Sorry Dottie, I got the info from Rena herself. And then I talked to a mother who has a child (now in 3rd grade at Hunter) and she told me that there was a general concern at Hunter because they have noticed the phenomenom themselves as the orginal elementary students are not the top in the class when the new blood enters in 7th grade. They lack a drive. So much for the challenge theory....;)
Personal hypothesis here. First metaphor. There is this nervous woman in the neighborhood who got a dog in the spring. Cute little puppy. The dog attacks other dogs, despite being about 20 lbs. Everyone thinks it is just getting this nervous energy from the owner.
If DD had got into Hunter I would have had a pretty laissez faire attitude about her education. Since she didn't, I have been obsessive and now doing the CTY for math. She has to be getting that crazy anxiety from me on some (please let's stick with some, few) level. Maybe making her feel a little more competitive and ambitious about her learning. I notice that she wants more math at school. She hates when it is "babyish".
I know she is not thrilled with grade 1 curriculum. But art is art, she is learning Spanish at her school (they started in K so she is catching up), and chess. She has to write book reports every week on books she chooses, so that is how she wants to do it. And she has her supplemental programs of Mandarin, Science at the museum and piano. Plus her gymnastics and ballet. And she does the latter two at major competitive centers.
And she knows doing the accelerated math online is harder and different. Hopefully this is a kid that will go after what she wants. And perhaps is different than the kid she would have been if she got into Hunter. Now, back to topic. Would her intelligence be different? Would the neurons be connected so differently that her IQ would actually be different?
My personal hypothesis is they would be and I think the competitive edge with its adrenalin push when you get excited about something and push changes your behavior and the resulting ambition.
Ren
