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9:43:00 AM EDT
Hearing Gentle Hum -- The Finn Brothers
Accelerated Kids
An interesting article in Time this week looks at the policy of letting the really smart kids skip grades, and whether doing that is useful or not for the kids in question. Some people believe that if you don't, the kids will get bored with school and both they and their educations will suffer for it; other believe that if you push a kid too far, too fast, he or she might burn out, or will feel out of place being so much younger than the other kids in the class.
I don't think there's any right answer to this personally -- as with so many things, it really all depends on the person involved -- but as a general rule I think there's some value in keeping kids with their peers. When I was a kid, I was reasonably bright, and there was some talk of having me skip a grade and going from 6th grade to 8th. But my mom put down her foot and refused to consider it -- she was of the belief I needed to spend time with kids my age. At the time I didn't much like the decision, but in retrospect I realize she was pretty much entirely correct, since no matter how smart I was intellectually, there were some social aspects I needed to work on. See, this is the downside of being a geek. 7th grade helped with that (a bit) and also served as a reminder to me through life that there's more to school (and life) than being merely "smart."
Krissy and I came up on this ourselves when Athena was about to start kindergarten. Most of the academic basics that they're covering in kindergarten, Athena already knows; purely on academics, she's probably ready for first grade. But there's no way she could sit still long enough to do the things a first grade teacher would want -- she needs training in how to be in school, basically, and as parents we think that's important enough to keep her in kindergarten and let her get used to the rhythms of education.
How do you feel about moving kids forward? Should they move as fast as their intellectual curiosity allows, or is keeping pace with ones peers part of education as well?
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Kids change from year to year, what may look advanced one year ..two years from now you may to take another look. Besides the lastest is that kids aren't able to totally complete their thought process until the age of 26 yrs.....I am going with that one!
TJ
Blog Away~ -
I agree that it really depends on the child and the maturity level and the social needs as well that a child may have.
Lisa
http://journals.aol.com/randlprysock/AdventuresFromFlorida/ -
I wish I was an accelerated kid, I was so bored in secondary education and am still bored now,.....challenge please!!! Actually, I think schools go too slow; compare how much students learn today and what they used to learn in my father's day. For example, I'm finally reading "The Illiad" and "The Odyssey" for the first time and my dad read that in high school. He was learning math in elementary school that I didn't start until middle and high school. School today is just busy work, not learning.
http://journals.aol.com/glopsblink/ATreasureTroveofGoodies -
My goddaughter--whose photo I just posted on my journal--is one of those kids who have little patience with things she finds boring. Right now she's often getting "sad face" daily reports from school because she talks to much.
I think advancing kids should be on a case to case basis. Some kids just need more intellectual stimulation but at the same time should be in the company of their peers.
9/24/04 8:38 AM