Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Raising an Accidental Prodigy (WSJ article)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704559904576230570655238148.html

Raising an Accidental Prodigy
by Sue Shellenberger
Wall Street Journal, MARCH 30, 2011

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Fewer than 1% of children in the world are considered profoundly gifted, and even fewer are regarded as prodigies�defined as children under 10 who perform better than most highly skilled adults. While having such a child is a wonderful gift, raising one challenges the whole family.

"It is a tricky proposition for parents: How do you support that talent without pushing too hard?" says Colleen Harsin, director of the Davidson Academy of Nevada, a Reno school for profoundly gifted students.

After Ric and Vickie Ladt's daughter Kelsey started reading as a toddler, they had to race to keep up with her needs while still allowing her a normal childhood. Kelsey was so easily bored that when she was 2, they hired a high-school student to teach her Spanish. Kelsey later sped through her Paducah, Ky., elementary school in 2� years. At age 8, she entered both high school and community college, and graduated high-school valedictorian at 11. Then, it was on to the University of Kentucky, where she graduated summa cum laude with a degree in biology at age 14.

To keep ahead of Kelsey's appetite for learning, the Ladts took seminars and joined groups for parents of gifted kids. When Kelsey left for university in 2006, the Ladts decided to live apart. (Kelsey's older brother, Preston, now 31, had already left home.) Ms. Ladt, a human-resources consultant who can work from anywhere, moved near the Lexington, Ky., campus with Kelsey, and Mr. Ladt remained in Paducah, where he is chief executive of a manufacturing company. He commuted nine hours round trip each weekend to visit.

Today, Kelsey, now 16, and her mom live in Bethesda, Md., making Mr. Ladt's commute even longer. Kelsey is doing a two-year training program at the National Institutes of Health, where she is studying regulatory processes of the nervous system.

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Thanks for the link Bostonian. I love reading about all these kids.

I think this issue of knowing how much too encourage without pushing too hard is something I struggle with all the time. Glad to know it is a common problem.

Cat, what I thought was interesting is that the parents in the article are saying what you are saying and what many here often say. But the reporter and the reporter's quote of the Davidson person seem to be saying something else. Maybe it was just me but it sounded like these parents were trying desperately to stay ahead of the need for input and challenge - but the reporter was looking for the tiger mom part of the story. I liked what Conrad Tao, said "his parents applied "little pushes here and there" to help "instill a work ethic, a simple discipline, that was definitely helpful" to him. This seems to be on track with your point but I don't know, the article reminded me more of those stories about ice skaters or gymnasts families - look at the dedication, tinged with the are the parents crazy, undertone.

DeHe

I can't imagine having a child who is a prodigy. I know some of you do- and that has to be a huge challenge!

I went to graduate school with a prodigy. She started her Ph.D. at 18. When my dissertation advisor interviewed her and asked for my opinion, I told him that I thought she was more focused and poised than any other candidate. Her family relocated to the city where our University was. Even though she was 18, I think they were apprehensive about her moving 1/2 way across the country when her colleagues would be 5 - 10 years older than her. She finished her Ph.D. and is now working at Harvard.