Originally Posted by Kriston
My only worry about that sort of early specialization is that I'm not sure I want to make those choices for my kids.

I always say that my elder child especially is *clearly* an engineer, but I also always say that if he wants to do something else entirely, I'm 100% behind him. I worry that focusing so young on math and science might steer him away from a career that might involve art or writing, too, areas of study he also enjoys deeply.

Still, the idea of that kind of school is pretty tempting... As long as we're at it, could the fantasy school we're creating here involve a great art and writing program, too? wink

Specialization does not mean isolation, but specialization does mean excellence.

The specialization needs to be the hook that snags and then drags other areas into ones' interests. I can see Math -> History (via OOPARTS) -> Literature -> Writing or Writing -> Literature -> History -> Science -> Math.

Greek and Latin are pretty much de rigeur for learned types anyway. There is no way to escape history and literature when studying these.

In any case, teaching math without applications and usage in the past is pretty dry.

Edit: Writing a sonnet or hauiku is specialization, too.

Last edited by Austin; 10/10/08 12:39 PM.