Gifted & Giving

One student helps another at North Elementary, Des Plaines, Ill.

When a friend visited recently from Calif., we were catching up on the kids, and she mentioned being pleased with her younger son -- very advanced academically -- for helping out a struggling classmate with some math problems. It was a contrast to what I'd seen written by other parents of gifted kids, many of whom seem to resent their kids being asked to serve as "unpaid assistants" to the teacher. Plenty of experts, too, are opposed to gifted kids tutoring peers in the classroom. I can see how this could misfire, at best, if not well managed and monitored. On the other hand, I wonder if the anti-tutoring parents and experts have considered the potential social and emotional learning benefits for gifted kids. In some cases, academically average or even struggling kids are socially adept, while academically gifted kids may struggle socially. Peer tutoring certainly isn't the only tool for helping them help each other, but done right, it may be worth a try.

Here's a nice parent post that's pro peer tutoring, with caveats.

Party of Four

I'm lucky. Even in the pesky tween stage, my kids still let me read with them at bedtime. We just finished an awesome book that's all about kids helping kids. (And helping adults. And saving the world. Why not?) If you haven't already read it, check out Trenton Lee Stewart's The Mysterious Benedict Society. The 4 lonely protagonists are drawn together by a newspaper ad -- "Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?" -- and go on to fight a mind-controlling megolomanic in this smart, witty, suspenseful tale. I wondered a bit about the "gifted" angle but was quickly won over by how Stewart frames giftedness. One of the kids is a classic academic genius, another has amazing physical skills (and nerve to match), the third is rich in emotional intelligence, and the fourth kid seems endowed only with cranky stubbornness--until the end, when we see what a strong will can do when other gifts fail. Through it all, they stick together. Kid power at its best!