Although you point to the words when you read to the 18 month old child, I don't think many get that you are reading the words. They seem to think you are making up the story to go with the pictures. At least this is how it seemed to me. I don't think my kids knew what words were much before 3. This could be faulty memory.

For me, it's something about the "finished high school by X age" -- it seems to me that a 10 year old could be learning all kinds of interesting stuff on his own, but still be in a classroom with relative age-peers (even with skipping a grade or two). I have no idea if that's actually better or worse for a kid that smart, but my inclination is toward the "normal" life side of things. I guess my kid will never be a child star, or an olympic gymnast, or a college student at 12.

Oh, and I'm clearly not trying to say anything about that particular kid and his specific family.

The crazy brilliant kids in #1's gifted classes do the class work effortlessly and do spectacular projects. The teachers make an effort to keep them challenged. The kids know which ones are unusually bright but they socialize like kids. In middle school they can still get HS credit and in HS they can get college credit. Brendon is in 7th grade, but he already has HS credit for the math he took in 6th grade and this year.

He will graduate with his age group, but have a jump start on college credit. (My wordiness reflects my exhaustion, too tired to edit)

He will graduate with his age group, but have a jump start on college credit.

That's the kind of thing that makes the most sense to me. But really, what do I know? I was just having this conversation with my mother about how everyone thinks they understand education because they went to school. Turns out? Being a student isn't the same as being a teacher.

I think you're right, Jesse, with a lot of kids who are advanced for their aga - always assuming, of course, that the school is in any way equipped to provide that kid with something challenging enough despite not being in step with the class, which is a huge if. But for the kids who are that far advanced, my sense is that not being allowed to follow where their minds are taking them is borderline cruelty. In J's case, the kid I mentioned above, I know his mother worried a lot about the fact that he was cut off in a lot of ways socially. But preventing him from going to university classes (we lived within blocks of the uni, fwiw) would have been much harder on him.

Funny. I just remembered that I got my first kitten from J. Named Tiger, so you can see that creativity didn't necessarily come packaged with the mad math and science skilz.

A friend of mine has a very gifted child and has researched a lot of the best wisdom on the subject. Boiled down, it's "don't push, let the child pull you." And that even though they're smart, emotionally they're still children.

Skipped way ahead to say, whoohoo, I'm in Chicago! Aurelia has a great apartment and a cute cat.

goes back to read the last 100 messages

it seems to me that a 10 year old could be learning all kinds of interesting stuff on his own, but still be in a classroom with relative age-peers (even with skipping a grade or two).

It's possible, but -- well, obviously each case is different. But I left high school two years early because it was making me miserable (along with other reasons). Now, I wasn't significantly younger that the average student at my college, which would make it a remarkably different experience, nor did I leave because I was brilliant. But for different reasons, making me stay with my age peers for the sake of normalcy would have been actively cruel.

My take is that there's no really good answer; they're so unusual that they probably are going to feel out of place regardless where they are. Some will be happier going through school with their age group; some may not be able to socialize with their age group, so what would be the point?

Eh, I'm rambling. I just think there's no right answer, and probably the families do the best they can.

Crap, I just remembered -- about the different people being different and no one-size-fits-all solution to anything, and all that business. Who's always going on about that, again?

Who's always going on about that, again?

Some hippie kook.

I know a couple subjects in grade school were beyond boring for me not because of the content, but the speed of covering the content.

I can't imagine the horror of every class, even ones I hated, dragging that way (reminds me of a comic scan I just read on LJ, where Quicksilver, a speedster moans: 'Tell me, doctor ... have you ever stood in line at a banking machine behind a person who didn't know how to use it? Or wanted to buy stamps at the post office and the fellow in front of you wants to know every single way he can ship his package to Istanbul? Or gotten some counter idiot at Burger King who can't comprehend "Whopper, no pickles?" [...] Your life is being slowed to a crawl by the inabilities or the inconvenient behaviour of others. [...] Now imagine, doctor, that everyone you work with, everywhere you go ... your entire world .. is filled with people who can't work cash machines.'), especially if I wanted to learn.