1. Early Academic Intervention Do Young Gifted Children Benefit ?

2. High Public Interest ● Discussed even in daily newspapers ● Especially for at-risk and minority children ● High enrollment in enrichment programs (Language Stars, Kumon etc.)

3. Early identification ● Educators generally in favor (McBride, 1992) ● Nurture at home independent of ID (Colangelo, 1986; Tannenbaum, 1992) ● Danger of being labeled (Freeman, 1995) ● Early Identification not reliable (Ziegler, 2004) Identified children on the “gifted track” can be under pressure to perform

4. Early is the ideal time... ● Stimuli work best with children under 5 (Tannenbaum, 1992) ● Earlier entry – better performance (Field, 1991) ● Children discouraged from learning may hide their talents (Whitmore, 1986; Barbour, 1992) ● Early school entry gives confidence – children know the “drill” (Sylva, 1994)

5. Later is better... ● Loss of childhood (Elkind, 1981) ● Children need free time to incorporate learned content (Elkind, 1988a) ● Formal schooling “quenches” creativity (Meador, 1992) ● If early then child-centered (Stipek, 1995)

6. Conclusion - or what is best? ● Early academics for gifted children must be child-centered / flexible ● Gifted children learn early to value and use their talents ● Nurturing and supporting environment more important than being or not being in a preschool

7. References: ● Barbour, N. B. (1992). Early Childhood Gifted Education: A Collaborative Perspective. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 15(2), 145-162. ● Colangelo, N., & Fleuridas, C. (1986). The Abdication of Childhood. Journal of Counseling and Development, 64, 561-563. ● Elkind, D. (1981) The Hurried Child – Growing up too Fast too Soon. Cambridge, MA:Perseus Publishing ● Elkind, D. (1988a). Our President: Acceleration. Young Children, 43(4) ● Field, T. (1991). Quality Infant Day Care and Grade School Behavior and Performance. Child Development, 62, 863-870. ● Freeman, J. (1995).Annotation: Recent Studies of Giftedness in Children. Journal of Child Psychology Psychiatry, 36(4), 531-547.

8. References II: ● McBride, N. (1992). Early Identification of the Gifted and Talented Students: Where Do Teachers Stand? Gifted Education International, 8, 19-22. ● Meador, K.S. (1992). Emerging Rainbows. Journal for the Education of the Gifted 15(2) ● Stipek, D. et al. (1995). Effects of different approaches on Young Children's Achievement and Motivation. Child Development 66(1) ● Sylva, K. (1994). School influences on Children’s Development. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 36, 135-170. ● Tannenbaum, A. (1992). Early Signs of Giftedness. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation. ● Whitmore. (1986). Intellectual Giftedness in Young Children. New York: Waworth. ● Ziegler, A. (2004). Stabilität von Intelligenz und Hochbegabung im Vorschulalter. LVH aktuell, 13.