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Oops. Cross-posted again.

To be clear: "ghetto-ized" was the term the Director used; it wasn't my description of the conversation. It's not a nice term, I agree. But English is not his first language, and I didn't hold it against him. I believe he was trying to describe the danger of becoming a narrow-minded individual. As I see it, this kind of narrow-mindedness is different from simply having incredible talent in a given domain. And it's different, too, from the kind of serial obsession that Kriston was describing. Either of these is perfectly compatible with being broad-minded in the good sense of the phrase. I myself know a number of great mathematicians who have very broad interests, and I know one or two who are rather narrow-minded. I prefer the former to the latter by a lot. Still, I agree that it is very difficult to know what people will actually do from their description of their intentions. It's better than it might have been, but I'll be much happier when I see that it's worked out.

BB

Agreed! I'm hoping it's a great match-up!

Can someone explain the term "ghetto-ized" to me? I'm not getting the connection with "ghetto" and being obsessed with something.

I would love to. Here is the definition I found:

Main Entry: ghet�to�ize
Pronunciation: \ˈge-tō-ˌīz\
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): ghet�to�ized; ghet�to�iz�ing
Date: 1939
: to isolate in or as if in a ghetto
� ghet�to�i�za�tion \ˌge-tō-ə-ˈzā-shən\ noun

I really don't like the implication of this when a school administrator says it to a parent, KWIM.

But of course, BBDad has good instincts and doesn't think it's anything nefarious, so I'll personally let it slide this time!

This was the initial post--meaning compartmentalizing, overspecializing.

Yes, I was uncomfortable w/ the term and wanted to make sure I understood the meaning as it was intended.

I appreciate the endorsement, though it's not at all obvious how good my instincts are. Still, in this context I'm pretty strongly inclined to be generous. The main thing to know is that the Director is a thoroughly lovable old man whose first language is not English. From the context it seemed clear to me that nothing nefarious was intended. But I probably shouldn't have reported his position verbatim, since it's clear that the terminology distracts from the meaning.

In any case, all this leaves completely to the side the question whether his intentions, which seem to be good, will lead to practicable results. About that we can only keep our fingers crossed.

BB

JB

Where do you get these particular lists?

Thanks.

I've made them for DS when the topic has come up. Fibonacci and Factorials are easy if you have Excel. (Lucas is like Fibonacci, just with different starting values, so that's also Excel). There is a ton of information on wikipedia and other sites about happy numbers, primes, etc., so in those cases I just copy and paste. DS like to have the numbers in hand for reference...

JB

Not to drift off-topic, but I appreciate this sub-discussion, because, though no one has used the 'G' word with us, DS6 has for years utterly fallen in love with one isolated topic after another, notably, the alphabet, numbers, and the solar system. Not only his teachers, but even I get worried myself from time to time that he is over-obsessing. I'm coming to the view that they represent his comfort zone and provide a useful portable intellectual structure. We need to nudge him outside of the zone a bit, but it's good that he has it.

As it turns out, the solar system is a terrific launching pad for a whole raft of learning topics, from measurement, to geometry, to chemistry. It's actually a very sensible long-term framework to establish.