(I am so glad that things have changed. In 1963, when I was labeled a "gifted student" things were not great. I took part in one of the first studies on this. Half the chosen went to live in dorms at university at 15, the rest stayed in local schools with added support. Guess which cohort succeeded? Yep not mine. University at 15 fucked me up.)
Meeting the Needs and Potentials of High-Ability, High-Performing, and Gifted Students via Differentiation.
Kindred spirit!
Skipped grade one, did math with the grade sixes in two and three, and got beaten/bullied at recess by them.
Also got placed a year early in gifted programming, and was bullied there too (half because of my age, half because of my self-evident poverty compared to the other kids).
I do not ever recommend depriving children of vital peer group socialization and emotional growth.
Thankful for the person you are now, Corlin, but sorry to hear about parts of the journey.
Let me be honest, even today I can mansplain, and condescend, with the worst of them. Humility takes constant vigilance. One reason I live in the forest, to remind me I am not all that.
This is the challenge of Plato's Cave. The short version ends with coming out of the cave and deepening in worldly knowledge. But the overall argument of the allegory is that what makes a leader out of a man is being sent *back in*, knowing however much more one does about the world, and learning to live well among people who still believe in shadows, and who simply cannot process all the knowledge that you've gained.
An essential friction for any learnèd life.
Thanks.
It’s strange to say. But I am exactly who I am today, as a result of who I was then.
@MLClark @corlin
My dad got skipped and got bullied for being younger. I was never identified as anything but "not fulfilling potential" until I took my PSATs, but I can tell you, I got bullied all along anyway. I didn't fit in. I would have liked to have had some peers interested in nerdy stuff like I was.
@MLClark They wanted to skip me from 2nd grade to 3rd, and I refused. I wanted to stay with my friends. @corlin