I am off to read the article but wanted to add: I certainly wasn't challenged in school and had a hell of a time come college. I didn't know how to study so I had a hard time my first year. In fact I didn't do great until I got to some really challenging (but interesting) courses my senior year!!

I liked the article because it crystallized a series of thoughts & concerns that have been rattling around in my brain for quite awhile.

I agree -- it held no specific answers. But it has so far been one of the more useful articles for sharing with teachers. It doesn't hit them over the head with "GIFTED!!" like A Nation Deceived & others, yet still stresses the importance of challenging our kids.

Once they acknowledged and agreed with the premise of this article, we were able to explore the particular lack of challenge for our son.

My take on how to fix it: decrease the reliance on school to instill these traits. Show your child how to find challenge outside the school walls. You don't always have control over what goes on inside the class, but you certainly can on the outside. School can be pushed to the periphery when it comes to learning, what the child does outside of school can become the focus. Teach them how to learn on their own, then they don't alwys have to rely on someone to teach them. And I'm not talking formal afterschooling with workbooks or computer programs, just going to the library or buying books and leaving them around the house like Gratified mentioned.

I love this quote from the movie Good Will Hunting (in the bar talking to an arrogant Harvard student):

Will Hunting: You wasted $150,000 on an education you coulda got for $1.50 in late fees at the public library.

I love that quote CFK.

Also try:

I volunteered in a sixth-grade class when I was at uni, and there was a girl there who decided to learn algebra during her in-class reading time - she brought in "Algebra for Dummies". Mind you, she also wrote better than my classmates at university. The thought of what that kid could've done at a school with a proper gifted program makes my head spin. Anyway, BWBShari, there are worse things you could do than drop a trig book in front of your son and tell him to go at it.

Thanks for posting this. This is an issue I'm struggling with for DS now.

Reading Guerrilla Learning by Grace Llewellyn helped me understand this. http://www.amazon.com/Guerrilla-Learning-Education-Without-School/dp/0471349607

Yesterday DD7 had her eyes opened a bit when the 2nd grade students were together for testing into the accelerated cluster magnet. They were discussing the upcoming Book Week and there is a contest where two students from each grade with the highest number of AR points get to have lunch with a visiting author. DD7 was one of the winners last year and her motivation to have lunch with an author outweighed her desire to conform to reading standard grade level books.

She's been holding back a bit with her reading this year and choosing lower point books but her point total was very high compared to her classmates. Yesterday, she found there is a girl in another class whose point total blew DD's out of the water. The girl is going to third grade for subject acceleration and as DD said, "Her mother teaches her challenging math at home too." Yay!

Ohhh- future BFF?

what kids don't learn when they aren't challenged

This article puts into words exactly my concerns for DS9. Thankyou!


Ex. He knows his spelling, social studies, and science the first day so he really does not need to study. He wants to be a good school boy so he works on them everyday until his test. I hear how hard these are for other kids. My son is not getting the desired challenge. This is a concern for me. Is a child who is going thru the motions learning to study without the challenge? I say no.

I'm 15 years old and I just have one thing to say- PLEASE make sure your kids are being challenged in school from an early age! I went through 8th grade getting straight A's without having to try at all. Now I'm in 10th grade and I am finally in a few somewhat challenging classes (although math is still terrible- they made me retake Algebra 2 even though I took it in 8th grade because they said they'd run out of math classes for me to take!). I now hate school because I never had to lift a finger before. I'm learning to adjust and I still have straight A's, it's just been a painful experience I don't recommend you put your children through. And being a perfectionist has certainly made it more difficult. I should have skipped a grade a long time ago. I have good study skills and everything, I just am not used to trying. Plus, half the time my school's definition of an "honors" class is "make them all sit down and listen to us lecture and don't let them ask any questions because they're smart so they should be fine." Thanks for the help, school.