How Do You Determine What's Fair?

Today, Pucker had his kindergarten assessment test.

Pucker happens to be a very bright child--I know, I know... Every parent believes that thier child is gifted (as they should!), but as a mother of two boys (same gender here and my eldest is doing just fine), I can tell you this one is quite intelligent.


After blasting through the placement test, the counselor started to give him a little more advanced material. The thing with Pucker is that he can read very well. Now, that's very different from "understanding" the story. He just reads well. Nevertheless, he managed to impress the counselor and is able to start the kindergarten come September.


The thing that made me think, at least about the Texas education system, was that they told me they were doing this to equal out each class room environment. They do not group equally-leveld children together; they spread them out equally so that each class becomes more balanced. Their belief behind it is that children learn so much from each other and that it would not be fair for anyone to have a different experience.


I'm not trying to start a debate here, but is it really not fair? Doesn't it all depend on where your child place on the scale? If he's as advanced as the counselor led me to believe today, then would it be fair for him to have to go through all the material he's already mastered and sit idle so that other children can learn from him? I'm not even talking about a genius that's out there--he's a normal, but rather an intelligent student.


Many of you might wonder why I'm not putting him in a specialized, private gifted and talented childrens' school instead. If I believe that academic performance in elementary school had anything to do with how successful/happy they would be in their lives, I would be lining up at the crack of dawn, signing him up for that prestegious children's academy. But realistically, those who succeed in the real world are not necessarily the best students. They just happen to be those people who can figure out things. That's all.