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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]Yup.  I was the PP who dared suggest that super bright kids might actually learn something from helping kids who aren't at their academic level.  I know that because I was that kid back in the day. Schoolwork was easy, I was always ahead, etc.  I helped the teacher, I helped other kids and they helped me.  The outgoing ones taught me how to get along better with other kids and even spoke for me when I was too shy to say anything in front of class.  From the ones who struggled with reading or math, I learned to appreciate that not everything comes easily for everyone.  I also learned that the measure of a person is not how they perform in school.

I can't help but think that these lessons are still as valuable today as they were back when. I had a son in the GT and I watched him and his classmates struggle with the imbalance between their super-developed brains and under-developed social skills.  I can't help but think they might have benefitted a little hanging out with average kids who could get along with anyone.  You can talk about more competition today and kids needing to meet certain benchmarks to position themselves for college and beyond, but facts can always be learned.  I have yet to meet a gifted kid who isn't constantly learning new things-- often on his/her own.  But I have met quite a few where I wonder how they'll ever get along in life with a complete inability to relate to other people.  It's not all about gifted kids academic advancement and I feel sorry for the parents who have convinced themselves that it is.  IMO,they've bought into a silly race to nowhere and the people who ultimately suffer will be their kids.  [/quote]

Sorry to hear that your kid ultimately suffered from your choice to keep him in GT.  Was he ever able to balance his under-developed social skills with his super-developed brain?  Anyway, [b]parents these days who believe their AAP kids would be better off long-term in a GE classroom can actually place them there. [/b] Problem (if any) solved.  But if you think those who prefer AAP do so only because "they've bought into a silly race" you need to increase your sample size.[/quote]

I wouldn't have liked to keep my kid at his base school.  The problem was he arrived in 4th grade and by then any other kid who shared his interests had already moved to the center.  This was what his teacher told me when we were talking about his difficulty making friends, btw.  Trust me, if there had been even one other kid at his level or if he was simply above average bright  we would have happily kept him at the base school.  But that's not the way the system is set up, which is my complaint.  [/quote]

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