Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utcsrgv.UUCP Path: utzoo!utcsrgv!mason From: mason@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Mason) Newsgroups: net.kids Subject: Re: Classes for gifted children Message-ID: <3224@utcsrgv.UUCP> Date: Wed, 1-Feb-84 15:58:29 EST Article-I.D.: utcsrgv.3224 Posted: Wed Feb 1 15:58:29 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 1-Feb-84 16:35:57 EST References: <3223@utcsrgv.UUCP> Organization: University of Toronto/Ryerson Polytechnic Institute Lines: 33 This discussion looks interesting, partly because the right answers are far from obvious (to me at any rate): 1) arbitrarily streaming kids (particularly from an early age) seems very counter-productive, it seriously limits those who don't have the right stuff at the right time. 2) skipping grades involves sufficient social dislocation, and in many cases solves so little of the original problem/boredom that it is not obviously any better. 3) doing nothing seriously handicaps the potential of the best and the brightest that we are becoming increasingly dependent on to solve some of the world's problems, not to mention boring the hell out of the poor kids. In many ways, grade 3 was my best year: I made straight A's, was class president, wrote letters to the local senator, convincing him to donate apples from his farm so the class could sell them, organized and packaged care packages, and sent them off. Obviously impressed, teachers and my parents decided I should skip grade 4. Thereafter, I was always 6th in my class, but only got A's in math & science, almost failed my first year of university when I realized it was no better than high school, eventually did it in 3 years instead of 4 because the boredom would be over earlier, (little did I know what the working world was like!). I'm sure many others on the net have similar stories, but my problem is: Should I have skipped? Should I have skipped more? Would a separate stream have helped? What if my parents hadn't been supportive? Hard questions all. I think my preference would be the way it actually was, but I did get tired of "Could do much better if he would try/apply himself", which might not have been the case in another scenario. I look forward to the discussion! -- {dalcs dciem garfield hcr musocs orcatech qucis rhodnius sask titan trigraph ubc-vision utzoo watmath allegra cornell decvax decwrl ihnp4 uw-beaver} !utcsrgv!mason Dave Mason, U. Toronto CSRG