I have to say that something about this story and the father's approach comes across as a bit "off." If it were just one or two things, the comment about having no friends aside from the parents, for example, I'd be able to attribute it to a misquote, an overzealous reporter, or even the fact that young kids say all kind of things that aren't really the case. But the website itself seems to reinforce one's impressions.
I agree with the posters who mentioned the lack of awareness on the part of parents who would post such detailed information about their child - down to the bike trails where this boy can regularly be found. I think that's just plain nuts. The wording seems off -or it could be that the parent is not a native speaker, but there is something odd about the syntax. I agree that the comment emphasizing how the biking and exercise make the boy healthy *so that he can do math and music* was almost creepy. Hopefully, it wasn't meant that way. The Can You Guess? bit seemed immature and not unlike something a young kid, rather than a parent, might write.
The boy and mother's comments about the lack of friends did made me sad, if it's true. I hope that the parents put just a fraction of the effort into finding accepting or like minded kids (they do exist) as they do developing the math and music skills. I know a mother of a gifted boy at my kids' school who, from the time her son was very small, made a very large effort in this area, knowing that social skills were her son's area of weakness. She was such an engaging and social mom herself that kids were drawn to the house. She often invited other kids and their parents over to the house for play dates or parties and set up fun things to do. Even though she worked, she found time to volunteer at the schools and got to know which kids might be a good "fit" for her son. Unfortunately (and not saying it's the case here) , sometimes social interaction can be a weakness of a parent as well - there are parents who are quite introverted in their own right and perfectly happy to encourage an academic and individual pursuit bubble. Sometimes there's even an element of elitism, or feeling that other kids are just not "like" their child and so they don't even try after a while. I hope that this is not the case.
I also have major issues with the parents on their philosophy of such early specialization. Is this even permitted by Texas home schooling guidelines?
LMom, The website seems to have been edited in various ways within the last few days. I'm not certain that was there before.
