Originally Posted by HowlerKarma
Ageism is a nasty thing to have to face every step of your development. cry

I'm crying along with you. It's hard when they are ready and can't participate just because of age. It's also hard when they are half ready because of some missing skill (like the ability to understand the higher level stuff, but not handle the massive workload).

DD got invited into a class next year -- by the teacher -- but can't really participate (it's an academic competition type thing and there are hard age limits for that). She's really interested. So do I help her wheedle her way into the class, knowing that she won't get the thrill of competing and will feel left out, but will learn the skills? Or does she wait?

Social isolation isn't as much of an issue for her right now (yay!) but academic isolation is.