I just had a chance to read through all of your responses. Thank you all so much! In my sleepy early morning fog ("precoffee"), I used the wrong adjective. I should have stated, "some" of the gifted students at my school have difficulty relating to age-level peers. In no way was I saying gifted students should relate to everyone, but I hate to see them ostracized in their regular classrooms. It just seems in my gifted class I am currently taking to get my certification, I am reading a lot about how gifted teachers should nurture the social development of our students. There are many activities suggested...so many, in fact, that it is overwhelming! I was just wondering how/if teachers in the "real world" teach social development. As I imagined, the textbook paints an ideal picture whereas in the real world with our given parameters and frequent limitations as educators, these social skills are fostered by the atmosphere established in the classroom.
For the record, I would never expect gifted children (or anyone) to dumb themselves down to fit in.
Thank you all for helping me think through this issue. I am halfway through my gifted coursework with much more to learn!
