Federal attention is focused currently on investing and improving the quality of early childhood education, so that children’s potential and talent development can be used as a natural resource for the future of our country. This article engages readers in transitioning their thinking about early childhood gifted education from a traditional advanced skills-based approach that introduces young children to academic standards earlier and faster, to an education that honors the developmental stages of young children and the experiential emphasis that parallels how they learn. The framework proposed empowers teachers to design learning contexts that elicit talent, potential, and emerging abilities, and challenges all learners to display their strengths. Practical suggestions are given to develop a pedagogy that enables young children to learn in developmentally appropriate play-based and student-focused environments.

The definitions and implementation of differentiated curricula and instruction for gifted and talented students have been affected by a myriad of philosophical and institutional factors defined by educators, community members, and gifted and talented students. The ramifications of these factors affect the focus and subsequent objectives and outcomes of differentiated curricula and instruction for gifted and talented students. A set of questions regarding the structure and implications of differentiated curricula and instruction for gifted and talented students are presented. Concepts such as specificity versus generalization, transfer of training, and conflict of interests are discussed and exemplified theoretically, philosophically, and pragmatically to respond to these questions.

Alternative routes to teacher preparation that have been advocated by reformers have ramifications for gifted education. Issues such as recruitment, assignment, support, and mentoring also have been discussed with regard to educating teachers of the gifted. The article illustrates how general and gifted education share common concerns and pathways to identify and implement alternative routes to prepare teachers.

This article describes methods for operationalizing the concept of interdisciplinarity. The methods respond to the characteristics of giftedness and strategies of differentiation. In selecting and using an interdisciplinary strategy, educators need to consider the compatibility of the purpose or objective of interdisciplinarity to the curriculum and/or instructional objective or goal, readiness of learners, availability of resources, and allocation of time for teaching and learning. Moreover, teachers and students need to value open-ended learning and the value of inquiry.