Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy This article ...

I agree completely. With the circulation of this magazine of over 2 million, there are around 100,000 gifted kids whose families get the magazine! That seems like a lot of your market to ignore!

It's a good point to make in the rebuttal article, too!

Ok, ok! We're going out to dinner, but maybe I'll do it tonight.

I am following you, here. There is an intensity and a drive to learn that the 5's have that I think does mean that college is an appropriate place for some of them. But not every subject is best learned in college.

I know level 5 people who didn't go to college early. They were interested in subjects that they were able to self-teach so they read voraciously, or they followed their parents or friends in their labs or field work or they built amazing things in their dad's shop. They went on foreign exchange programs and became fluent in other languages. I think what I have trouble with is the suggestion that college is the only place where level 5 kids can learn at the level they crave. The whole world can a great place to learn and only some things are best learned at college.

Me, too!

College is one source, but it's not the only source for the education that level 5s crave. Especially for the younger kids, one-on-ones with mentors in their area of speciality/greatest interest may actually allow them to advance *further* and do it more appropriately for them than full-on college. Individualized study comes in many other forms, too, and I think all those avenues should/will probably be explored my most families of PG kids, within the constraints of time and budget.

Frankly, I personally think of full-time college at a very young age as the option of last resort for our DS. It's a scary thought for me to even consider sending a pre-pubescent kid to college, and I wouldn't go that route unless it was the only thing we hadn't tried. Granted, not everyone thinks like I do...but a lot of people do! And people often find other ways to give their kids the intellectual stimulation they need without full-time college.

The higher the LOG, the MORE flexible I think parents have to be in their thinking. Limiting the solutions available to full-time college alone for level 5s (or else you must not be a level 5...) seems very narrow to me.

One of my worries about sending a young kid to full time college is the tendency for a kid to get locked into a field or career too soon. Colleges have requirements and limited selections of majors so a child might not be able to explore a variety of options. It seems to me like taking classes at college would be freeing but full-time degree-seeking enrollment might put a kid too soon on a career path. Certainly fine for some kids, but maybe too limiting for others.

I hadn't even considered that problem. Good point!

I was mostly thinking about the many potential safety and social issues that a child might have problems with on campus. Narrowing career options is another concern to add to the list...It's certainly an option that would require some serious risk vs. reward thinking.

Like you, though, acs, I'm glad it's an option. More options are better than fewer!

Kriston and acs,
I like your take on early college. There a plenty of other options available (dual enrollment, working in a lab, mentorships, self-study...) that don't lock a kid into a career so early. Self-study and working with those in fields of interest helped me to settle on a field without worrying about switching majors. However, college earlier (maybe 14 or 15) may work for some kids who already know what they want to do, especially as graduate or medical school after college adds several extra years to one's education... Options are a good thing!

A concentration in Math and Humanities for Early College is another option, then advanced degrees are easily obtained from this base.

Our eldest will probably be done with high school-level work before he'll be mature enough to go off to college. We envision encouraging him to explore many different fields of study by taking courses at a local community college. We'll also encourage internships, part-time jobs, etc. etc. (But not all at once!) Actually, we'll do this with all our kids....

I see this between-time as a type of gift (for lack of a better word) that will let them explore themselves and the world without the pressure of having to make big decisions before the optimal time comes. Obviously, if someone is totally devoted to some field, we wouldn't stand in the way.

Val