I am writing to express my dismay at the editorial cartoon that ran on your editorial page on June 27. While it is true that some parents push their children, this cartoon does not take into account the real needs of highly gifted preschool children, who may already be reading, having learned on their own, who may be intensely interested in biology or world events, or who may even able to understand the basic concepts of algebra at a time at which most children their age have not even learned their numbers.

Their test scores are not a joke, and neither is the fact that we do not have much in Maine to serve them or to help them find each other. Many of these children show asynchronous development, developing cognitively at a much faster rate than they develop physically and emotionally. A child may be able to read at a much faster level than he can write with a pencil. Another may understand what is happening in wartime without having either the emotional maturity to deal with her knowledge or the physical dexterity to tie her own shoes.

These children and their parents need our understanding, not snide remarks that they are being pushed and should just put off learning until they are “old enough” for it.

Andrea Keirstead, Farmington

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