I live in SC and have identical twin daughters who are 8 and in 3rd grade. Neuropsych testing showed both are gifted, but one has severe ADHD and didn't qualify for our school's gifted program. My other daughter has milder ADHD and is a better test taker and did qualify for the gifted program this year. I was so excited for her to enter the program because I wanted her to be challenged. I also thought it would be a lot like the program I did as a child i.e. the gifted classroom was a place where uniqueness was valued, material was an enrichment to regular classwork, independent study was valued, classwork included creativity, etc. It appears that our state GT program is mainly an advancement curriculum in math and ELA and there is no "enrichment" component. My daughter's strength is in non-verbal problem solving and is a very outside of the box thinker. Academically she can do the work with no problem, but she is so miserable in this classroom that she just sits and daydreams. She tells me it is so dry and boring that she wishes she was back in the regular class (this is a 3 hour a day pull out just for ELA and math, 5 days a week). She is told to sit with her stomach pressed against the desk with her feet straight down and sit quietly. There is very little opportunity to move around or engage with the other students. It is killing her love of learning. Is this what gifted programs are like now in the public school? How is this supposed to be good for her? I would love some advice from those of you more experienced with GT in public schools.
