Reply to why do we want our children to be challenged?

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[quote=asnmdirteha][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Something that always strikes me is the laser focus on math and reading when people talk about their gifted children being challenged.  Those are only two classes in school.  
I have a hard time believing that even the most gifted child still knows the entire science, social studies, art, music, PE, and guidance curriculum.
DS is in the top reading group in first grade and he's not really "challenged" with the vocabulary/sight words.  But his writing assignments are very open ended, so his teacher and I encourage him to do more than just a sentence or two.  
He also this year, in his regular run of the mill public school (Maryland, but not MoCo) has learned about migration patters of the monarch butterfly, the life cycle of stars, perspective in architecture and art, the bones of the body and how his muscles work together, how to read music notes, etc.  
So sure, he's not challenged in reading.  Big deal.  And there are certainly some kids in his class that already knew the life cycle of stars (one in particular knows more about space than most NASA employees I think), but there is enough new stuff going on that kids are always learning SOMETHING.

[b]So why the exclusive focus on math and reading levels?  Why doesn't "challenge" count if a child has to work hard on making the painting perspective correct or learning how to read music?[/b][/quote]

Agree so much. I want my kids to love learning for the sake of learning, and if there's something they are not so interested in, it's OK not to challenge them in that particular area. The point of growing up is you find your area to shine in, and really capitalize on it, right? Otherwise, all these lawyers on this board should challenge themselves and pick up a side CPA.

Of course they will have to get through certain required courses in life, and we want the skills so that they can effectively study and achieve in those areas even if it's not an area of passion. But then they get to move on and really throw themselves at what they are interested in, and learn for the rest of their lives, and love it.[/quote]

I think there's a discrepancy in terminology here.  When I say I want my child to be challenged, I don't mean I want her to be tied to a chair and forced to memorize texrbooks.  I also want my child to love learning for the sake of learning and she did before she started school.  I agree that ypu should find the areas you shine in and capitalize on that.  What I don't understand is why that doesn't apply to kids who are interested in reading or math?

If a child is a naturally gifted artist, I would hope that he wouldn't be restricted to drawing stick figures.  Hopefully, after showing he could draw stick figures, the teacher would let him try drawing a bowl of fruit, or someone's face, or anything new that he could challenge himself with, because although I'm not artistic and stick figures is enough drawing for me, I suspect that somebody who actually likes to draw would eventually get bored with that.  If they weren't allowed to do more I suspect, they would decide they didn't like to draw after all.  Yes, they could still learn new skills in PE, but not only did they not learn anything new in the art class you would have taught them to dislike something they previously loved.  Yes, they could finish their stick figures quickly and get them out of the way to have time to read, but they would have rather had the chance to learn how to draw something new.

Nobody is saying we should force a first grader who hates math to tackle calculus (or try for a CPA), but a kindergartner who has figured out 3rd grade math on their own, because that's what they like to do, might be allowed to try 4th grade math by the time they get to 3rd grade,  a kindergartner who can read fluently shouldn't be limited to "See Spot run", and while I haven't heard of artists being held  back like those who have academic strengths, if a kid wants to try drawing something new then get him a bowl of fruit, (or action figures, legos, whatever).

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I agree that children should learn because they are excited to learn. For me being challenged means being interested in what they are learning and excited to learn more, not being given more work than necessary to feel overwhelmed and stressed out. There is a fine line when it comes to finding that balance. A few my students lack that [challenge] in school so I tend to cycle through workbooks and worksheets to get them interested. It really depends on the kid on what clicks with their style. So far my students have all really liked Beestar with the worksheets for reading and math so I try to give them more assignments when they feel ready. Some of my students love the GT portion cause it gets them really excited because they feel a great sense of accomplishment.[/quote]

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