Gifted Education: Plenty to Discuss, Plenty to Debate

Silver Spring

The idea of an AP-like, open-enrollment, enriched program for younger students is intriguing. I know few parents in the area who have thought about these policy issues as much as you have. I would be delighted to publish comments from other readers on your proposal.

Dear Extra Credit:

As the parent of an 8-year-old and a 4-year-old, I am seriously amused at the number of people who think their kids are gifted. I guess we all live in a super-special Lake Wobegon, where everyone is not only above average but in the top second percentile. I am often amused at how agitated parents get over whether the school is providing enough intellectual stimulation for their children.

Honestly, for every child I've met who was designated as gifted, I think I've met only two or three who truly were.

And the one thing I truly fear are parents and programs that believe that if a child is gifted in one area, then the child must be accelerated in all areas. This happened to me, and while I was arguably gifted in some areas, I was just your regular sort of student in math.

Put in a class with folks who truly should have had accelerated experiences in math, I ended up a fearful math flunky who didn't recover until graduate school, when a professor helped me rebuild my confidence in my abilities.

I remember when a certain psychology was in vogue -- past-life regressions -- through which people would be in some sort of hypnotized state and then come out believing that their ancestor was Cleopatra or George Washington or someone else famous. No one seemed to come out of it with ancestors who were just regular people building the pyramids or fighting in the Revolutionary War. Thus it is, I think, with children around here and gifted programs. Somehow, every child who is bright is suddenly dubbed gifted.

And, if you pardon my grammar, it just ain't so.

Sheryl Stein

Arlington

Gifted is a loaded word, and trouble for everybody. It is too popular to get rid of, but I wish we could be more specific when we talk about individual children this way and more willing to see their gifts as the result of their labors rather than just dumb luck.