PD*Poll: The ten-year-old college kid

Ever consider that the weird kid might have Asperger's or that they got tired of being picked on because they were smart so they pulled away? Why should someone hang out with you if they're used to you picking on them or thinking they're weird because they're bright? Also, just because they don't socialize with you, it doesn't mean they don't socialize at all.

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Evidently most of you did not see the original article that appeared about three weeks ago about Moshe Kai Cavalin, yes he is indeed one smart young man and has a fantastic future in the academic world. However the original article told of how his parents are working hard to make his life of a 10 year old as normal as possible. He has friends his own age that he plays with, does video games, chores around the house and all of the other things that normal kids do. They are aware that his being with older students all of the time is not a perfect setting and that he needs the balance of age relevent peer interaction too to make his life as well rounded as possible. I applaud them in all that they are doing to both keep him intllectually and physcologically adapted and challenged.

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Is it that these kids are sooo smart or that the schools are making the curiculum so easy a normal average kid that is interested and wants to learn excells. I think it is a combination of both sports have become so important that they have lowered the skill level required as far as work assignments to be in line with these dumb ass athletes that can't even speak plain english after attending school for 12 years plus.

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I read through all the comments and I agree with freda that this kid and many like him that are so obviously gifted and way ahead of their peers could possibly have asperger's or similar autistic spectrum disorder,, I know because my son has asperger's and although truly a genius, has trouble with the socializing part of life....I found it interesting this kid was so interested in physics, my son is also and alot of MIT students could be diagnosed with asperger's. My son is 22 now and has gone to the local community college,taking courses that interested him but has an aversion to mandatory classes that may involve interaction with others..its not that he doesnt want to interact,,he just doesnt know how....its been a challenge for him and all of us as well....someday i hope he finds his way in life....unfortunately for him, he wasnt diagnosed until senior year in high school and like one poster said, the kids that have learning problems they bend over backwards for, but with my son being so advanced..they didnt look at it as a learning disability even though it is in regards to socialization. luckily these days, aspergers and all forms of autistic spectrum disorders are found early and can be dealt with early on. as for this kid going to college..as long as its what he wants to do,,then go for it...hopefully his parents keep him in other social activities with kids his own age otherwise he will have trouble in the future ...eventually he wont be a kid anymore and may not be able to relate to other adults his own age at that time....

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Given a school district that allows students to stay with their peers at least a part of the time in middle school, but go to the high school for more advanced classes, especially in the sciences and math and when high school age, provides a rich offering of AP classes there is no need to leave their age group peers.

My daughter lacked those opportunities (now provided in our schools) except for a few honors and AP classes at high school level and consequently entered an Ivy League college at 18 not very well prepared for the math curriculum. Hard work and good friends who'd had more advanced opportunities pulled her through it, but she worked fiendishly hard to pull a good near A average. It would have been so much easier had she been allowed to progress more at her own rate earlier.

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I'ld say let him go, but socializism would be a lil a problem because not everyone think the same in college. There will be some miscommunication though... (maybe this will never happen)Becuase of the limitations though as like if someone bring a conversion that is a little censored(just a thought) he'll have to stop maybe around there( So he wouldn't have any negativity to try to make him as bright as possible maybe). But there is a million possibilities as we are only naming a few. We'll just have to wait in time and see.

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Let the kid live at home and have a normal childhood while still pursuing his education, I say.

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INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, THERE'S A GREAT EARLY ENTRANCE PROGRAM @ CAL STATE LA RIGHT NEARBY--I THINK THEY TAKE KIDS AS YOUNG AS 11, BUT THE AVERAGE IS MORE LIKE 13-15. THE APPLICANTS SPEND A SUMMER BEING MENTORED, EVALUATED & TAKING CLASSES BEFORE THEY ARE ACCEPTED, TO BE SURE THEY HAVE AN APPROPRIATE EMOTIONAL/MATURITY LEVEL. THEY ARE VERY CAREFUL AS TO THE WHOLE "KID EXPERIENCE" THING, TOO, TRYING TO AT LEAST MAKE THE 1ST FEW YEARS SEEM MORE LIKE HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE, W/A YEAR BOOK, ACTIVITIES & FIELD TRIPS, A "FORMAL" DANCE, ETC. ALSO THE KIDS ARE NOT JUST FLUNG INTO THE COLLEGE EXPERIENCE; THE PROGRAM HAS ITS OWN SUITE OF ROOMS--LOUNGE/COMPUTER LAB/KITCHEN/DIRECTOR'S OFFICE, AND THERE IS ALOT OF HAND HOLDING @ FIRST. BUT THEY DO TAKE THE REGULAR CLASSES ALONG W/EVERYONE ELSE OF "NORMAL" COLLEGE AGE.

ONE OF THE PROBLEMS W/VERY BRIGHT KIDS IS THEY JUST DON'T FIT IN W/THEIR SAME AGE PEERS, AND REGULAR SCHOOL IS EXTREMELY BORING TO THEM, (SOMETIMES CAUSING THEM TO GET INTO MORE TROUBLE THAN IF THE WERE KEPT BUSY & CHALLENGED) SO IT JUST MIGHT BE BETTER TO ACCELERATE THEM, EVEN IF SUPPOSEDLY MISSING OUT ON SOME OF "CHILDHOOD". IT JUST DEPENDS ON THE INDIVIDUAL. AND JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE GOING TO SCHOOL @ A COLLEGE, INSTEAD OF MIDDLE SCHOOLE, FOR EXAMPLE, DOESN'T MEAN THEY CAN'T DO ALL THE OTHER SOCIAL/SPORTS/WHATEVER ACTIVITIES THAT ARE AGE APPROPRIATE....

PS TOMORROW MY DAUGHTER GRADUATES FROM CSULA, A PROUD MEMBER OF THE EEP (ALTHOUGH SHE WAS "OLD" WHE SHE STARTED @ 15) W/A B.A.
SHE'LL BE 20 IN JULY & THANKS US REGULARLY FOR LETTING HER ESCAPE FROM HIGH SCHOOL ;-)

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This brings a whole new meaning to, "Are You Smarter than a 5th grader?

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so when does he have time to be what he is...a kid?

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My son started college at 11 part time and is going full time now at 12. It's been a wonderful experience for him and he hasn't missed out on anything, in fact he has a very full life with many extra curricular activities and friends his own age. Some children do well in their own grade, other highly intelligent children do well a grade two or ahead, but there are some who absolutely need this type of radical acceleration in order to be happy.

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What I think many people don't realize is that a college experience IS this young man's childhood. That is reality. Obviously he has performed to a high state of proficiency all of the educational requirements up to the level at which he sits now. To say that this child needs a "childhood" would mean sitting in a fifth grade classroom, not being challenged educationally and being ostracized by his "peers" for his obvious giftedness. What a waste of brainpower in a nation where we compare our underachieving young people to those in other countries, yet will criticize parents for acknowledging and accepting the giftedness of their children and letting them live the life that THEY were destinied to, not the one that the parents or others may feel is right for the you man.

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I agree that the child needs to be challenged...what child doesnt. If they are not challenged when they need to be is when you start getting children doing stuff they dont need to be doing simply because they are bored. (ie. flunking out of school because the work is too easy.)

But at the same time, the child needs to be able to be a kid. So my solotion to the whole 10 yr old in college is yes he can be in college so long as he is in elementary or jr high school for half of the day. Because of his age its a little difficult to reason with him being in college.

Hes smarter than the rest of the kids in his class and that could make him feel really proud of himself but at the same time without the interaction of his peers it could up being a very lonely world for him. He will do well when he is older with the later gerneration but how will he face the younger generation when they are no longer there without the grade school interaction he needs?

He needs some elementary and jr high interaction just so he knows how to relate and interact with his peers. He needs to be able to go out to pool parties and sleep overs with his friends and stuff like that.

any comments feel free to email me at skyecharmed4life@aol.com

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my daughter has been reading since she was 3, was on the computer the same year, began taking Japanese as a nine year old, now reads, writes in Japanese characters, and speaks fluent conversational Japanese, took Algebra as a nine year old, now just completed here 2 year of geometry. Will be taking French the coming year.
Remember, follow a stupid kid home and at least one stupid parent will let them in.
If your kid is not bright and you are, you may have married the wrong person.
someone has to work at McDonalds, Someone else has the intellect to own it.

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I must say that, as someone who grew up being a gifted child, many of those who continue to comment that this young man should be allowed to be like other 'normal' children have no idea of what you are talking about. What is normal? What he needs and seems to have is parents who have realized that his academic needs are not those of a normal child and are doing their best to provide him what he has shown works best for him. I get the feeling that they have helped him understand that he is different but that it is ok to be different. That is what my mother taught me at an early age and it helped me throughout my life. I was one of the ones who went to a school that didn't really have the resources to provide the challenge that I and some others like me needed to keep us fully interested. I was part the GIFTED program they had but it wasn't something that really challenged me. The fact that I grew up in a large family helped with the social side of things (I had to learn to deal with others near my age). I seldom did home work until the last minute and almost never studied for tests, but usually got A's or high B's. I'm not sure what my actual IQ was back then but I recently took an IQ test that measured it at 162 (so it was probably higher then since it is believed that our IQ drops some as we get older - I'm 45 now). My point is that if his parents help him to understand that there is nothing wrong with him being very smart and also teach him not to look down on others who aren't as smart (my mom did) she should be fine. The parents play a big role in all parts of his development, both socially and academically. He should be exposed to various things like art,music and sports but not be forced to do any that he isn't interested in. As far as the college thing goes, I think he should go but have a parent live with him as his ability to care completely for himself would be limited in many way due to his age. He would also benefit from having some parental input into his life and activities.

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