Top Eight Guidelines for Selecting a Gifted School
Parents who are considering enrolling their children in a gifted school should consider the following questions before making their final decision:
1. Pace
Is the student encouraged to move through the curriculum at their own pace?
Does the gifted school recognize that one of the biggest impediments to learning is being held back or being forced to go too fast just to keep up with the “average” child?
2. Multiple Grade Levels
Do the gifted school’s policies allow a child to enroll in different grade levels for different courses? For example, can a child who is at Grade 7 in English, but at Grade 5 in Math take both courses the same year or is the child forced to take all courses in one grade regardless of ability or performance?
Does the gifted school recognize that the year in which a child is born should not be the sole criteria for which grade level course he or she takes?
3. Time on Task
Is the student encouraged to stay with a subject until he or she is finished or is there an arbitrary amount of time allotted for each subject?
Does the gifted school recognize that by limited learning to 45 minute periods, you could be de-motivating a child with inherent interests?
4. Multiple Learning Paths
Can the child chose from a rich variety of unique activities within the same assignment?
5. Teacher Training
Are the gifted school teachers trained to work with gifted children?
Are the teachers sensitive to the gifted child’s needs and challenges?
6. Learning Styles
Is the curriculum designed to accommodate different learning styles?
Is the child expected to only listen to a lecture form the head of the classroom for the 50 minute class period?
Are their accommodations made for children who learn visually or kinesthetically?
7. Continuous Progress
Do the gifted school’s policies allow for the child to continue through to the next grade level when he or she has demonstrated successful mastery of current grade level?
8. Multi-Age Socialization
Is the child encouraged to make friends with only the children who were born the same year that they were or are all of the students in the school, regardless of age, given the opportunity to socialize with one other?
The National Academy for the Gifted is proud to be able to answer a resounding “YES!” to all of the questions raised above. We have designed our online education so that it is specifically tailored to meet the needs of gifted children.