by Ellen Kudlicki

Created on: April 26, 2008

One of the biggest complaints that teachers hear from truly gifted students is that instead of having different or more challenging work, they simply have more of the same work every other student is assigned. For most parents, it is difficult to understand the difference. They see their child who can write and read well, and who can do math calculations easily and quickly and think that by having twice as much homework, the student's needs are being served. Unfortunately, they are wrong.

While there has been a significant push to improve the lot of students with disabilities, programs for the truly gifted student are often left to their own devices. Without training and supervision, some teachers will be intimidated by their precocious class and rather than opening doors to more advanced insight, will simply load students down with what amounts to busy work. A child who already knows how to read and write well, probably should not be burdened with basic grammar exercises. Instead, this student should be reading for research and writing essays. This isn't beyond the scope of truly gifted children as young as nine or ten. But with funding cut at every turn and demands being made on public schools to provide services beyond the scope of mere education, too often G/T programs are left to their own devices.

The solution lies in the intervention of parents and the interest of the community at large. This is the point where mentors from various professions can spark a bored but talented student to the next level. Imagine how much more interesting a talk about cancer cells would be from a visiting oncologist. People in the community are often more than willing to help, but it takes more than just teachers making the request. Parents have to get involved. Quite often parents are the first to notice their child's abilities. Some schools will try to put off testing or divert attention, but the parent needs to be their child's advocate. Students are legally entitled to and schools are federally mandated to offer programs for students according to their abilities. This means that gifted children deserve and should receive educational work commensurate with their abilities. Don't take no for an answer.

Parental involvement can be a double-edged sword. Gifted programs need parents to push school districts to offer and support programs for gifted students that go past minimum standards. Without parental pressure, districts will ignore programs and allow them to atrophy. But

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