An Experimental Program for Gifted Four Year Olds

Abstract

For years, the field of gifted education has supported the contention that gifted children should be identified and served at the beginning of their formal school experience in order to keep them interested and challenged by learning. Frequently, the large problem of underachievement among the gifted population has been laid at the doorstep of a lack of such early program opportunities. Yet few extant programs have emerged that provide services to children at preschool age or even early primary.

Of course, there have been notable exceptions. The longitudinal research on young gifted children being carried on at the University of Washington has found that preschool gifted children can be identified through multiple measures examined in a case study context; and that they have the ability to learn concepts and skills at earlier stages than their age peers even though the diversity of ability and level of mastery at a particular age may vary widely within the gifted group (Roedell, Jackson, Robinson, 1980). These recent findings corroborate the work at the Roeper School for the Gifted for over 40 years in the area of providing self-paced academic experiences for the young gifted child (Roeper, 1980). The Astor program in New York City found that four and five year olds could function well in a full-day gifted program that addressed both cognitive and affective areas of development (Ehrlich, in press). A program that compared the effectiveness of classroom approaches for use with preschool gifted children found that both an SOI-based classroom and an open classroom were effective, depending on the nature of the individual gifted learner (Karnes, 1978). And even in rural settings, the young gifted child could be served through a consultative model that linked limited program contact time with follow-up parental intervention (Hanninen, 1979).

All of these programs have demonstrated the appropriateness of identifying young gifted children using a test battery with reliance on a case study approach for final selection, providing experiences in academic learning for the preschool gifted child who is ready to move ahead and can profit from additional enrichment learning, and nurturing the social and emotional growth of the child through interactive strategies.