I've come in late to this thread, forgive me if I get anyones's feathers ruffled. My DD was considered gifted when at infant school, reading fluently at 3.5 years, level 4 Sats at year 2 and level 6 in all Sats in year 6, also one of the youngest in her class, but sshe wasn't the only one. I didn't think that anything she did was particularly spectacular or different from what I had acheived at the same age.
When she went to her highly selective comprehensive school, (1700 children sit for 90 places, you have to get 125 (IQ) in the verbal reasoning to get through to the second round exams, and in practise, no one who got less than 135 actually ended up getting a place ) she was no different from any of the other kids, they were all supposedly 'gifted and talented' They all ended up with 10 A grade GCSE's with handfuls of stars, they will all end up with 4 grade A's at A level. My DD did her maths A level in a year, a year early, so what, so did all her class, likewise all her boy friends at the local state boys school and they all got A's.
I don't know what I'm trying to say, probably that I would take the G&T bit with a pinch of salt.
As a governor of 4 state primary schools and a secondary school, over the last 12 years, I know that we have to be seen to doing something for the brighter kids, when I believe that they are not actually something different. they are simply kids who come from homes where the adults read and encourage their children to do so, play board games together and generally do lots of interesting things like visiting museums, doing projects themselves for the fun of it, doing things kids should do rather than being glued to the TV or leading an overscheduled life of activities with no time to be a child. My kids were always making things motivated by themselves.
G&T children generally have very supportive home lives, where the parents are interested in what their children do at school, ask them about their work and guide them into finding out information for themselves, go to the library, and show them what fun it can be and instill a sense of fun into their learning, rather than seeing homework as a routine chore.
There is an interesting article today in the Telegraph about how kids don't go outside just to play anymore, mine did all the time, building dens, exploring streams, playing in the fields, all without adult supervision, yes I worried a little, but they were only having the childhood I had and I didn't come to any harm. We lived in the New Forest and we would disappear all day on our bikes and not come bak till dark, We were only 8, 9 and 10 years old. We knew where the weirdos hung out!
My two now 17 and 18, seeing how scheduled the children they babysit for, acknowledge the freedom they had and how it has been a crucial part of their learning independence and having fun as a child. I worry more now they are driving and where they are than when they were 10!
Enough said