Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion wow... All 7 siblings in college by age 12?

This family seems to be living their American Dream. Some may say it is generous of them to take the time to share their story. Whether or not others define success in the same way or are inspired to adopt/adapt this family's "method" is another matter entirely. To have instilled in their children an internal locus of control, a sense of ownership for their own educations by helping each find their passion, may be an accomplishment in and of itself... without regard to the age at which each sibling began taking college courses.

This story of individualized education, like others often found in the media such as Stephen Stafford attending Morehouse at a young age, may be an antidote to the uniformity of Common Core.

Right, but there's not a good self-help book or national news story in THAT...

And this goes to Colinsmum's notation here-- a sense of agency might lead one to frame the experience of raising an HG child as "it could happen to anyone" and "perfectly normative... kinda, anyway" when that's actually not so.

I've seen my daughter's classmates. Even the bright ones had NO business in college level material in general at 10-12yo. At 15 or 16, in their areas of passion? Of course. Those kids are mostly MG and some higher LOG.

There's a difference, though, and I think that these parents in particular probably live in a bit of a bubble to see their kids (and their parenting experiences) as "anyone could do this."

Someone else here once shared the experience of thinking that all preschoolers could (naturally!) learn to read quite readily, and attempted to teach a friend's seemingly quite bright and interested child (upon the parent's request). Eye opening, that was the ultimate assessment.

Moments like that are what lead me to say that NOPE, not all kids can do this.

The better question (and what I asked before, even) is why on earth parents would want them to. They aren't attending high-powered colleges... not even what I'd call "excellent" ones. Parents have admitted that they are "decent" rather than "excellent" students at those colleges. We discussed average ACT/SAT ranges at those institutions-- they are low enough that none of them is a place I'd send my DD14 into, for the simple reason that she would hate it because it would be "high school, part two."

I think that they get to decide what is right for their family, but honestly-- my DD has enough trouble with people she makes feel insecure thinking (and saying) that if THEY were homeschooled... THEY could be (or their kids could) just like her. Okay-- that always comes across as a slam on her-- that she's weird BECAUSE of what we've done to her, or that we chose to put her in an educational Bonsai pot or something, and that ALL children are of course capable of advanced algebra, organic chemistry, ripping into Alice Walker's rhetorical devices, or writing a well-researched paper that examines the role of the British patriarchy in civil unrest in 18th century India...
several years before they are legally of age to operate a motor vehicle in the U.S.;

but my experience suggests quite strongly that this is simply not true.

I don't know, my experience on this one might be colored quite strongly by the fact that we live in a bubble of high-ish IQ kids, and a LOT of parents who are seriously invested in those kids' accomplishments. I have no doubt that a good 3-5% of the kids in our town could be MADE to do all that these siblings have done. It squicks me out to think that there could be some pressure to do things that way, in addition to the already-pronounced trend toward TigerParenting with an eye toward HIGH achievement. I have already seen how that kind of mentality in parents can edge toward what I consider damaging/abusive. High standards are great. Realistic ones are far better, though.

OK... so noone has responded yet...

Let's look at this objectively, the first two kids are a doc with an internship at Reed and an architect... I'm duly impressed.

The second two went to second or third tier schools and are moving on to similar level schools for grad school... meh.

Is it really better to accelerate and go to second tier schools vs waiting a couple of years and going to elite schools. The ivy's don't offer scholarships but duke and wustl and chicago and others do... I don't believe a gifted kid is well served at a commuter campus or a second tier school.

There are exceptions... Terry Tao went to Flinders... and then onto UCLA... but if you want to follow that course you need to be very savvy about opportunities and mentorship. It can work... but more often I have heard about clearly gifted kids becoming accountants or microsoft certified professionals at an eye poppingly young age and that is just a horrible waste of potential. This family seems to be somewhere in between...

I often say, there is no such thing as "college level work." Which college? MIT? Or University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople*? My first faculty position was at a place with "open enrollment" (no admission criteria). In one of my classes I had a student with moderate mental retardation, and I was expected to teach at a level that would enable her to succeed. And this was at a PhD-granting research university, not even the bottom of the barrel in that state.

Which makes it especially sad when parents treat it as a holy grail of validating their kids, to have them doing "college level work" at some ridiculously young age.


*Credit to Peter Schickele of PDQ Bach fame.

With an expressed goal of having everyone college and career ready, the future of education in the United States may see this as a more frequent occurrence.

As opposed to going to college at a normal age and accomplishing precisely the same thing in a normal time frame?

Then you have wasted even more time.

Well, I am impressed. It is truly an accomplishment to shepherd not just a couple of kids, but seven of them consistently into college by age 12. While that is not my approach, I can see their point of view. In any event, the greater achievement is not that all seven started college by age 12, but that they have earned selective degrees like a medical and an architectural degree and in general earned at least their bachelor degrees promptly and were/are on the path to graduate degrees and gainful employment.

Actually, it doesn't really matter to me if or how gifted they are. I definitely see perseverance and independence with these children/adults, which is so important for ultimate success ( With 9 kids, it is highly unlikely that these parents were holding their kids' hands through each online and college course). For me, the whole "gifted" construct is more of an issue with younger kids as we attempt to navigate the system and get what our kids need to establish a solid foundation. By high school if not earlier, many other attributes come to the forefront and I think that the focus has to shift to actual achievement.

Because achievement.

The impression I came away with was how the parents enabled them continue their education as fast and as far as they wanted, thanks to homeschooling. I guess seeing the older ones proceed to college and beyond, inspired the up and coming ones to continue on that same route.

But (from what I gather from article) it's just so curious how there was not one little rebel in that household that said he wants to go into the Air Force, be an actor, start his own business, etc. The nature vs nurture equation for each child is interesting but I guess we'll never know that.