parents: skipping kindergarten

[pauldun170]

Originally Posted by askmrjesus

And you named her April...

I guess we can dispense with the "Asians are brainy" stereotype now.

JC

Originally Posted by tommymac

I thought that was done after the whole fire dept picking the lock thing

Originally Posted by askmrjesus

No, that was the "Asians are cheap bastards" stereotype.

This one is different.

JC

[defector]

I have some first hand experience in this. I was in "gifted" classes through most of grade school. K-2 was pretty cool. Because I could already read and write in Kindergarten, I got to read the naptime story to the class every Friday, while the teacher did other stuff.

In my experience, here is where it sucked....when you are 8 years old (3rd grade age) going to class with kids that are 12 and 13 years old (7th and 8th grade age). I wasn't even in the akward phase of puberty yet...

It may be different for a female, but it completely screwed my self confidence up for a while. I am naturally competitive, and the only thing I could compete in was academics. Sports (which I absolutely love) were out - I was obviously much smaller/weaker than the rest of the kids, so the getting picked last thing was commonplace. If I ever got picked at all.

Add in the fact that "smart" kids were usually getting picked on anyway(in their own grade), and some days just sucked. You get picked on for being good at something, then get your ass handed to you in everything else you enjoy. Kids can be pretty damn mean to an easy target, which I was at that time. Toughens you up mentally for sure.

[Tmall]

Originally Posted by defector

I have some first hand experience in this. I was in "gifted" classes through most of grade school. K-2 was pretty cool. Because I could already read and write in Kindergarten, I got to read the naptime story to the class every Friday, while the teacher did other stuff.

In my experience, here is where it sucked....when you are 8 years old (3rd grade age) going to class with kids that are 12 and 13 years old (7th and 8th grade age). I wasn't even in the akward phase of puberty yet...

It may be different for a female, but it completely screwed my self confidence up for a while. I am naturally competitive, and the only thing I could compete in was academics. Sports (which I absolutely love) were out - I was obviously much smaller/weaker than the rest of the kids, so the getting picked last thing was commonplace. If I ever got picked at all.

Add in the fact that "smart" kids were usually getting picked on anyway(in their own grade), and some days just sucked. You get picked on for being good at something, then get your ass handed to you in everything else you enjoy. Kids can be pretty damn mean to an easy target, which I was at that time. Toughens you up mentally for sure.

Here's an important question that nobody seems to have asked..

Did being in the "gifted" class help you in any way whatsoever?

[CrazyKell]

Originally Posted by Tmall

Here's an important question that nobody seems to have asked..

Did being in the "gifted" class help you in any way whatsoever?

I was in "gifted" all through school too.

Looking back I think it helped in a couple of ways. It wasn't about doing MORE work, it's about teaching those children to think laterally, or outside the box. I think that's a valuable lesson.

It helped me to see that I wasn't the only one like that.

I was in a special program where I went to school one day a week at a different school for gifted children. I looked forward to those days because I actually got to enjoy learning on those days.

[defector]

Originally Posted by Tmall

Here's an important question that nobody seems to have asked..

Did being in the "gifted" class help you in any way whatsoever?

I think it did, overall. Sure, there were ups and downs, but that is with anything in life. It definitely toughened me up mentally, and it opened doors academically that likely wouldn't have been otherwise. Some courses (physics, aeronautics) were off limits to most freshman, but I was allowed to take them due to my grade school academics.

Believe it or not, it wasn't nearly as bad (socially) when I got to high school.

[Trip]

Honestly, I don't think gifted shit helps til you get to college. I took the bored path throughout k-12. Didn't give a shit, learned what I wanted to and basically made the grades I needed to graduate.

Then I went to college and put the hammer down and graduate with every damn honor I could get. Honor society everything. Got a good job and now all that shit doesn't matter again. GPA helps you once, get your first job. After that it doesn't mean a damn thing ever again.

High school GPA helps you get scholarships though, so that is helpful.

[azoomm]

Originally Posted by Trip

Honestly, I don't think gifted shit helps til you get to college. I took the bored path throughout k-12. Didn't give a shit, learned what I wanted to and basically made the grades I needed to graduate.

Then I went to college and put the hammer down and graduate with every damn honor I could get. Honor society everything. Got a good job and now all that shit doesn't matter again. GPA helps you once, get your first job. After that it doesn't mean a damn thing ever again.

High school GPA helps you get scholarships though, so that is helpful.

Now, it's about more than GPA. It's about extracurricular, scholastic, applying themselves, etc. 4.0 doesn't get you shit anymore.

[RACER X]

i know alot of HS kids who's AP classes counted as college level. they had so many they finished college in 2 yrs.

[Rider]

Originally Posted by RACER X

i know alot of HS kids who's AP classes counted as college level. they had so many they finished college in 2 yrs.

I've seen AP math, AP science and AP English but not 2 years worth of stuff. Although I know people that have graduated in 2 1/2 years so it's possible.

[CrazyKell]

People that graduate in 2 1/2 years don't have summer's off. There's nothing AP about that.