Negative Effects Not Just for the Gifted Students!

When All Students Are Expected to Maintain the Same Pace …

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Gifted Children Learn to Underachieve

Elementary school curriculum spirals and repeats throughout elementary school. There are seven to eight repetitions of the material in the typical six years to allow a child of average ability to learn the material. A Level One child generally needs three repetitions — roughly four years — while a Level Two child will need only one or two repetitions — about half the time in school needed by an average child. Level Three children could easily complete the entire elementary school curriculum in less than two years if it were appropriately compacted, and Levels Four and Five start school already knowing most of what is taught in elementary school. Putting these advanced children in regular elementary classes virtually forces them to learn to underachieve because achieving up to their abilities simply isn’t an option! Gifted children cannot learn study skills or time management in such a classroom, and they may also get a distorted, unrealistic impression of how smart they are, where they fit in, and which behaviors and kinds of performance indicate high intelligence. Additionally, if the material is perpetually easy, they may resist challenge when it is finally provided in high school or college.