Hothouse kids the dilemma of the gifted child

While studies show that children who are superior learners benefit from enriched early education, the intensely competitive lives of America's gifted and talented kids do have risks. The pressure can have long-term effects in adult life, from debilitating perfectionism to performance anxiety and lifelong feelings of failure. Author Quart traveled the country to research the many ways in which the current craze to "produce" gifted kids and prodigies has gone too far. She takes a hard look at the claims about educational toys and baby sign language, elite IQ testing and kid competitions, uncovering the dangers of such heated pressure to excel so early in life. Surveying expert assessments of the necessary role of unstructured play in child development, she warns about the disappearance of recess and the pitfalls of overstuffed schedules. She also profiles the growing divide in opportunities for wealthy kids versus those from middle and lower income families.--From publisher description.