Congratulations! You must be really proud to find out that your child is gifted. It truly is a blessing to learn that your child has so much potential. And, well, this may not come as a shock to you, but there are specialized programs for gifted children, and of course, these programs often come at a higher price. This presents a fork in the road — should you opt to pay more for your child’s education because of the program for gifted children or will you be able to save money by sticking to the regular curriculum?

Well, as frugal moms, I’m confident to say that I’m sure that we know that frugality is not a synonym for cheapness. The core concept of frugality is in making the most of what resources we by making wise investments and avoiding non-essential expenditures. Education is one thing that you shouldn’t skimp your resources on, especially with a gifted child. Many people may think that gifted children will do just as fine, if not better, in regular classes versus gifted programs simply because they’re smart. But that couldn’t be more wrong a notion.

This is because of the concept of stimulation. A gifted child will easily get bored when the child isn’t challenged in school. When there isn’t any challenge, the task requires little to no effort. And when this becomes the norm of daily academic life, then misconceptions are bound to be formed.

Misconceptions like “I’m not learning anything that I don’t already know at school, what’s the point of school to begin with if that’s the case?”

See, the lack of sufficient stimulation will make learning more of a chore than something that’s enjoyable. Nobody wants to hear something that they already know — it’s tedious — and this can greatly harm your child’s outlook toward education.

If education is easy, it might be viewed as something that isn’t necessary, which will more often than not result in your child disregarding school altogether. And this, in the long run, is detrimental to your resources. A child that doesn’t see the value in education is more likely to dedicate time towards other unhealthy ventures.

If you see that your child isn’t stimulated and motivated enough in the regular program, you shouldn’t wait for your child to grow into their teenage years to make the appropriate alterations. From personal experience, I was more likely to skip classes when I felt that there wasn’t anything new or interesting I could learn in them. And this is further magnified in gifted children.

Programs such as this gifted and talented program at Perth private school are designed to help gifted children reach their maximum potential. Take note that the keyword here is potential. When you’re faced with the decision between paying more money for an accelerated academic program, you simply have to ask yourself “Is the money that I’m going to save worth limiting my child’s potential?”