Originally Posted by greenlotus
Originally Posted by Kai
As an aside, I have taught both gifted and non-gifted (though very bright) students algebra in a one-on-one setting, and one of the differences I notice is that the gifted ones need far less practice. This seems to be because the gifted ones see the underlying simplicity of whatever it is they are studying, whereas the non-gifted ones see it as a bunch of disconnected elements to be memorized. So, a 4th grader who is doing middle school math easily (so, being taught but not requiring an inordinate amount of practice) is more likely to be gifted than one who requires lots of after school time with rote practice to achieve the same thing.
Sure. We understand that here on this forum. I don't advertise that my DD rarely studies, is grade skipped, and still gets all A's when I know too many children who are surviving on little sleep and stressed, because they spend all their time in school and up late doing hours of homework.

I guess my point was that this is a way you could tell the gifted and non-gifted apart. But you'd have to work with them rather than test them in order to do this.