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It is awesome that your son taught himself English by playing Minecraft.

My son, now 20, has also always been a self directed learner, who dives deeply if something catches his interest. He was similarly motivated by Minecraft to improve his reading. His father played Minecraft and a range of other games with him and they discussed game theory and optimisation strategies (genetic inheritance is a strong determinant of intelligence, so most gifted gifts have gifted parents). By the time DS was in his teens, he had lost interest in games, but some useful activities for 8-12 yr olds include Rubiks puzzles (my son participated in all of the different Rubik’s events, including 2x2x2 to 6x6x6, pyraminx, single handed solves, blindfold solves and the Ubik), chess and robotic programming.

I cultivated an early love of maths by introducing the concept of other counting systems - Roman numerals, binary, other number bases. My son really enjoyed watching ‘Numberphile’ YouTube videos which I highly recommend. They introduce concepts such as irrational numbers, infinite sets, etc, in interesting and challenging ways that stimulated my son to learn more about these concepts himself. By the time he reached high school, he had informally covered most of the school math syllabus up to 10th grade and was accelerated by the maths HoD, so he formally finished 10th grade in the middle of 7th grade. He is now an engineering student, in his third year of an elite honours course, and is proficient across software & FPGA programming as well as circuit design. Since he learnt everything creatively and was not tied to formal conventions, but works as an editor of commercial maths & physics resources, he is both innovative and rigorously thorough. He recently received feedback from his course conveyor that his designs are the best they have ever seen, so I would advise supporting self directed exploration with occasional guidance towards activities and resources which provide interesting challenges and stimuli.

Online learning means using the internet to attend classes, watch lessons, and do homework. It happens through platforms like Zoom, Google Classroom, or other apps. Many schools used it during covid so students could keep learning safely at home. You might lọok at Italian Brainrot Clicker for entertaining during online classes.

Thank you very much for your response and for your very useful input and observations.

Since we last spoke, we have had our son (now 8 years old) assessed by a private psychiatrist (most psychiatric evaluations of children in Denmark are done through the public system), and he has been diagnosed with ADHD. While this may not exactly be a cause for celebration, it is nonetheless extremely helpful, as it provides—at least in my view—a credible and comprehensive explanation for his behavior. This includes, for example, why he has absolutely no interest in traditional school lessons, textbooks, or homework. On the other hand—something that is now very clear to us, with the diagnosis in hand—is that he is extremely driven by his interests and can be incredibly engaged and eager to learn when it comes to activities that capture his attention. For example, Minecraft :-) where, in almost no time at all, he has immersed himself in the entire universe and learned an astonishing amount of English without any adult involvement.

It is fairly clear to me that he is a boy who, to a significant extent, needs to be able to pursue his own interests, and it’s unlikely that he will ever love his lessons in primary school. But hopefully, as he progresses further in the education system, he will have more opportunities to participate in a program that truly engages him.

Have any of your children, at the age of 6–9, been totally obsessed with Minecraft, and then later developed more “academic” interests?

I’m the parent of a newly identified 2e gifted 7-year-old who is profoundly curious, emotionally sensitive, and deeply creative. We’re navigating some difficult school-related trauma after a poor educational fit led to ongoing stress, under-stimulation, and misunderstanding of his needs.

We’re currently exploring options for acceleration, more supportive environments, and long-term fit — both academically and emotionally. I’d be so grateful to connect with others who have faced similar challenges, especially in advocating for their child after a mismatch with the school system. I’m feeling a sense or urgency with school starting back in a month. He goes to a private school who we’ve contacted regarding his gifted status and are trying to see if they can accommodate us. We have not heard back yet as it’s summer wanted some help to advocate for him and see what should we be asking for?

Hi, I’m the mom of a 7-year-old recently identified as gifted with significant asynchrony and trauma from school. I’ve been advocating hard but I feel emotionally raw and unsupported. I need to hear from other parents who’ve been through this. School is starting back in a month and we can’t return in the same capacity.

Hello -

Our school district is transitioning from CogAT to NGAT. Looking at NGAT, I'm trying to understand the differences and similarities with NNAT. I understand NGAT has 3 parts (verbal, nonverbal and quantitative), vs only nonverbal for NNAT. For the nonverbal part, is it essentially the same as NNAT? Same kind of questions etc? Does anybody have any insights?

Thanks!

It appears that AI may not only replace jobs, but is also programmed to study and anticipate human behavior.

"By StudyFinds Analysis
Reviewed by Steve Fink
Research led by Dr. Marcel Binz and Dr. Eric Schulz, Institute for Human-Centered AI at Helmholtz Munich
Jul 02, 2025"

https://studyfinds.org/ai-thinks-like-humans-unprecedented-accuracy/

I live in a high SES district where the average test scores are at about the 75th percentile. If you assume a normal distribution, this would mean, based on test scores alone, about 25% of the students would qualify for a GT program that has a cutoff at the 90th percentile (which is not uncommon). Add in other ways to get in--teacher recommendations that value conscientiousness and executive function, for example--and you could easily get to 40%. If the average IQ were 115, almost 40% of the students would qualify on test scores.