Could you share what education philosophy your family followed or what decisions were made to enroll her in university at a more tender age? Thank you.
Could you share what education philosophy your family followed or what decisions were made to enroll her in university at a more tender age? Thank you.
Education philosophy? That would be basics.
Don't get me wrong - she can discuss Plato, Aquinas, Mill and such (well, maybe not so readily now, but she was exposed); She enjoyed poetry on her own so steering her towards classics - and discussing them - was easy... but the sciences, math, grammar are the building blocks.
I would also say that knowing one's limitations is important. Once she got beyond basic Calculus, for instance, I couldn't help her very well. We convinced a college math major from our church to tutor.
There are programs out there (as you probably know) for the sciences. For instance we used one retired high school teacher who retired and went into business teaching home schoolers chemistry and physics. He offered classroom instruction and labs, or just labs (and we taught the lessons using text he specified, and his lesson plan - but there are only so many experiments one can do in one's kitchen, with pots and pans for equipment). Again, she got beyond my education in chemistry very quickly (she graduates with a double degree: Bio-Chem and Math).
We sent her to a local Junior College when she started driving, and she was amazed at how easy the classes were. The SAT's followed, A&M accepted her the next year and here we are. She hasn't decided which graduate school to attend; she is looking for good Chemistry departments.
I think many more kids could perform at her level if they had less of the fluff and PC garbage we see in public schools, and more meat provided in a challenging way. But more importantly, when class material, and not what she's wearing, is the driving factor, success follows. I freely admit that home schooling allowed us to determine with whom she spent her time - and that was with our church fellowship or other home-schooled kids who were similarly guided.
You wouldn't make a meal by throwing everything in your pantry into a pot and letting it simmer for 4 years, would you? Neither should you put motivated kids together with scoundrels, and then adjust your teaching to the scoundrels.
Thanks for asking.