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I love these responses, they are reminding me of why I am letting me DDs skip a grade next year.
I was bored s a kid and never studied, but my parents wouldn't "push" or allow me to go ahead. Both of my parents had skipped a grade plus entered early, so they both graduated high school at 16 (this was in the late 1940's). They both regretted being so young at graduation so they never allowed me to skip. I felt pretty lost since the schoolwork and projects were never engaging.

I wrote about it here.

http://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/18674

College was fun. I got 100s on most of my finals. Unless I found something that really interested me.

DW skipped 1st grade. She won a lot of awards in 6th/7th grade, but by the 8th grade the school system ignored her. She graduated MCL from college. She was made President of a BU of a public firm in her early 30s.

What would I have done differently?

Had I had a mentor in the sciences when I was 8 years old who was a steady presence AND/OR had we stayed in the school district that radically accelerated me - I would have had a much deeper commitment to schooling.

Although my elementary school took me out of K and put me in 1st grade, so I was advanced a year throughout my education, school was mostly boring. I was a compliant child, though, so I did my work and then sat in my seat and read. My sixth grade teacher caught me reading between writing the words on a spelling test -- she thought I was cheating at first.

I got A's and B's in middle school and high school without doing any real work or learning any study skills to speak of. At that time students were allowed to take community college classes after their sophomore year in high school. I went to the local college that summer and took Algebra II in 6 weeks, got an A, and continued on to precalculus at the HS the next year. My senior year the HS had no math class for me to take (this was before the proliferation of AP courses), so they stuck me back in with the precalc class, gave me a calculus book, and said, "Study for the AP test." I did this on my own and scored a 4 on the test. Despite my self-acceleration in math, not one person at the high school took me aside and said, "You know, you're pretty good at math. Let's see what you can do with this to get into a good college." I didn't even fill out the scholarship application for the local grants and scholarships, because I thought I wasn't good enough -- I didn't have the long list of activities and community service that the more engaged students had.

I went to the local state college and still had plenty of time to read and work part-time while completing my classes with mostly As. The first time I finally ran into something that was very difficult for me to learn was in my third-year college math courses, and by then I had no idea how to approach learning something really difficult. I struggled to get B's.

Now I teach math at a community college. I have twin sons who are HG and 20 years old. Even though I advocated for them in their education, they were also not challenged enough in school -- although they handled it differently than I did, having completely different personalities. They just quit doing any work, starting in 8th grade, except in classes that interested them (music, drama), and graduated from HS by the skin of their teeth. They no longer have any interest in academic work, although they are highly curious about the world, and will delve into topics of interest on their own. They are using their abilities in creative work with music. They are looking for a higher education program that will foster this work, but not force them into what they see as meaningless (and boring) general education courses.

I know this is long, but I think it is pertinent to the discussion -- our family is an example of how the system has failed two generations of gifted students. (But we would count as successes for NCLB -- all of us got high scores on standardized tests and graduated from HS.)

Gosh, this thread is kind of sad. 8(
I sometimes wish I could go back but, I wouldn't change anything really. I am very happy with how my life turned out. I still wish I could find a challenging career but, I don't have to worry about that for a few more years.

I was also a very compliant child. I was very quiet and shy too. I remember misspelling spelling bee words so I wouldn't have to talk in front of my class.

When I was in fourth grade we moved to an army base for a few months and I went to school there. My Dad was in National Guard. The class literally was in the first grade soft cover reading books. It was like "here honey, do you think you can read this? 'Spot saw Jane throw the ball.'" I was reading Little Women at the time. The teacher acted like she never saw anyone read before. They finally had me reading with the sixth grade class but, it was a book I had had the beginning of third grade. I remember being stunned by this.

BigBadWool, you remind me of what I meant to mention, but forgot. I am also a very happy person and I would not change my life as it is now. I am very aware that if I had not had these issues I'd have ended up in a different college, and probably would never have met my DH or had my DD. So it is only when I think about my educational experience as divorced from my life as a whole that I have regrets.

I don't know if I'm 'gifted' or not, but after dealing with my ds, I suspect I could probably get a classification if I was in school now.

In school, I did well with ease. I didn't really have to work at school too much. I graduated with extra credits and audited some classes in high school. I took AP classes and seem to remember enjoying them. I also skipped alot of school because there were better things to do.... I believe underachiever was used by more than one of my teachers.

I was ill-prepared for college. My studying skills sucked to say the least - I'd never really had to, so it wasn't something I was good at. I didn't really give college a decent chance. I hated sitting in classes listening to someone talk - I preferred to do things on my own. I think I might have enjoyed internet classes.

This is what I'm trying to avoid with my ds - the apathy that comes from boredom. I'm trying to keep him engaged in school, so that he doesn't lose interest and have the attitude that I have. DH and I have had many good natured discussions about my being a slacker when it comes to school and why that may have been. I love to learn, read, educate myself, etc. I just didn't do well in a formal school setting - could it have been because I wasn't getting what I needed? Maybe.

I don't know that I wish anything had been different - I've done well. I may not have had the formal education, but I am an educated person who's living a great life. Of course, as a parent, I want more for my child. I hope to instill a love of learning (even if not in a traditional setting) and I also hope he encounters teachers who can bring out the best in him. He's had a couple already, we've been fortunate. And of course, there's DH who balances me out, LOL.

"I didn't really give college a decent chance. I hated sitting in classes listening to someone talk - I preferred to do things on my own. I think I might have enjoyed internet classes."

Too funny, made me remember something. In college I went to the first week of all classes, then I would decide if it was a go to class and listen to lecture (rare but sometimes there were great lecturers) or skip all classes and just use text (had to show on test dates of course). I received my Master's online and I loved not having to go to lectures and I liked the self-pacing.

Ditto. That's what I like about my medical school. All of the material is posted on-line, along with taped lectures to supplant the material, so there is no need to go to class unless one enjoys sitting through a boring lecture or wants to goof off with classmates in the back of the room.

If only showing up for test dates had been an option . It's funny, well not really but... when folks ask if I went to college, where, etc. I have to say "Well, I was enrolled, until they asked me to free up the space for someone who actually wanted to be there and attend classes." I'm sure there's a term for that - academic somethingorother.

Funny JDax! I went to a big school where there was no attendance requirement. I spent one semester at a smaller school where attendance was 15% of your grade! I argued the ridiculousness of that with the professors. If you can get a 4.0 and not show up why force attendance? Conversely, if you need to show up to do well and are not smart enough to show up...well...I hope I don't hire that grad! I think by the time you are in college you should be either able to manage your own time or figure it out quickly.

BTW LIlMick - What med school are you attending? I didn't realize the online option existed for medical school.