It should come as no surprise that many SNET Internet readers have very bright children. Many asked me for more information about educating gifted toddlers. I found an excellent web site with sources from the U.S. Department of Education which should answer all your questions and more!

Go to this comprehensive site for articles and extensive links about gifted education:

http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/help.gift.html

One parent recounted the following experience with schools and her gifted child:

"I am the mother of a gifted child. I was first able to make this claim when, at the end of third grade, he was selected for placement in CT's only full-time gifted program, the Advanced Learning Program (ALP) class at Stratford Academy.

"It saddens me whenever I think of the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of CT students who might qualify for such a program in their towns, but whose needs go unmet. Rarely are such programs advocated for, and the fact that 28 seats in the ENTIRE STATE are reserved for a single full-time advanced learning program speaks for itself. Tens of thousands of dollars are spent annually by the government to bring sub-par students up to mediocre standards, while those with true talents and a gift for learning go ignored and unchallenged in the "typical" classroom.

"Perhaps it is "politically incorrect" to support such programs when many of our schools are overcrowded and many of our students are achieving at levels which ought to be an embarrassment to anyone involved in education, but I think it is time for our school boards and parents to begin looking at ways to accelerate and advance the means available to those whose needs are no more or less "special" than those of children with physical, emotional, or learning disabilities.

"I have three children, only one of whom has been identified as "gifted" thus far. The identification takes place too late and was actively discouraged by many of the educators and board of education representatives I met. How many truly bright, motivated kids are we losing before the 4th grade effort to identify them? How many are acting up, acting out, or are simply numbed into mediocrity by a system that places ALL its efforts and dollars toward lifting up those below the median and completely ignores those who are capable of higher levels of achievement?

"If there is a group advocating for more resources devoted to our "gifted" children, or more innovative ways of incorporating their needs into the basic curriculum of our public schools, then I would like to know about it.

"It is very hard to have a gifted child. They tend to be demanding, insightful, and wise beyond their years. They are a joy and a burden. They cause us to question ourselves and our world in ways we cannot imagine. They challenge us by demanding we answer all sorts of questions, the simple and the sublime. They are worthy of our efforts, and I am tired of watching the school system gloss over their needs and cast them aside in favor of those who, in their view, "need our help more."