Anyone here who wouldn't want their child in a gifted program?

[Blue Diadem]

Can you tell me why?

[MichiganVote]

1. My kids were in those programs and guess what?

By the time they reached HS I had to teach them basic things about how to research and write a paper, do a bib., they had missed out on things like basic measurements, some common social studies information, some fundamental science principals.

No thanks.

[democracyindanger]

2. I was in those kinds of programs as a kid

and you're right about missing stuff. I never learned how to diagram a sentence, my classes never assigned standards like "To Kill A Mockingbird" so I didn't read them until after college--but by and large I got more opportunities than I missed, and the schools did a good job of filtering out stuff I really didn't need while making sure I got the fundamentals through the TAG classes.

[LeftyMom]

3. Self-contained (all-day) or "enrichment"?

I did both as a kid. The self-contained program was great when there were good teachers who understood how to teach gifted kids. The enrichment program was fun and socially beneficial, but not very academic.

Bottom line, go sit in, take a look at the program, talk to the instructors, and decide whether or not your local program will work for your child. If it won't, look at other options in the area, because standard classes are no more appropriate for exceptionally gifted kids than they are for highly disabled ones.

[DarkTirade]

4. You took the words right outta my mouth.