After early struggles in preschool, a gifted child began to thrive with tailored support and understanding.
A 4-year-old with high abilities refuses to go back to school after “the teacher said in front of everyone that he...”
Kids with high intellectual potential often face challenges early in the school year when trying to fit into a traditional classroom setting. Because of this, many schools provide special support programs and have specialist teachers on hand. One such teacher, working in early childhood education at a kindergarten in Nice, shared her experience with a four-year-old boy who has exceptionally advanced cognitive skills.
He was the youngest pupil at the school, having joined in November 2024. He had come from another school where he’d had difficulties with classmates, teachers and the curriculum – which was overly basic for his needs. “Children with high potential often develop a rich vocabulary and an extraordinary grasp of nuance from a very early age,” explained the school’s headteacher, Mariette Bousquet, in an interview with Le Figaro, via Huff Post. “He was bored in class and quickly outpaced the material.”
When he joined the new class, it became clear he was emerging from a context of misunderstanding. Despite being only four years old, he had mastered verb tenses – including the subjunctive, which is notoriously complex. His teachers discovered a fascination with dinosaurs and used the theme as a way to help him settle in. “He had to relearn what it felt like to feel safe.”
Child’s parents adjusted working lives
Bousquet says the boy’s entire family, including his parents and siblings, had to change their routines. This included adapting their work schedules to match his new school timetable. “They began picking him up in the afternoons because spending long hours at school was too much for him.”
Once he began to feel more secure, he was able to build on the knowledge he already had – and the topics he had been independently exploring in books at home. “By early 2025, we were able to start working with him properly again.” What the staff discovered shocked them. “He had been hiding his abilities, and what he was capable of doing amazed the entire leadership team.”
“His handwriting is flawless – better than most of the older children’s.” They immediately accepted him as one of their own. “The other day he was sitting in the schoolyard with two first-graders who are still learning to read. One of them kept mixing up letters, and this little boy – who isn’t even supposed to be able to read – was correcting him!”
He showed similar prowess in math, where “he’s already demonstrating advanced understanding.”
Given menial tasks at nursery
Before starting kindergarten at his new school, the boy had spent a few years at a nursery. According to Bousquet, his former teacher used to give him overly simplistic tasks like tracing dotted lines – which he found impossible to engage with. “He didn’t have the cognitive ability to follow them,” she said.
Instead of recognizing the mismatch, the teacher would become angry with him. “She spent entire mornings telling him, in front of everyone, he was bad and couldn’t do anything.” What this child needed from the beginning was personalized attention – support that matched his remarkable potential.
Here she is at work:
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