Originally featured in Byrdseed Gifted June 2011 Issue
By and large, we underestimate the learning capabilities of young students, beginning in preschool and extending through second grade. We tend to focus on the basics – alphabet, letters, numbers, individual words, basic shapes – in isolation, forgetting to add the richness of depth and complexity that allow students to learn on a deeper level, and provide interest for those students who have already learned the particular skills. For gifted students even as young as age 3, the type of skill-based learning that prevails in preschool and early elementary classrooms can turn them off from school almost right away.