I was thrilled to find my name in your learned discussion above! Nonetheless, I have to point out that much of what I know and am doing nowadays has its origin in the school system of yore. In those days long past, there was a belief that you could make a pre-selection of the most gifted and clever young children and put them in special schools catering for their needs, with the state financing all the outlays for those parents who could not afford the stiff fees. I won’t tell which country embraced such high ideals of meritocracy and, in any case, no Western state would dare to follow this example nowadays in this age of equality and non-discrimination; or would they? I come to think of special schools being dedicated to sports and music, albeit none being dedicated to the very gifted students in general. Maybe that is a good thing, but the price to pay is a dearth of well-educated, intelligent and creative leadership in society!

By the way, my California blog, the one Heidi is mentioning, can be found at emilems.blogspot.com