This is a good example of why "They all even out by third grade" has some element of truth to it.
Yeah, by the time they get to 3rd grade they have given up learning anything at all, and their brains have turned to mush sitting and "learning" the same thing over and over again.....
Sorry, I should be more positive but I have been watching it happen with my son, and it is hard to try to understand why teachers think that way.
I don't quite understand why it would be so hard to group by ability rather than age. Or maybe a combination of the two - ability within an age group. If everyone in the classroom was at about the same level rather than spanning the whole gamit of levels you find in an age group you would have a group of kids that were at about the same place. There would be fewer children who were bored because they were ahead, and fewer children who were lost because they were behind, and less time "wasted" for the majority when the last 2-3 still hadn't gotten it and the rest had. I don't just say this to help gifted children but to help all children. I can't tell you how often I got in trouble trying to help or explain things while I was in school because I upset the other children because I "got it" quicker than they did. They felt stupid, which was never my intent, and I don't think it is good for any child to feel badly about themselves because someone else processes information differently/quicker. I think in that type of setting there would be less issues with kids moving "up" or "down" to get to their own level as well. We could have a system that actually worked towards teaching to the level of the student rather than what an age group "should be" learning/know. Not that it would be perfect either but I think there would be less issues.
