Hothouse Kids: How the Pressure to Succeed Threatens Childhood

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Penguin, 2007 - 260 pages
A devastating indictment of the “gifted child” myth

The effort to produce “gifted” children through an exhausting regimen of early (and ever-earlier) training has grown into a troubling national phenomenon. With less free playtime and overwhelming pressure to achieve, the kids are the ones who suffer. Investigative journalist Alissa Quart knows the terrain firsthand, having herself negotiated the gifted-child label. With phenomenal research and sharp insight, she takes a damning look at the industry that profits from marketing educational products to enhance giftedness and questions the correlation between rigorous early enrichment and higher achievement. A thoughtful, sometimes critical look at the excessive ambition foisted upon children, Hothouse Kids is essential reading for parents, teachers, and anyone concerned about education.
 

Contents

ONE The Icarus Effect
1
Classes
46
FOUR Childs Play or Child Labor?
64
Enrichment
86
Intelligence Testing
109
Mothers
131
Youth Contests
151
The Teen
169
Math Whiz Kids
185
Bibliography
235
Index
249
Copyright

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About the author (2007)

Alissa Quart is the author of the critically acclaimed Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers. She has written for the New York Times, Salon.com, and other publications.

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