I tested into the gifted program in elementary school, and honestly it was refreshing in that it gave me something else to do. I didn’t have great instruction or curriculum. But I was given freedom. I’m sure lots of kids need these rich curated experiences to thrive, but lots of kids also just need room to develop and follow their own academic interests. In 6th grade my English teacher took me and another boy aside. She said based on our initial evals she didn’t have anything to teach us for at least 9 weeks and we were free to choose a research topic and present it to her at the end of the quarter. She checked in with us once a week or so. We spent class time in the library otherwise. It was one of the more memorable positive experiences I had in school.