Posted on 06/05/2009 12:07:11 PM PDT by LottieDah
Martial arts would help to balance this kids’s life, especially if he studies Bruce Lee’s style, Jeet Kune Do. Sort of like “physical meditation.”
Reminds me of Revenge of the Nerds. I would have been more impressed if he graduated from Cal or USC. The first time he tries to pee out of the back of a hatchback on the way to a frat party, he’ll get a real education.
I don’t know about ‘more successful’ since I don’t have a ruler to measure it by. I ended up going into the computer gaming business right after graduation — and ended up doing more middleware and sims work eventually. Working loosely with NASA on a moon racing title right now.
I am now a Technical Director and earn a very good salary (6 figures) have a lovely wife and three children. Though the economy has almost destroyed the company I work for as well as my industry in general. So who knows how long the ‘good salary’ part is going to last.
Assuming my livelihood is not in jeopardy, I am planning to start my Master of Theology degree in the next year. So in a way, starting early with a Worldly Career and getting to where I am has made it easier to start looking into what I REALLY want to do with the rest of my life at the age of 31.
Go figure.
I think we’ve swapped stories before. Congrats to your kids, but mostly to you ... as you did an amazing job raising them :)
I was a registered nurse before I went back to college and graduate school to become the professional I am now.
I know of mature adults in the health field who have walked out of the hospital because of the things they have seen there. **I** am no longer a nurse and chose a different profession because of my experiences in the hospital. I too was **exhausted** and completely **fried** emotionally and physically.
So...Age here likely isn't the reason for your friend's unhappiness. However...He has a **big** advantage over someone who finds out that he can't stand being a physician when he is 30 or older. Your friend can more easily move into another field of work. He is younger and can financially more easily correct his mistake. Because I graduated from nursing school at a normal age, I did not enter my new profession until I was 32.
Also...He education is not wasted. He still has the knowledge and this knowledge will enrich his life even though he might not practice medicine In my case, my nursing education has added a valuable dimension to my life even though I haven't practiced nursing in 30 years.
My own children started with **one** course in the evening. They ( themselves) asked to take two courses the next semester. At this point they, themselves, asked to attend full-time. At this point **they** took full charge of their **own** class schedule.
Going to college isn't a problem if it is the child, **himself**, who makes the decision and paces himself.
As, for socialization:
My kids continued their typical homeschooing teen social life though nearly all of their undergrad years. Gradually, as they matured they made very good friends with the college students who were active in our church's college outreach program. We never worried about drugs, alcohol, and sex.
Also...While at the community college they made friends with the math tutors in the math lab. This is where they “hung out”. At 14 they were official (paid) math tutors at the college. Since they couldn't drive in their early years, I waited for them in the library.
The kids lived at home.
We’re terrible.
My kids are normally bright. Children by the millions could be doing the same if:
1) The NEA would let kids take the GED at **any** age. As it is now, the minimum age allowed is 16 to 18 depending on the state. This would allow bright kids automatic access to the community college and to scholarships and loans.
2) If parents could recognize that, yes ( indeed!), they **can** homeschool. It isn't rocket science.
I’m from Massachusetts, a loooong loooong time ago. But you’re right, now I’m in NE Ohio, south of Salem and west of Lisbon. Haven’t been to Cincinnati yet.
Honey, the only alternative to growing old is to achieve quietus, as if you didn’t know. ;-)
That was quite a compelling story about your doctor friend. Makes me happy that my kid won’t have the “genius” problem. Way back when we had to attend business dinners, so many people would fill the conversation with how wonderful, intelligent, off-the-charts geniuses their kids were. I wanted to drive a fork into my eye. It made me realize how utterly BORING those kinds of people actually are.
A fork in the eye?
Geeze! Then why are you reading a homeschooling thread, for heaven's sakes? No one here on Free Republic can force anyone to read a thread. It is entire up to the choice of the individual whether they open a thread or not.
Homeschoolers are on average far ahead of children who are institutionalized for their schooling.
“I don’t think 11 year olds are supposed to be worrying about changing the world. That’s his parent’s job. I hope this child is being encouraged to be a kid, a very special one to be sure. I went to high school with one of these very young geniuses. He wasn’t very happy, I thought.”
Agree. My kids (who aren’t exactly slackers themselves) know that they would get a fat lip if they talked about changing the world. Besides getting spanked a bunch, they are also told that they aren’t Shiite and if they cop the slightest attitude or air of superiority, they pay.
Kids that are way ahead need to have that beat into them by their parents. There are plenty of others around that will tell them how special they are.
...and it works. No one has ever said (at least to me, directly or indirectly) that any of my kids are unhappy, depressed, no fun to be around, or boring. They are happy because they can be with other kids their own age, who are on a normal track, and be perfectly accepted...since they, in no way, feel superior.
I feel bad for any kid who has that has that “change the world” attitude, and especially when advanced. Their parents can do MUCH better.
“Wow! My kids started college at the age of 13, 12, and 13. The two younger graduated with B.S. degrees in math at age 18. ( Homeschoolers, of course.)”
Then you may have failed, since the world is all messed and your kids have not saved it. But I’ll wait a few years before passing final judgment.
...or maybe you raised them to be human beings? Naa.
One of the benefits of homeschooling is that children are not in an environment that singles them out as “gifted”, and sets them apart in gifted enrichment classes, and honors them with special graduation awards, etc.
The child's motivation to move forward is generated by a true love of learning. They can't preen themselves before a classroom of other children, and their aren't teachers and principals to fawn over them.
One of my serious objections to institutionalizing children ( bright, normal, or dull) is that it takes them about one nanosecond to know the difference between the bluebird, redbird, and robin reading groups. They all know who is smart, average, and stupid.
Also...Children who graduate at the top of their class are often knocked off their artificially created pedestal when in college, graduate school, or in their profession they learn that nearly everyone in their field is just as smart as they are.
( In a hurry, not proof read.)
“( In a hurry, not proof read.)”
Very well stated then!! I wish that I was that productive.
Your points are awesome...although I didn’t home school my kids. I just kept their head on straight while I taught them reading and math years before “the system” was going to. When old enough (around 10 years and ready for Calculus), we started scoping out college options. It was an easy transition and the kids preferred it, simply because college students are WAY more mature than government school students...even though that’s where most of them come from (I think it’s because their cliques are broken up and they’re on their own).
Good for you. That’s what I always wondered about people who get out of college at a very young age. I also always thought that if you understand the time value of money you could get rich at a relatively young ate.
Courtney Oliver: 10 year old graduate who is a Veterinary Assistant
google the name
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