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