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[quote=Anonymous]I teach in the humanities at the high school/upper school level at a well-regarded/well-known local independent school.  I suspect the input of upper school teachers on "profoundly gifted" children isn't as relevant or sought after (most DCUM readers/posters have younger kids, right?) but I'll post for what it's worth.  (After chuckling that a "teacher pet peeve" thread got so re-routed into a "gifted" thread.)

Taking the last five years, I've taught two students I'd classify as "profoundly gifted" (colloquially, geniuses).  In the humanities, they read the same (advanced) texts as their classmates, and participated in class discussions/activities.  I and my colleagues in the humanities often worked with them to find a more challenging paper topic than the norm, for example, and recommended additional texts for their own outside reading.  In the math/science science arena, from what I observed/can recall those profoundly gifted students: (1) took the AP track at an earlier age and then worked one-on-one in an independent study setting with the most advanced teachers (Ph.Ds); and (2) were encouraged and mentored by the relevant departments to write and submit papers in significant competitions and/or participate in high level competitions (e.g. Intel Science competition).  For the summers, the school facilitated some very substantive and interesting internships for the students with leading minds in their fields of interest.

On the non-academic front, it seemed very healthy socially for the students to play on teams, lead clubs, go to the prom, and otherwise do the classic high school type activities.

I am sure I am biased (I like my school and think it provides a great education) but, for what it's worth, overall these profoundly gifted students seemed throughout their four years to be busy, challenged, engaged, excited about learning, and, most importantly, happy!  I can't speak to their experience in younger grades but assume they would not have been at our school for high school/upper school had they and their parents not found the experience in lower grades to be fine.

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