Given the extreme levels of segregation in certain parts of the country (NYC for example has fewer than 5 percent of Black and Latino kindergartners in G&T programs, but higher enrollment for Black and Latino students in third grade) school systems like that one should seriously consider pivoting to prioritizing equality over G&T funding.
Why does it happen?
Sure, but shouldn't those kids be in an environment where they can practice reading instead of being painstakingly re-taught the alphabet? As you said, it's not all rare.
I was one of those kids, and I was extremely disruptive in class because I couldn't bear to be made to sit and trace the letter "A" for 45 minutes when I was already reading novels at home. When they stuck me in a different class, things got much better for me, and it's not like doing that cost the school board any extra money.
It's not like such situations never occur in adult life. I often find myself in work meetings where colleague A explains something to a group of 10 people to get everybody on the same page, and there are often one or two folks who already know this stuff and are obviously uncomfortable for those 10 min of intro. Clearly, they never learned how to deal with such a situation.
since some parts of class they were then bored.
Well, you learn to deal with it
I'm highly doubtful that forcing young kids to be bored (by making them progress/learn slowly, when they could be learning more) is the best way to do it.
Was there no reading because it was academically poor or was it kind of an "alternative" learning environment ala Montessori?
(I don't know Montessori's specific ways of teaching reading)
I'd say let kids be kids and have them explore the world through curiosity, not through a planned curiculum from age 3.
montessori teaches reading, writing and math far beyond what an average kindergarten does.
But if reading is part of the curriculum (which it generally is for K and certainly for the years after) then it’s just the reality that there will be big differences in ability and trying to have everyone go at the same pace doesn’t serve either early or late readers.
If this is really about equality then we would be strengthening these programs because gifted kids from wealthy families will continue to have access to accelerated education. It’s the poor and middle class who are losing out.
Until the 90s, they'd base G&T admission based on IQ. Now it's based on whether your family can afford a quality Pre-K. They thought my little brother was a savant as he could read on the first day of kindergarten -- my little sister taught him to read. (He is a very smart dude!)
I was in a well-regarded gifted program in the 80s in a NYC public school. The main distinction was that I was essentially trained to interpret short narratives with time incentives in a standardized test setting. It worked out for me through high school, as that skill allows me to coast through tests and blow off most of the work. Reality bit in college, where you were expected to actually read the book. :)
Forcing children who aren't normal to be normal is child abuse, and your comment is an attempt to perpetuate the kind of abuse that I was subjected to.