Gifted and Talented Schools For Your Gifted Child
Just as there's no one way to describe all the gifted and talented students in the United States, there is also no one way to describe all the special education programs being offered at gifted and talented schools.
Because each of the gifted and talented schools is designed to meet specific needs, they're all a little different. They may follow exclusively one method of learning or use blended methods instead.
Some of the learning methods that might be found at successful gifted and talented schools are self-paced programs, accelerated learning, separation of classes, and student enrichment. In some cases, home schooling is a form of gifted and talented education, too.
When gifted and talented schools employ the self-paced method of learning, they allow students to progress freely through student groups as their mastery of a level of learning becomes satisfactory. Students here don't compete against others because everyone learns something faster than others and progression isn't linear or chronological.
Gifted and talented schools that offer acceleration as a method of specialized learning offer students the opportunity to advance to a higher skill level when capabilities seem to have developed accordingly. In high school, for example, a gifted freshman may be allowed to take a class at the sophomore or junior grade levels. In the lower grades, gifted students are often skipped up to a more challenging grade level.
Separate facilities used as gifted and talented schools are perhaps the most scarce learning methods available to these exceptional students, where students are immersed in the most advanced methods of teaching, with teachers, administrators, and all members of the staff devoted to providing the optimum learning environment for these children of special need.
Enrichment is perhaps the most controversial teaching method widely used but usually used in cases where there are no other gifted and talented learning options available. In an enrichment program, the gifted child attends class with his or her peers, regardless of learning skills. When assignments are announced, the student and teacher are in agreement that the student, the gifted one, will receive an additional, more challenging assignment than his or her fellow students. This method of learning provides more intellectual stimulation for the gifted student but assigns a heavier study load, which many opponents of the practice say is unfair and discriminatory against the gifted child.
When assessing gifted and talented schools, compare learning methods and strategies as well as cost, location, and other pertinent data.