I'm glad I don't have a prodigy
July 14th 2008 14:13
A few mdays ago, I wrote about competition among children. I’ve found that my little blog didn’t change the entire world view of parenting and people are still competing. Amazing isn’t it?
I saw a video from the Today Show of a little girl who is 17 months old and can read. The parents were genuinely worried because of how it would make her different.
Even though my 18 month old is not reading, I can totally understand that feeling. On one hand, you want your children to be smart and successful, and on the other you just want them to be happy.
Many parents would take these skills and run with them rather than allowing them to develop. Some would push for early college for these kids. Until recently, I had no idea how many kids are actually in college. I thought it was an extraordinarily unique occurrence- maybe one every 10 years- but not so. There are a few heavy handfuls of middle school aged kids in college at any point in time.
I know that research has been back and forth about whether it is good to be a prodigy or not, with the genuius/madness connection coming up pretty often. My opinions on it are just that- opinions.
I think it is a wonderful gift to be so smart, but there are other wonderful gifts in the world too. I can’t imagine what life would be like without that first makeout party in 7th grade; the first trip to the mall without parents; riding the bus; going bowling with friends; learning to drive and taking your friends out for the first time; going to a high school football game; having time to rebel…
I just can’t imagine talking to my kids one day and saying “I remember the first kiss I had when I was 12″ and having them reply, “Yeah, that’s about when I had my first paper on expanding string theory published.”
There are some really wonderful social experiences that these kids will absolutely miss out on. Parents say they are following their kids lead. Aren’t we supposed to be the ones that gently guide them in the direction of best interest? We have a responsibility to be attentive to ALL of their needs, not just the academic ones. It makes me wonder how much of early college is kid centered and how much of it is parental pride.
I saw a video from the Today Show of a little girl who is 17 months old and can read. The parents were genuinely worried because of how it would make her different.
Even though my 18 month old is not reading, I can totally understand that feeling. On one hand, you want your children to be smart and successful, and on the other you just want them to be happy.
Many parents would take these skills and run with them rather than allowing them to develop. Some would push for early college for these kids. Until recently, I had no idea how many kids are actually in college. I thought it was an extraordinarily unique occurrence- maybe one every 10 years- but not so. There are a few heavy handfuls of middle school aged kids in college at any point in time.
I know that research has been back and forth about whether it is good to be a prodigy or not, with the genuius/madness connection coming up pretty often. My opinions on it are just that- opinions.
I think it is a wonderful gift to be so smart, but there are other wonderful gifts in the world too. I can’t imagine what life would be like without that first makeout party in 7th grade; the first trip to the mall without parents; riding the bus; going bowling with friends; learning to drive and taking your friends out for the first time; going to a high school football game; having time to rebel…
I just can’t imagine talking to my kids one day and saying “I remember the first kiss I had when I was 12″ and having them reply, “Yeah, that’s about when I had my first paper on expanding string theory published.”
There are some really wonderful social experiences that these kids will absolutely miss out on. Parents say they are following their kids lead. Aren’t we supposed to be the ones that gently guide them in the direction of best interest? We have a responsibility to be attentive to ALL of their needs, not just the academic ones. It makes me wonder how much of early college is kid centered and how much of it is parental pride.
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Comment by autism soup