Terrific thread. I posted the same thing on another site, and not one bite. And if you read this this start to finish, I think it is fair to say our kids didn't fall far from some bright trees.

@chrys I love the corner you show Bill Gates being painted into... wonder which party he feels has better claim, if any.

And the parenting matters but genes constrain conversation is great.

As for grade skips, it is like taking fever reducer but not antibiotics. You minimize the discomfort but you do not rid the underlying problem. And that is these kids are not products of hothoused achievement but fundamentally gifted. So moving up provides challenge until they are caught up - but their learning speed may still outpace traditional classrooms. Hmmm... untouched traditional education and the gifted? Is that like 10,000 hours of wasted time and practice. What if that 10,000 hours went into challenging work.

On red shirting, I would simply like similar questions asked to ensure like grade advancement that it is in the long-term best interest of the child. I think sometimes folks can be parent centered not student centered. Maybe it feels good to be a parent of the kid who walks into k knowing everything, and just hands down covered. But how does that child feel after 2-3 months of answering the questions, not learning something new. Choir preaching here I bet.

So research makes its statistical claims - but without citing - how would you rate the pull of nurture vs nature as it relates to your child's gifts?