If you have a gifted learner, you may be considering putting your child in a special school. Before you can do that you have to get more information. Not every child is the same. That means that not every gifted child will do well in a school for gifted children. The only way to find out which category your child falls into is to take a look at what gifted education is. You need to look at a broad definition and a few specifics.
Gifted Education Is a Broad Definition
In a broad sense, gifted education is using special practices, procedures and theories to educate children who are talented. This type of program is necessary because gifted students need to be challenged. Also, a gifted child may excel in one area, but struggle in others, particularly social areas. A gifted education will be able to challenge and provide support as necessary.
Specific Practices, Procedures & Theories Used
In order to better understand if gifted education is right for you child, you need to look at some of the specific practices, procedures and theories used.
Acceleration
One way to help challenge a talented student is to accelerate their learning. This means your fourth grader who is gifted at math may be doing sixth grade level math work. The acceleration practice lets students go ahead in areas that they are good at, but continue learning other areas at a more conventional pace.
Compacting
Curriculum compacting is a strategy used to reduce the repetition of conventional curriculum. One way reason gifted students get bored is because they have to go over subjects they already know. Compacting the curriculum to what they do not know alleviates that issue.
Grouping
If a child gets ostracized because they are learning something different from everyone else, that can be difficult. One way to stop this from happening is to group similar learners together.
Customization
Gifted learners are different from average learners, but they are also different from each other. Because of this, gifted learners need to be able to have a customized learning experience. They need to be accelerated where needed.
Focus on Your Child’s Best Interests
In the end, you have to do what is best for your child. If staying in a traditional setting is going to be beneficial, then that is what has to be done. Do your research to help your child reach their full potential.