<p>Now, to address the discussion above, about accelerating the highly gifted student. There is no simple answer because accelerating them does not provide them with a peer group. By definition, they have a very limited peer group. Acceleration may provide them some intellectual stimulation-- maybe, maybe not because these students will have tremendous insight. (After all, if you are working at college level, the paper you submit for 5th grade social studies is likely as over the top as the one you submit for 10th grade U.S. history, both in writing style and research. ) And there are social and emotional concerns with acceleration because many of them want to make friends among their classmates and those students are years older than they are. So parents may be faced with a brilliant 11 year old who is making poor social choices because he or she is acting like a rebellious 16yo. I do think homeschooling can be a wonderful option for these kids and I do think that accelerating the curriculum to their level does not always mean sending them to college. (For example, you will notice that these ‘accelerate for the masses’ people rarely have their kids take AP courses.) There are enrichment possibilities which are intellectually challenging-- for example, several of my children studied multiple languages outside of school, lots of kids out there do competition math or take JHU CTY classes (things I never even knew about) and, yes, even brilliant kids should be in orchestra or sports teams. </p>
<p>In my extended family, none of us ended up accelerating our kids. Our kids attended the top schools we could find or afford. I moved to live in a top public school district where my kids attended magnet schools. None of my kids ever felt too smart because there were programs and challenges for them. I did not have the money for a top private school (one of my kids did attend a very top private school on scholarship but, socially, it was hard being a minority and the scholarship kid) but my nieces and nephews at elite elementary and high schools are challenged, are learning and do have peers. I understand the complexity of the issue for those parents who make the decision to accelerate a very gifted child because that child needs the challenge—which may be the case for the boys attending Berkeley and Morehouse. It is good that they didn’t send them away to school and I applaud that UCLA allowed the child to live on campus with a parent. But, again, this is a different discussion than the family featured on this thread or the product they hope to mass market which will accelerate kids for the sake of acceleration and put them in mediocre colleges from which they can graduate early.</p>