It's a real disservice to any child-- gifted or otherwise--not to offer an immersive, engaging environment. I wish more people understood that deprivation of intellectual stimulation is the mental equivalent of withholding food to children. They need all-encompassing nourishment and nurturing. Aargh!!
Just thinking this through, though:
If you look at the history of parenting, even parenting kids who turn out to contribute brilliantly to society, "all-encompassing nurturing" is extremely unusual. It's a trend of our time, but didn't exist much before now.
When I grew up it was normal to be turned loose to play outside for long periods; nobody thought my mother was failing to nurture me by not talking to me 15 hours a day. In some societies, they have the 6-year-olds doing a lot of housework and contributing to the family's sustenance by generating income or carrying water. I'm not sure that's the kind of nurture anybody here is practicing, but I don't think it's necessarily wrong either.
I totally agree about providing intellectual stimulation in principle, and I talk to my kids a ton; but I profoundly dislike what I see a lot of these days, the making of motherhood into a high-pressure, high-stakes enterprise that must be done a certain way.
DeeDee
