“AP Sounds Fun, But Can I Take My Doll?”
Did you ever read one of those news stories about, say, nineteen-year-old college professors and wonder to yourself (among other things), How did her parents manage to find a program willing to accommodate her?
Or how about, How did her parents ever manage not to get treated like they were a pair of wackadoos?
Professor Sabur got her undergrad in applied mathematics at fourteen and then went on to receive her M.S. and Ph.D. in materials science. Clearly, she’s a brilliant woman whose prodigious intelligence includes having learned to read at eight months old.
In sharp contrast to “McKenna,” a commenter on Parent Dish who said, “I imagine she never competed in any team sports, or made it to her senior prom…” Color me silly, but I imagine that she doesn’t really give a rat’s butt about any of the above, nor should she. People who are interested in developing nanophotonics generally find that field of interest slightly more relevant than, “OMG, do you think he’s going to ASK ME TO THE PROM? OMG! GTG – POS!!”
What I’d like to know, though, is exactly how the conversation between her parents and the school went down. Seriously, what happened? She was in fourth grade and basically skipped right to college. Did her parents call up Stony Brook University and say, “Hi…um…We’re not sure whom we talk to about this, but our daughter would like to go to your university. Is it a problem if she eats in the Student Union, or can she still bring her Hannah Montana lunch box?”
Even if the conversation went something like, “Hi, our daughter can do differential calculus; do you mind if she enrolls?” I’d still like to know the answers to my two questions: How did she find a program to accommodate her, and how did her parents not get treated like a pair of wackadoos?
I’d also love to know what her parents did about English.
See, I have this theory that parents of mathematically gifted children have it fairly easy because of two main reasons: Math tends to be sequential and math has no sex scenes. If your child is one of those OTHER kinds, though, you’re kind’ve screwed.
I know this comes as an utter shock to everyone, but giftedness in language and written expression isn’t precisely sequential. Yeah, yeah, I know we generally read Henry and Mudge in Puddle Trouble before Titus Andronicus, but it’s not like you can say, “Oh, well, you really can’t understand 1984 without having read The Giver and Anthem.” That might seem as if it allows for a great deal of flexibility, but in real life, this means that the parents of verbally gifted kids are going to hear the following explanation at least one time: “I know that she’s read Romeo and Juliet before, and all the short stories and poems on our syllabus, but I’m sure she’ll learn something new in the class.”
Yeah. Like how to be bored as hell.
The other problem that plagues parents of kids gifted in language as opposed to math is that math has no sex scenes. Believe me, if math had had sex scenes, I know I might have done much better with it in high school. Instead, the dirtiest thing I encountered was the word “acute,” as in “That’s an acute angle…no, once the beer goggles are off, that angle’s actually kind’ve fugly.”
But seriously, what do you do with a kid who’s in (let’s say) fourth grade, as Professor Sabur was when she went to college? What if the kid is, as are most humans on the planet, not ready for college at age eight or nine, but is certainly more than capable of reading and analyzing literature at the level of an advanced high school student? What do you do? Plunk them in front of a copy of The Lord of the Flies so he can read that killing-the-sow scene with its yummy overtones of anal gang rape?
Jack was on top of the sow, stabbing downward with his knife. Roger found a lodgement for his point and began to push until he was leaning forward with all his weight. The spear moved forward inch by inch…Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands. They lay heavy and fulfilled upon her….The boys drew back, and Jack stood up, looking at his hands….Roger began to withdraw his spear and the boys noticed it for the first time. Robert stabilized the thing in a phrase which was received uproariously: “Right up her ass!” \
And seriously, where do you get high school credit when you’re still measuring your age in single digits? Most colleges and universities tend to like things like “proof you can do the material,” so again, I’d love to know just how this goes down. Do they just skip getting class credits and take the AP exam?
And if they do, can they bring their doll?
I feel the pain!!!
Seriously. She went to school until 3rd or 4th grade. It was pretty obvious that she was “different”. The admin recognized that they literally could not serve her…in any way. She was also a pretty good self-advocate. Lucky Catch. Good catch. Does it matter which? I just really wish the whole nation was this way.
Forte
“…Oh, and can they bring their doll?”
Only If mine can bring Teddy, Ok?:)
Forte
Oh, I so hear you. It’s going to be a long time before my daughter expresses any deep thoughts on gender and sexuality in mixed company — I think she’d rather die.
Also, why does everything have to get so “after-school special” for middle and high school lit curriculum? Honestly, *I* always found that dull, and it certainly isn’t Violet’s cup of tea either.
V. is ready for *complexity* — I can tell from her own writing that she is seeking it out. She wants shades of gray and strong emotions — yet she has probably *less* life experience than the typical 9yo, as far as death, boy-girl stuff, family struggles, etc. go.
I can’t imagine this 19yo professor or her parents ever had it easy, but it is easier for me to imagine what her path might have looked like.
That Prom comment is hilarious! Like keeping her on a traditional pace was remotely possible.
I wonder, did she actually get a GED or High School diploma, or was she accepted to the University without? Their guidelines say a GED is required. Also, I found this amusing on their website: Successful applicants will typically have a 3.5 GPA from High School, but the middle 50% of the applicants only have a 25 on the ACT. Doesn’t that seem to imply that the high school grade matters more than the standardized test? What does that say?
I totally agree that English is the one area that needs a certain amount of maturity to approach. A genius could cure cancer, solve the oil crisis, learn seventeen languages, and use historical knowledge to serve as an ambassador, but would be unable to read Slaughterhouse Five because of the sex scene in the space zoo.
Nice try with the Rick Roll, BTW;)
Forte
And the thing is, Forte, I’m not so sure mine would be as persistent or effective a self-advocate as yours was and is — it’s more in Child’s nature to blend with whomever s/he happens to be with.
Shaun, you NAILED it when you said, “Also, why does everything have to get so “after-school special” for middle and high school lit curriculum? Honestly, *I* always found that dull, and it certainly isn’t Violet’s cup of tea either.”
NO KIDDING. I understand that teens need themselves some Judy Blume because, OMG, they have to find out that other girls pray to God for breasts and get their periods, but I am always leery of putting anything that looks like popular issue fiction (with EXTRA hugging and learning!) into the curriculum except maybe as independent reading for fun. And you’re right — that’s a heck of a lot different from “complexity.”
Has that “lack of life experience” been an issue for you all? I guess I somehow imagine that the parents of PG kids have these ultrawise children who are somehow born intuiting all of life’s experiences, you know? Kids whom journal prompts such as, “Tell us about a friend whom you misjudged or who betrayed you” don’t throw for a loop because they can somehow grok the whole betrayal notion from having read about it somewhere.
Oh, and was it just me, or was your prom NOT the apex of your existence either?
Languagelover, you’re raising question I had also about how she qualified for college — I’m seriously wondering how that happened…like, what were the steps and the conversations? I’d love to talk with her parents, to be honest.
“I totally agree that English is the one area that needs a certain amount of maturity to approach. A genius could cure cancer, solve the oil crisis, learn seventeen languages, and use historical knowledge to serve as an ambassador, but would be unable to read Slaughterhouse Five because of the sex scene in the space zoo.”
I agree on that one — heck, there are days I’m sure I’m not mature enough for Vonnegut — but what I wish for myself is that there were more opportunities for programs in colleges or through distance ed. or whatever to work with verbally gifted kids and maybe work on pre-20th-century texts (Well, some of them — not Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, perhaps) that don’t contain scenes above a PG-13, YK?
Yay, I was wondering if someone was going to fall for the Rick.
Ya know…I am withholding and even steering DC away from my old friend Judy. I clearly remember *Really* thinking the entire world was like the characters in her books, flaws and all. She’s such a neat-o writer that it became real to me, as I was kinda sorta nerdy and had no clue about wanting breasts or using pads. I figure if she’s got questions about peers, she can come to me to talk. She doesn’t need to learn about it ( as I did) by fictionalizing it. Well…there was John Hughes as well, which did a LOT of damage, but that’s another story;)
Forte
” And the thing is, Forte, I’m not so sure mine would be as persistent or effective a self-advocate as yours was and is — it’s more in Child’s nature to blend with whomever s/he happens to be with.”
LOL I was talking about Madame Professor!! SHE was the one who went to school til 4th, self-advocated and the admin understood… Not MINE;) MINE couldn’t advocate her way out of a paper bag at this point, and doesn’t really care to. That’s one of the reasons we are homeschooling her;)
Forte
Hmm — I think PG kids are such a small, diverse group that it is hard to generalize, but . . . I’m not sure I consider V. very wise. It is slightly possible that I set the bar too high.
V. just turned 9, and I am seeing her increased interest in relationships with her peers. But before that her relationships outside the family were mostly of the shallow, kid kind — you’re here, I’m here, let’s play. She’s also a very self-conscious person — much like her parents, she likes to be a ham in controlled environments where she is playing another character, but she is not a “share your feelings with the group” type. So a question about her own feelings or friendships is not likely to elicit much of a response — though in the next year that may change a lot.You’d probably get more out of her younger sister, who seems to have a gift for sympathy and for articulating her own inner states.
I am pretty sure we are going to try a BYU online class in the fall — oddly, it is about feelings and literature! It is a 7th grade class, well within her ability, but even then the number intimidates her — I chose it because many of the books would be familiar (shockingly so — Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in the 7th grade?!) and she’d break into the whole thing easily.
Actually, I am too as regards Judy Blume — the girls in those books are often vicious to each other.
I understand that the BYU course is good – many journal prompts that ask for personal reflections and experiences, but also good, solid texts. Hey, does anyone on here know if EPGY is good for writing?
I’ve heard mixed replies about EPGY/JHU OL Writing courses. It seems to be a love or hate relationship, depending upon the child. I’d like to know too!
Forte