Interview with Academy for Gifted Children - P.A.C.E. PARENT, Jason T
- Name
Jason T - Child 1
Gr. 1 - Gr. 6 (Male, Current Day Student) - Child 2
Gr. 1 - Gr. 4 (Male, Current Day Student) - Child 3
Gr. 1 - Gr. 2 (Female, Current Day Student)
Jason, the parent of three kids at P.A.C.E., shared his perspective on the school’s stimulating environment, the attentive teachers, and the opportunities given to kids to dive deeply into their areas of interest. Jason believes the appropriate environment for gifted children doesn’t necessarily mean giving them a higher quantity of work, but a deeper level of engagement with their subjects of interest.
Highlights from the interview
Gifted children need a different type of environment, and they respond differently to various educational, academic, or non-academic stimulation. In a lot of schools, what happens is people mistake giftedness with just advancing the level of the curriculum two years ahead and forcing everyone to do that. But, in my view, that's not what makes children gifted. They may be able to do that, but they actually have a certain type of curiosity and want to go in-depth in certain topics.
More and more, we're recognizing that it's not about knowing more mathematics or knowing more advanced chemistry, or memorizing more things. It’s really about reaching your potential with different subjects, and in different avenues of your life, whether it be in the academic world, the sports, or other extracurricular activities.
P.A.C.E. has been the perfect environment for my kids. Their schoolwork has not just been a lot or at a higher level. It actually goes deeper. It allows them to explore what they want in each topic and subject, and the teachers actively encourage them to do that. It’s an environment where the kids all want to learn and they all have the capability of going in-depth and understanding things.
The fact that some of their teachers are specialists is very unique to the school. Some of their teachers only teach specific courses. The teacher who teaches math might teach them in Grade 1 and again in Grade 3. I know when I went to my school at that age, I didn't have different teachers for different subjects that young. I think I must have been in Grade 7 when I had that. Maybe I had a French teacher, but I never had a different science teacher and a different math teacher.
Another unique feature of the school is its continuity of the student-teacher relationships. It's a very unique perspective for a teacher to be able to know what a child is like and then continue to see how they can develop that child even a couple of years later.
The teachers’ ability to continue to push the children, or guide them further than they thought they could get to, is one of the really special things about the school.
There's a positive peer pressure, I think, for them to all want to do well. I really think that's great about the environment at the school. I remember being in school myself and wanting to learn more, and everyone else, they'd already had enough with the lesson. That doesn't happen at this school.
The family has to be aware of this type of education and very conscientious of the path and the education of their child. The process of getting into the school starts early. I believe there is a requirement to have your child assessed by a private psychologist. It would be at the age of five. And a lot of instruction and a lot of the child's experiences growing up, comes from home. I can’t generalize, but there are many parents who want their children to really live through the values of what the school is projecting.
My eldest son is proud of having participated in sports competitions against other schools. He is in Grade 6, and I think just the ability to go and represent his school, and come out reasonably successfully in competitions, has been something he’s very proud of.
Another thing that my kids really enjoy is their performances. They do something at the Richmond Hill Center for the Performing Arts. Every other year, they're trying to do one that's called the Festival of the Words. It's not singing, but more like poetry. It's amazing to see children in Grade 1 be able to memorize lines and be able to act and move on a stage. I know that for all my children, they really enjoyed that performance, and we're very happy that they were able to get onto a stage and perform in front of their parents, other parents, grandparents, friends, and their teachers as well.
The teachers are very understanding of a gifted child and very much try to tailor the experience in the classroom to each child. If a child needs a little bit more help, they're very much willing to spend that extra time to help them. If they find that the child really has the potential to do a lot more, they will also challenge that child to do more. For my kids, this happened while they were learning French. Because they all enjoyed speaking French, their teacher provided them with supplementary material and extra challenges.
If we have questions, they're always open and available for an email or a phone call to be set up.
Three things that make the school special are the like-minded families, teachers that understand gifted children, and an environment where your child is around gifted children. So far I haven't seen that replicated anywhere else near in this area.
The main question, in choosing a school, would be: Is this environment going to be able to support your child for the goals that you're looking for?’ I don't personally subscribe to the idea that the school must be a comfortable place, that it's just their comfort level. Sometimes the parents choose a school, because they believe it’s the best place for their child to achieve their full potential. Sometimes that means putting children out of their comfort zone, but making sure they have the necessary support.
