My son is a child prodigy. There, I said it. He was evaluated by a Harvard psychologist a few years ago, and she confirmed what we already knew. Every article I read about prodigies was about my son, although the point of the article is always to convince you that your child is smart, but not a prodigy. The thing about prodigies is that they are hyper focused in one area. They may be smart kids in all areas, but only truly exceptional in one. For my son it is computers. He doesn't just program. He programs in 7 languages. He's a VMWARE expert. He knows hardware, software and Networking. He knows it all. He could get a job making $80k today, but he's 12. I can't say the word "prodigy" because nobody takes you seriously once you say it. They don't understand how he can be an average 7th grade student in some areas, but harbor a fantastic talent in another.

The school requires him to take computer applications 1&2 in 7th grade. They are going to spend a year teaching these kids Excell and PowerPoint. We tried to talk to the principal. We asked that they let him take Compsci at the high school instead. The school district's answer? No, because if we let him take the class now, he won't have a Compsci class to take in 11th and 12th grade. Seriously? He's more advanced than the high school class now! You really think it's going to be in his ballpark five years from now?! I'm waiting from a call back from the local college. I'm hoping they might have a remote class that the school would accept in place of 7th grade computer applications, but I really don't want to pay full tuition just to have him take one or two classes. Besides, nobody wants to help my son and it's more then likely a dead end.

Sorry to rant, but I can't rant to anyone else. No one else has any idea what we are dealing with.