<p>I am a teacher of the gifted. I would not let a 13 year old child, gifted or not, go away to college. Perhaps classes at a local university would be the answer. I have never had a student in this situation. It does happen, however. The biography of Jamie Colby, Fox News Anchor, states that she began her undergraduate studies at the University of Miami at 14 and had her law degree by age 22. I was at UM during those years and it was a wonderful place for an 18-22 year old. I wonder if her mom waited for her outside her classes, lol.</p>
<p>But what Botstein has proven is that one doesn’t have to be gifted at all to benefit from a full college curriculum at 14-15.</p>
<p>When I was in elementary school the school recommended that I skip 2 or 3 grades but my parents wouldn’t do it because socially I wouldn’t have been ready to handle it. Looking back, I have to agree.</p>
<p>We live in the same area as the young man and it was certainly a struggle to appropriately educate our “gifted” D. Identified in K we struggled to balance her academic and social needs. She actually audited her first college class at 8 and aced it (Abstract number theory). The prof. was a former gifted child and was interested in giving her a challenge. It was often scary not knowing what was best for your child and getting conflicting advice from “professionals.” Our HS principal urged me to have her skip middle school and enroll in high school in fifth grade. He had skipped several grades himself. It wasn’t a good fit for our D who was socially on the young side. I also remembered going to college with a very young student who was ostracized and locked in lockers. My D started some HS classes in fifth grade and started DE in 10th. This year she graduated at 17 with close friends and accepted at tippy top schools and tons of DE credit. She has taken several courses at the local university including a couple grad level classes with no difficulty. I am sad to see her go now at 17, I am so glad she did not leave us at 13. She is a happy young lady, so it worked out for us. It is never easy trying to meet the needs of children who learn so rapidly. Most elem schools and middle schools can not meet their unique needs. I am glad this young man is doing well.</p>
<p>As others have stated, there is so much more to college than academics. I can’t imagine that many 17-18 year old freshman would be thrilled to find their new roommate is a 13 year old. I would not be willing to put a 13 year old into the social mix with kids who are that much older. It seems it would be setting him up for failure socially, and exposing him to too many situations that are totally inappropriate for a 13 year old, no matter how mature he is.</p>
<p>“sometimes you have to find the “least worst” solution, and for this kid, perhaps college at 13 was that solution”</p>
<p>Exactly. He’s not like the 18-year-olds, but he may be equally different from the other 13-year-olds. It’s quite possible that he has a better social connection with older kids.</p>
<p>When I was 11, some of my best friends in choir were 16 and 17-year-olds. Some of their conversation zoomed so far over my head that I didn’t even realize I was missing anything (I learned about it 20 years later). But I benefited a lot from that friendship. I was both behind and ahead of the other kids my age. There were huge holes and flaws in my connection with them. The older kids were mature enough to accept me in the ways I was weird. It helped a lot to have that variety.</p>
<p>A rant- so tired of limited people not being able to see outside of their box. </p>
<p>This highly gifted kid does NOT belong with his age mates. Even as a lower end gifted kid I thought processed differently than my bright neighbor kids and when I read the GT literature decades later so much made sense. Would you use the “one size fits all” model on a severely ■■■■■■■■ kid? Would you have that child play with his age mates despite his lack of ability, or would you let him play with the younger kids? Forcing this kid to live with his age mates is like forcing your average son to live with ■■■■■■■■ kids. How frustrated would he be coming home every day after being teased for trying to express ideas far above the heads of everyone else? So many of you posters have no concept of what it is like to be vastly different. As for future social skills- how easily do you make conversation with ■■■■■■■■ adults? It would be wearing to never be able to let you mind soar and be understood… more than enough from me.</p>
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<p>Agreed. But IMO the most optimal situation is to be with other equally gifted age-mates. For me and I suspect for my kids, that happened in college, and I was glad to go to a top-tier college and take honors level classes with other kids “like me”. It is worth waiting for, IMO, IF you can find a tolerable situation in the meantime, where the kids gets intellectual stimulation and social stimulation somehow.</p>
<p>Because when you’re that highly gifted, just being with older “normal” kids isn’t the right fit either. You still process differently, catch on faster, think differently, etc. You need to be with other highly gifted kids/adults. Not just older kids/adults. IMO. Just as it wouldn’t be the right fit to just put a severely developmentally delayed kids with typically developing younger kids. they have different needs, as do highly gifted kids.</p>
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<li><p>The excessive misuse of ‘■■■■■■■■’ is unnecessary and grating.</p></li>
<li><p>I believe what some people are saying is that there is a difference between emotional and intellectual development, and that being precocious in one way doesn’t necessarily mean being precocious in the other. It is perfectly possible to be a genius at thirteen while remaining emotionally and socially immature. Such a child would probably have trouble coping with the social realities of college even if the purely academic side of it does not pose a challenge.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Note that I’m not saying this is the case here; I’m merely proposing a counterargument to your statement, which seems to be that gifted children do not belong with other children, but in the company of adults who can meet their intellectual needs. (To clarify further, even a ‘gifted’ child, whatever that means, has emotional needs that* might* be best served among other children.)</p>
<p>My answer is simply NO. Its just a matter of our choice. Parents who have chosen to keep their extraordinary gifted children at home at least until certain age should be proud of themselves.</p>
<p>lol all your kids are nerds…</p>
<p>Just throwing in a personal anecdote here. When I was in middle school, I found out for the first time from my parents that my school had pressured them to bump me up into a higher grade at a young age – Kindergarten to 2nd grade, in fact.</p>
<p>They repeatedly turned down the school’s offers until the issue was dropped. I was inexplicably angry upon hearing this for the first time – but now, having gone through high school and college at the “normal” rate, I am extremely thankful for my parents’ decision. Besides, keeping me on track with my peers never took away the fact that I was “gifted” as a child and “intelligent” as a young adult.</p>
<p>Even though I was reading shortly after my third birthday, finishing chapter books by age 5 and teaching my peers how to read in Kindergarten, I had the emotional capacity of a small, tiny voiced 5 year-old girl who liked dinosaurs. I still cried when my mom couldn’t be my group chaperone on field trips, I still talked too much in class – although my parents always attributed that to my boredom with the subject matter – and I caused trouble left and right. Moving me up with 7/8 year olds would have been a disaster for me emotionally, even though the academic coursework was probably right at or just under my level.</p>
<p>Instead, my parents supplemented my time at school (which they used as “social education”) with outside tutoring and educational enrichment classes, took me to the library every week and even used teachers from other grades as resources for activities and skills I should have been adapting. It never felt like extra work" to me and I was able to do things I enjoyed that school didn’t offer, such as piano lessons and art school.</p>
<p>By the time I hit middle school, I was able to take advanced math courses and the rigorous AP and Honors track at my high school placed me with similar and like-minded students. I also took several college classes at a local University during high school. Despite not being pushed ahead two grade levels, I still ended up attending a top 25 school and I am starting grad school in the fall at the same University – so I don’t brand myself a total failure. :)</p>
<p>Had I been 16 at the time I enrolled in college, I would have missed out on a lot of the social interaction that’s so integral to University life. Yes, the academics are important – but I think a lot of parents underestimate how much the sociocommunal aspects of “college life” influence how well a student does on a whole at their university. It’s very easy to slave away over coursework and become a very unhappy recluse. I can’t imagine a 15-16 year old enjoying their time in a dorm. (I don’t think a 13 year old would be allowed to live in a dorm with 18 year olds…)</p>
<p>As much as parents might want to deny it, college freshmen are partying, going out late at night, meeting hundreds of different people, engaging in adult activities – all things I don’t think a 15 year old, no matter how smart, would be able to handle emotionally, especially if the child was particularly sheltered.</p>
<p>I know every case is different, but I personally don’t think that it’s best for kids to be pushed into different peer groups. I was happy with my high school’s AP/Honors and “gifted” programs, and I am sure many other high schools could cater to an advanced student’s needs to keep them intellectually stimulated without sacrificing the general “high school” experience.</p>
<p>I mean, this is ridiculous. So what if he enjoys Calculus… Calculus is simple. Had I been exposed to calculus when i was his age, I would enjoy it too. Calculus just had this “godly” status that scares everyone away. It is not that complicated. Honestly, had I have been exposed to half the things I am learning now younger, I would probably be like him too. It is just a matter of applying oneself. Public education is just a joke compared to what some people are capable of doing.</p>
<p>I just hope that this thread is not promoting parents with extraordinary gifted young children to try to do same way.</p>
<p>Bravo to Zelda Fitzgerald !</p>
<p>@davidthefat, just let you know that, NO, Public education is not always a joke as you think. Some do care truly gifted kids.</p>
<p>Parents with extraordinarily gifted children are not going to make a major decision about their child’s education based on a newspaper article or cc thread. Parents making this type of decision put a lot of thought and research into it.</p>
<p>^ Agreed.</p>
<p>DD(14) is probably what most would consider moderate GT, she definitely stands out from her peers and has to work hard to be a “teen”. DD has always done better with kids older than her but even more so with adults, when we were overseas I offered to home school her she declined because she would miss her teachers. When she was in 2nd grade we declined bumping her a grade because it really would not have mattered, DD would have mastered the 3rd grade material faster than her classmates, then would have still been bored and we were concerned with her age in High School. Instead we supplemented her education and her teacher helped find ways to challenge her.</p>
<p>Now here we are in High school, DD just finished her freshman year and she has decided to graduate a year early. Now that we are able to see DD’s decision making abilities and her maturity we are comfortable with her choice to go to college early, she will just turn 17 in Aug of 2013. While the HS experience has not been all bad, DD has a very good group of friends but she realizes they won’t be together forever (most are upperclassman) she just wants to be an environment in the classroom is learning without disruption. Would DD have been ready for college at 13, maybe, at 15 she is definitely ready and will take dual enrollment courses. Would we have let her go off to College at 13, probably not but at almost 15 if she had wanted to go away this year we would have let her.</p>
<p>I started college at a university at 14 and when you are the student you do not feel like it is a big deal…people always think it’s crazy when they are not the people doing it.</p>