I had the unfortunate experience of being in gifted classes from elementary school through half of high school. It's probably the biggest mistake my parents ever made -- having me continue gifted education through middle and high school.
It's 100 percent true that gifted kids are socially immature. Part of that is due to the fact they're singled out and isolated from their peers. And, because gifted kids are quick to notice their "special treatment" (i.e. different curriculum, classes), they begin to adopt an elitist attitude. Ironically, it's this same elitist attitude that assists in spurring isolation from their peers.
But what many on the outside fail to recognize is the social hierarchy that develops among gifted students who are lumped together for an extended period of time. So, not only do you have this entire group of kids picked on from the outside, but there are some kids on the inside that get picked on by their intellectually similar peers. (I noticed boys among this group were those who dished out most taunts.)
If I learned any lessons from my experience they were:
1. Gifted education has a positive impact on students at an elementary school level and a severely negative impact (both socially and educationally) beyond that level. By the time I reached high school, I found that many of my peers, while brilliant in many regards, had developed a sense of complacency. There were few students who raised the bar to the level of many honors students.
2. If it is necessary to keep gifted kids in gifted classes, provide them with extracurricular activities that remove them from that environment. Team sports are especially great -- they offer kids an escape from academics, are healthy and help develop a sense of teamwork.
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I had the unfortunate experience of being in gifted classes from elementary school through half of high school. It's probably the biggest mistake my parents ever made -- having me continue gifted education through middle and high school.
It's 100 percent true that gifted kids are socially immature. Part of that is due to the fact they're singled out and isolated from their peers. And, because gifted kids are quick to notice their "special treatment" (i.e. different curriculum, classes), they begin to adopt an elitist attitude. Ironically, it's this same elitist attitude that assists in spurring isolation from their peers.
But what many on the outside fail to recognize is the social hierarchy that develops among gifted students who are lumped together for an extended period of time. So, not only do you have this entire group of kids picked on from the outside, but there are some kids on the inside that get picked on by their intellectually similar peers. (I noticed boys among this group were those who dished out most taunts.)
If I learned any lessons from my experience they were:
1. Gifted education has a positive impact on students at an elementary school level and a severely negative impact (both socially and educationally) beyond that level. By the time I reached high school, I found that many of my peers, while brilliant in many regards, had developed a sense of complacency. There were few students who raised the bar to the level of many honors students.
2. If it is necessary to keep gifted kids in gifted classes, provide them with extracurricular activities that remove them from that environment. Team sports are especially great -- they offer kids an escape from academics, are healthy and help develop a sense of teamwork.