What happens if you have a baby and the kid turns out to be another Einstein? He’s/she’s studying physics by age four and by say, age 10 the kid is ready for college?
Do Pell Grants and federal student loans cover college for children? Or do Mom and Dad have to shell out the money on their own?
Are there special scholarships for really bright kids? Do most universities have some kind of arrangement where a genius child can go to their school for free (so they’ll have bragging rights 20 years down the road when the kid discovers a new subatomic particle)?
Actually, Einstein didn’t even start talking until 3 or 4, and almost flunked out of school, so maybe he wasn’t your best example
A prodigy doesn’t necessarily imply a formal education - one of the features of being a prodigy is self-motivation. These kids might go to a private school, or go to a public school with tutors to supplement that, or be homeschooled.
I have a nephew who was taking college courses in math and computer science at age 12. His school district actually arranged transportation between the public school (where he was doing average-for-his-age work in other subjects) to the University of Buffalo for his math classes. So that’s another variation. And also points out that just because little Timmy plays the piano like Mozart or Sally started solving quadratic equations at 3 years of age does not mean they are extraordinary in all areas of knowledge. A prodigy in one area may, in fact, struggle in other areas.
We are currently going through this right now with our 14 year old neice. She scored perfect on her SAT’s at 12 and perfect on her GRE’s last month. There is a lot you have to do and be prepared for. Socialization is often over-looked by the child and parents. Parents want to listen to their children, but when the child says, they want to study or do some equations instead of going out with friends, or socializing, then it is the parents responsibility to step in and make sure their childs social abilities can match or equate to their academic apptitudes.
Feel free to email me if you are interested in more information and sites.
I’m guessing no on the government help. IMO, it’s wrong to push a child like that. There will be plenty of time for adult persuits later, hand the kid a baseball or a doll. I’ve seen a number of programs on prodigy children and they all seem to level out with others in there profession as adults. So the kid that grew up normally and went to college, then graduate school and gets is phd in physics winds up making about the same dent on the world as the child prodigy who get’s a phd at 16. The difference is one had a real childhood the other had his/her 15 minutes of fame on Dateline.
“Pushing” kids in the sense that it’s the parents forcing him into whatever pursuit the parents want him to do is wrong.
OTOH, there are some kids (and I was one for a while) who have a genuine love for what they’re doing. I was in a gifted and talented program with other kids who were into music, math, computers, writing, and just about any other field of endeavor you could name. These weren’t just school subjects, they were hobbies. Some of my classmates were doing college-level work in middle school, and I myself was taking college classes at the ripe old age of 15. So it is possible that kids want to do this themselves, without parental pressure.
In response to the OP, often, school districts will offer special classes for gifted-and-talented kids, and there may be some parents’ groups for this as well that can offer guidance.
At some point, I had three friends who didn’t finish HS, but went directly into college (in one case right into graduate math courses). One of them graduated from college on time; one of them graduated eventually, about ten years after he started and the third, the one pushed into graduate courses, never finished. The professor who pushed him told me many years later that it was the worst mistake he ever made. You have to be careful with prodigies. They can be fragile and one failure can sink them. On the other hand, I think it is pointless and maybe destructive to hold them back.
