Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy intro and ?s about educational needs per scores

I think tutoring other kids is a great way to develop patience and a deeper understanding of concepts. I tutored other kids for pay all through high school and college. Based on my own school experiences, I would be cautious about having a situation where your daughter is acting as a teaching assistant for her own classmates, though. This kind of social dynamic makes it harder to develop peer-to-peer relationships as it puts the child who is tutoring and correcting work in a position of authority over her classmates, and marks her as not really being part of the class.

Edit: To clarify, I think informal "helping out her friends" is fine, provided that that is not used as a substitute for her having an opportunity to learn new things. But I think that a situation where this is routine or she is expected to help other kids after she has done the class work should be avoided.