Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Homeschooled Math Whiz

I gave my dd a copy of NAGC's Gifted Children's Bill of Rights:

Here it goes:

You have a right....

...to know about your giftedness.
...to learn something new every day.
...to be passionate about your talent area without apologies.
...to have an identity beyond your talent area.
...to feel good about your accomplishments.
...to make mistakes
...to seek guidance in the development of your talent.
...to have multiple peer groups and a variety of friends.
...to choose which of your talent areas you wish to pursue.
...not to be gifted at everything.

My problem still lies with the fact that at 3 years old the parents chose his path. They took his right to choose before he was old enough to know he had choices.

My dd tells me one day she wants to be a scientist, then a week later she decides she will be an artist or writer. Last I heard she will be a scientist who teaches art on the side. She has the right to dream about her future and make some decisions on her own.

At this time in her life, she is tasting all the flavors of learning. At one point she will decide what she likes best and specialize (used to be that was what college was for).

At my dd school the Drama, Art, and Music departments are treated as very important components of the children's educations. They feel that it is very important for the children to be given the tools to be able to communicate with others.

I am sure that many of our children would be able to get a 5 in a calculus AP test if we had prepped them since they were three years old towards that goal and they spent their days just doing math. If that boy spends 4-5 hours practicing the piano and even an equal amount of time working on math, he doesn't have the time to develop any other talents. Even when he describes the fact that he goes biking, the father emphazises that that keeps him healthy and strong to do more math. A little scary....

I strongly disagree. This sounds very similar to the line used when it comes to HG kids and other parents/teachers: "The child reads only because the parents pushed him to do so. My child could be like that if we did the same thing ..."

We are talking about 8 year old passing Calculus AP exam, not 8 year old learning Algebra. Let's face it, you cannot really teach 3 year old more math than he is ready for and even gifted 3 year olds are not ready for too much. I for once do not think my son could get A on Calculus AP exam at the age of 8 and he is really good in math.

Let's give the child and the parents some credits. The kid is brilliant in math. The parents are not pushing him to college. He has lots of time to learn lots of other subjects. That's the beauty of homeschooling that you can go with the flow and forget about a few subjects for a while.

Yes for what everybody said about articles like this. We have no idea what was really said or/and meant.

I may be speaking out of turn, and i don't want to pass any kind of judgement (as has rightfully been said in the thread, we don't know the full story, so hard to know)... however, looking at the website makes me think of one thing -

this little boy, who is incredibly talented and WOW!... is his dad's project. His dad is a PhD who gave up his job to have a new full-time job at which he expects himself to be 100% successful - and that job is his son. It seems to me - and again, my opinion - a bit unfair to small child to be someone else's project, and not his own. I want to help lead my children, help provide them with the best that i am able to to help them accomplish their goals of being.. a spanish teacher who is a an astronaut who practices veterinary medicine while in space... or, whatever. And helping them see the possibilities. But it's ultimately, i think, about what they want to make of themselves in life, isn't it?

Good job for Magnus AND his parents. He is definitely not underachieving.

It takes some pretty good English and Science skills to rack up a 5 on AP Calculus.

With parents like those, Magnus is getting a very SOLID foundation in math and it shows. They know what it takes to get from point A to B and have obviously enjoyed the ride getting there!!

Kriston, I agree somewhat. I knew some specially trained prodigies from E Europe who went to special schools, etc and were very good on the first day in college, but many of us caught up with or passed them by the end of the semester once we were exposed to the same level of material, instruction and competition.

BUT, even with what I got from PS, I definitely was ready for Algebra in the 4th grade and could have gone into Calculus by the 6th grade. The discipline of slogging through the problems would have also served me well.

great conversation. I am impressed by Magnus & his parents. I'm grateful his dad is "advertising" his achievements because we need to know who's out there--it gives credence to our advocacy (when we say our little kid is ready for ALgebra, it doesn't seem so farfetched to school districts/administrators who have read a dozen stories like this and say maybe kids can handle more than addition subtraction at age 8).

I feel like, in some ways, I quit my job to make my kids my project (i.e. raise them!) just like a lot of house fraus have done and still do. Just because the dad is a man doesn't make it any different to me. Actually I think it's admirable. I love to see men involved in raising & mentoring their children. Maybe Magnus drove his own course of study--asked for more, ate up all the math they could give them.I know we've all felt overwhelmed and that we haven't given these bright kids all that they need or could handle. But M's dad has clearly been successful in helping him go. Maybe it's just because I have strong willed kids, but it's hard for me to believe that dad made the boy do math (or music) if he didn't love it. My kids would give me a few minutes and contrive an escape.

Like Austin said, a 5 (or even a 3 or 4 for that matter) on the AP Calc 3 exam is amazing and he has a full range of extreme giftedness in my mind.

I wonder if he is a DYS. I wonder how cool it would be for math savvy kids to meet him and see how he could connect with them, inspire them.

When I read this story, this is what came to mind. The story of the LAszlo sisters. Can it be done? I guess Mr. Laszlo proved it can. Is it fair to the child for the parent to choose their path in life at such an early age? I happen to think not, but obviously there is room for disagreement.

"She and her two older sisters, Grandmaster Susan and International Master Zs�fia, were part of an educational experiment carried out by their father L�szl� Polg�r, in an attempt to prove that children could make exceptional achievements if trained in a specialist subject from a very early age. "Geniuses are made, not born," was L�szl�'s thesis. He and his wife Klara educated their three daughters at home, with chess as the specialist subject. However, chess was not taught to the exclusion of everything else, as was the case with Gata Kamsky. Their father also taught his three daughters the international language Esperanto."

Yeah, I agree.

I understand what Austin and others are saying. Of all people we should be empathetic concerning people's judgement and misunderstanding of a kid that's so far ahead.

And we may have the wrong info.

But based on the info we have:

The numerous television shows and that bizarre website..........

Okay, let's take the website, for example.

Now I know the kid's birthdate, where he lives and where he hangs out. Assuming the info the parent posted isn't false; I now have enough information to track that kid down. Besides that; with some remedial computer skills, his birthdate and school district I can get a whole lot more info on him.

Forgive me, but what are the parents thinking?

They are not simply supporting the kid. They are outing him and an eight year old has no understanding of the implications of that, I don't care how brilliant he is.

This publicity stunt is all about the parents not the kid.

So yes we, can say the child is brilliant and his talent should be supported and nurtured.

And yes, we can also assume based on the info at hand that the parent is seeking publicity about his child's brilliance based on his own needs, or the child would have created the website ON HIS OWN! And called the t.v. studio ON HIS OWN, and the interview question would be TO THE CHILD, not answered by the father.

So it is my humble and non-professional opinion that the parent is putting the child at severe risk for some major maladjustment difficulties.

Okay, maybe not humble, I do have a strong opinion about this. And of course I think I'm right which isn't very humble at all.

What 'Neato said. I don't think there is anything gained by the GT community or especially him with this kind of sensationalism.

He is obviously a very gifted kid. He's on a very fast track that I hope he chose for himself.

I don't want you to miss this quote from the child's web page

Hi Lmom,

Not sure if this comment is in general or engaging my comments.


I saw all that and it's wonderful.

I don't like the story for totally different reasons.