Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Interesting Story About Gifted Family

Another thing that comes to mind for me - unless our boys get true full rides at whatever college or university they decide to attend, we expect them to WORK to help with supporting themselves in college. We would not be able to pay for their college if they went in at 12 or 13 years old. We want them to be old enough to be financially responsible or co-responsible for their higher eduction.

Good point, CFK.

I did concede that there are countless things which I absolutely do NOT know here:


Eventually I figured out what rubbed me so much the wrong way about it, though-- it wasn't that this particular family has sent their own kids to college at very young ages. It's that they seem to be advocating that this is a perfectly legitimate thing for parents to decide to DO to their kids, and oh look, I conveniently happen to be selling the tools to make it happen.

Strikes me as cashing in at least a little, and a bit disingenuous at best. I certainly wouldn't dream that parenting a HG+ child entitles me to write a book about how to homeschool such children, nevermind homeschooling MG children (which I truthfully know very little about).

So that is the part that bugged me about it. It came off as a bit infomercial-ish.

I'm certain that the Harding kids are very bright/gifted, but look at the colleges they attended/attend. They mention Faulkner University and Huntingdon College (both in Alabama). Take a look at the College Board website to see the 25%-75% percentile SAT scores for those schools. Not so great...how do gifted kids benefit by going to schools where the average SAT score is below the national average? Bright 12 years old kids going to college with 20 year olds that might be "not-so-good" students. Why not wait a few years and have them attend a good college with academic peers?

It seems unlikely that most or even many children can skip 6 years. A lot could skip 1, I think most homes hooked bright kids could skip 2 (if they had enough attention - I'm not sure the time wasting prevention arguement works if you are one of 6 kids under 10 including 2 year old triplets (there seem to be some very large families on the WTM boards. I do know as a child the time wasting really annoyed me and I am MG at best.

From discussion elsewhere I get the impression that the Hardings are adamant their kids are not gifted, and indicate in their book that their kids are getting credits/passing, not top of their class - it sounds like they are making average achievement but at high speed. I would not ever have that as a goal as a homeschooler. Oddly though in lower primary, for my Hg+ DD, I would rather she was sitting closer to the (upper) middle than the very top of her class. Personality wise she's not suited to being way out in front. She'll work to keep up or catch up so she's well placed in the class, but equally she'll work to hang back and blend in (or you could see this as slacking off ecause she can). Observably the best in the class is not her goal or her happy place. She'd be better off homeschooled, but she'd rocket ahead without the variety of ways that school puts the brakes on.

I fail to understand what exactly the Hardings think they are doing for their children then?

Middling grades at a middling college... so, they'll be 18 looking for jobs with a mediocre degree instead of 22 or older? How is that a good thing?

My question precisely.

They might have to take couple gap years after college ...

We have two gifted children and I don't think I could handle a third. How do these people handle ten? By my accounting that would be almost six hours of hyperventilating fits per day, three hours of anxiety, two hours of trying to get them to actually say what they feel, and three hours of fighting and peacemaking. Then we would try doing some schooling.

Ha! I marvel at people with two!

I am, quite frankly, terrified of having another child like DS before he is, at the very least, in kindergarten. He is a true labour of love and my greatest joy, but I fear my health and sanity would be seriously compromised if our second child exhibited the same intellectual horsepower and intensity that DS possesses.

That being said, if I could be assured of my sanity, I would love to have another child.