"Anecdotal evidence suggests that kiddos may erupt with outbursts prior to giving up, checking out and underachieving."
I totally understand and agree this. I'm not opposed to gifted education at all!
However, there are two reasons that I would make sure my child had appropriate expectations and coping mechanisms, even assuming she'd be bored for 7 hours a day. The first is that it's honest and the bull that we feed kids about "learning is fun!" can be really demoralizing when they wonder why school isn't fun for them.
The second is that while every child should have a tailored education to meet their every need, in a supportive community, which also helps them become mature adults, the fact is that our country doesn't spend resources that way. So you need to be prepared to help your kids reach their potential outside of school, and to help kids cope while they're at school.
Not everyone can homeschool, after all, though I think when the homeschooling parent is highly educated and skilled and/or the child is in need of a drastically different program just to survive mentally, it is a great option. (I wanted to be homeschooled, but my mom had to work.
My own kids don't want to be homeschooled.)
I'm not bashing meeting the child's needs, but trying to think of ways to help the kid cope with the reality while they figure out what those needs are.
