gifted teacher was great and in English and reading class we were allowed to miss a couple days a week. We would do research projects, write newspapers, and do other projects. In math we had to test out of whatever the class was learning to get to skip class. We would take a pretest and if we got an A on it we could leave, and if we didn’t we had to stay in class until we could get an A on it. We still had to take the class test and were still graded the same, we just got to do additional math, too. We would do brain puzzles and other projects, but the best was all of the other oppertunities that opened up like the math 24 contest and many regional math competitions. The OP stated that instead of a gifted class, there could be accelorated reading and math classes. We did have those classes already, and the students who got to participate in the gifted program where those who already had a really easy time in the accelorated classed. I honestly had a perfect grade in my classes in middle school, but the majority of other students wouldn’t have been successful in a furthur accelorated class.</p>
<p>In elementary school, our kids took a test as second graders to see if they would be selected for the GT class. It was the kind that met once a week for a couple of hours. </p>
<p>Both of my kids thought it was a big waste and got nothing out of it as far as I could see. S1 begged to quit in fourth grade when his class was out on the playground (having fun) while he watched them fr. his seat by the window in the GT class every week. At one point he was the only boy in his class which made him dislike it more. S2’s experience was basically the same even when he was in an IB program elem. sch. </p>
<p>Our sch. system does have magnet GT schools that you can enter a lottery to attend but they are all far from home (at least an hour bus ride) and neither S had any interest in attending. </p>
<p>I kept them in the GT program during elem. only because I was told it was the only way to track them into the advanced classes in middle sch. S1 did track into that. All of his core classes were advanced. It was great for him. S2 ended up leaving the public sch. system for middle sch. to attend a Charter sch. There was some tracking there but most of the kids were of the GT variety so there was not a great disparty between the different classes.<br>
So yes, it was a waste in elem. but S1’s all day GT classes in middle sch. were great.</p>
<p>I agree with OP. We were pretty sure our child was gifted–certainly more gifted than some of the kids labeled as gifted. However, as educators ourselves, we tried to provide enrichment at home. S’s best friend was in the gifted program. All Ss teachers thought he was gifted and kept trying to get him in the program. By the third year, they succeeded. He stayed all of two days because he didn’t like the teacher and thought the activities were a waste of time, and he realized early on that he’d still have to do the regular school work. S wasn’t about to waste his time on things he could do on his own or with us. He rarely ever brought work home because he 95% of the time got it done in class. </p>
<p>That said, he had access to computers, lessons, and any other activities to explore what seemed to interest him–particularly music–at home. As he got more involved in music, he used class time where he might have been bored to arrange/compose in his head. So my view is based on second-hand observation and BF’s experience related through my S. </p>
<p>BF barely graduated from hs (blew off almost whole final semester–with some knowledge by his parents because he had always done this) and has already dropped out of the univ he did get into. </p>
<p>I’ll take my unclassified “gifted” kid anytime.</p>
<p>but it was because of strict limits on funding from the state, BCEagle. If they could have let one-third of the kids in, I’m sure they would have. Especially the kids of the school board members LOL.</p>
<p>Also, Pugmadkate, yes my child did enjoy the puzzles. However, as BCEagle suggested, at our house we always had lots of stimulation materials and activities, so I guess I thought school time could be better used for direct instruction. If a kid did not have these stimulation activities at home, I could see where the general stimulation approach could be very valuable. Just my viewpoint.</p>
<p>With homeschooling, you can skip the labels while providing an appropriate education and enjoyable activities. The label can go to the kid’s head.</p>
<p>The GT program (at least here) seems pretty worthless, the only good thing is that it leads to a natural track that if you follow it all the way through really prepares you for college. Bc GT naturally flows into AP at our school.</p>
<p>Massachusetts is obsessed with “inclusion” so there is zero effort in most districts to meet the needs of bright students. Result: 30% of high school students have been pulled out of the local public; over 50% are gone from the district to the south. </p>
<p>You either put them in private or pray that an enriched summer program will keep them from going nuts/felling like social rejects.</p>
<p>Our district does not even begin to identify gifted kids until fourth grade. The family gets a letter and is encouraged to visit the district website for links to gifted websites.
I think the primary benefit of the gifted programs my daughters have done in the summers is to spend time with other kids who are motivated learners.</p>
<p>zebes, Wow, that process of identification and program is identical to the one my S went through in third grade (we have moved to a new district.) We were only there for two years but he enjoyed it (that’s how we measure the success.)</p>
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<p>I see what you are saying but did you have a group of similar aged gifted children for your kid to work on group projects and have dicussions with at home? That’s the point of programs such as the ones our kids attended. From what I’ve read about gifted education, that is far more valuable to their development (both social and academic) than ever more direct instuction.</p>
<p>The school tried, but programs for gifted are not mandated in this state at all. Programs for kids gifted in the arts are non-existent. We found that we could find excellent enrichment programs outside of school for both of our kids (arts). It was far more fulfilling to do this for us and for our kids than to argue with the school district about what they might or might not want to provide. I will add…the music teachers were outstanding and found MULTIPLE enrichment ops for our kids.</p>
<p>Kept the kid partially occupied. He kept out of trouble. He coped, we coped, it was Ok. Everything worked out OK. He learned how to manage the situations by himself, which is a good thing in life.</p>
<p>Our current phase is coping with a senior citizen (FIL) who is getting more and more obstinate. We are not coping as well.</p>