Homeschooled Teen Gets into Top Ivies, etc.

[epiphany]

Well put, broetchen.

I take strong exception to the statement, "Public schools can do an excellent job for 99+% of the population." Perhaps they *can*, but they don't -- certainly not even close to "99+%."

[Son of Opie]

She still got perfect test scores... That doesn't happen too often. You can miss maybe one question and omit another per SAT section and still get a perfect score. So kudos for that. I don't know how the ACT works- west coast kid here. There's a very small number of people in the population who could say that, regardless of what method of schooling they did- even if you trained a kid from age five to take the SAT, there would still not be a large number of people who ace it. Same way no numbers of hours in the gym are going to make me an NBA center...

I would imagine she also had a 4.0 applying to college...

[wjb]

There are many references to "gifted" children on this thread, and the public school system's alleged inability to met their needs. My question is this: How is "giftedness" defined? Is it a pedagogical term of art? Personally, I have always considered it to be a loaded, meaningless term, one whose use I avoid. But now I'm wondering: Is there a set of benchmarks that defined giftedness?

[menloparkmom]

"Is there a set of benchmarks that defined giftedness?"
Yes, someone with an IQ above 145 is considered to be gifted.

" Personally, I have always considered it to be a loaded, meaningless term, one whose use I avoid"
Well , if you choose to open your mind and decide to learn about the gifted, there is a lot of scientific research that has been done over the last 80 years.
Here is one place to start.
Frequently Asked Questions About Giftedness

Characteristics of extreme intelligence

[Narcissa]

lol a lot of the USAMO winners/top 12 are homeschooled. and they, obviously, go to any college they want

[wjb]

The rare child with this young woman's obvious abilities would never have found a peer group even among other gifted children, the numbers with her abilities are just too small. Those who can't comprehend gifted needs have never dealt with the extremes.

I disagree with this statement. There are kids out there with abilities similar to Chelsea's who DO find a peer group among less talented children and who DO thrive in a "non-gifted" school setting, whether public, private, or parochial. With supplementation (intensive music lessons come to mind) and a school system that "gets" them, they can flourish. (I know that the last requirement is not an easy one to meet.)

menloparkmom: My inquiry was respectful. There is no need to be snarky.

[menloparkmom]

"I disagree with this statement"
Based on what? What do you know of the gifted? And on what basis do you assume she is not highly gifted? Do some research before you make blanket statements based on assumptions like this:
"I have always considered it to be a loaded, meaningless term"

[Son of Opie]

"My gifted child is more gifted than your gifted child."

[wjb]

Bowing out of this discussion.

[marite]

Over the past few years, I have come across some exceptionally gifted students, such as the 4th grader who did Honors Algebra II and who, according to the math teacher, did it at a faster pace than his 9th graders at a top high school; the 10 year old who was studying for her A levels (equivalent to APs); the 11-year old who, according to the Physics Ph.D. student who was teaching the class, "got" quantum physics as well as calculus. And several more. The 4th grader was in public school but needed a lot of accommodation. The others were homeschooled and thriving.
Top schools such as Stanford, Harvard, MIT are very welcoming of homeschooled students, realizing that many of them need to be homeschooled because their local schools are inadequate or they are so advanced that the k-12 curricula just are not enough for them.

[Narcissa]

Over the past few years, I have come across some exceptionally gifted students, such as the 4th grader who did Honors Algebra II and who, according to the math teacher, did it at a faster pace than his 9th graders at a top high school; the 10 year old who was studying for her A levels (equivalent to APs); the 11-year old who, according to the Physics Ph.D. student who was teaching the class, "got" quantum physics as well as calculus. And several more. The 4th grader was in public school but needed a lot of accommodation. The others were homeschooled and thriving.

None of your examples are really that rare; in my school (which is a really competitive one) there are about 2 or 3 ppl who fit your descriptions in each class.

[Son of Opie]

But can they move things with their mind?

[marite]

They may not be rare in your school. The issue is whether they can be accommodated. The 4th grader was able to do 9th grade math in his public school only because the district sent a high school math teacher to the elementary school to teach him (it decided that it would not be appropriate to send him to the high school for math). But do 11- year olds study quantum physics in your school, at whatever grade level? Currently, there is an 8-year old learning about Cauchy numbers (don't ask me what they are; all I know is that that's college-level math).

[wjb]

The issue is whether they can be accommodated.

Absolutely. IF such highly talented students can be accomodated, then a conventional school setting with conventional peers can indeed work, and work well. This is not an indictment of homeschooling. But some highly talented students and families are better served in a traditional school setting. The "right" school is key.

[DSC]

At my HS we are cutting teachers due to a budget crisis. They cannot support 'sending a HS teacher to the elementary school' or anything like that.

Narcissa - to suggest that because exceptional students are in your school makes people any less exceptional in another region is arrogant and condescending. Taking college math as a 8 year old is well into the 99.9+ percentile. Therefore, it is exceptional whether you know someone else who did it or not.