Tutoring A Child Prodigy? 476
FortKnox asks: "I have recently taken the opportunity to tutor a 9-year-old child prodigy. He almost has his electronics associates degree. He wants to get into programming (already asked me about Assembly and Java), and wants to design an OS (the next Linus Torvalds?). I'd like my teaching to steer towards cutting edge technology. My question is: what would be the appropriate things to teach him, and do you know of any books/teaching materials that would help? I'd like to eventually get into nanotechnology, but are there other fields that are starting to become edge-breaking that would be beneficial to learn?"
Comment removed (Score:3)
Ask... (Score:2)
Get him an older computer (Score:3)
Now, with that, install any OS that comes with sources, and introduce him to the fine art of hardware programming. The world doesn't need many more programmers... we do need some good device programmers that will have 8 or so years of programming before they expect to be paid a bundle...
I know what to do (Score:2)
Re:messed up (Score:3)
Here's a thought... (Score:4)
Take him to a basketball game. Take him to the beach. Teach him to throw a football. Take him to some same-age playgroups. Rough-house with him.
I know that you're a tutor, not a big-brother, but I'm using this to make a slightly different point.
The kid is already far, far ahead in mental ability. How much faster does he need to be pushed? By all means, he should study what he's interested in, and move forward at his own pace.
But I've seen too many prodigys with adults around them who want to push them as far as possible, while neglecting other important attributes, like socialization, athletics, and other "non-mental" pursuits.
It's the opposite problem from the jock who's so great at athletics that everyone lets him slide on academics. Then he ends his athletic career, broke, stupid and becomes a bartender.
When kids have a gift (whether academic or athletic), it should be developed, no question. But other parts of life should not be neglected. Gifted kids have lots of time. At the end of their life, they're not going to regret failing to graduate from college at 18 rather than 17. Hopefully, they won't regret a lifetime of loneliness because of broken social skills.
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Teach him life (Score:3)
The kid is nine years old and is a prodigy. He is able to learn what he want, but what is often the problem with these kids, is that when they reach their teens, they feel left out. Please, don't swamp him with technical stuff, he will have his whole life to read boring books on technology. But he will have only a couple of years to learn the basics that will help him get through life. The skills nescessary for social interaction.
in my experience (Score:4)
however, what's even more important than any of this, is getting the child into proper social interaction. entirely too many gifted children become social idiots because they were seperated from the 'normal kids' or were told from an early age that they were better than everybody else. i would also advise keeping said kids among kids of his/her own age, but it sounds like that isn't going to be a possibility.
the summary would probably be learn as much as possible, but keep it fun, and never expect the child to do more than a child should.
corruption (Score:3)
Re:Best learning tools... (Score:2)
However, "The Linux Kernel" is a very informative book and it is a good start to learning about operating systems.
I've found that with some of my cousins, that if I start out with stories about Linus Torvalds, or the kid who got arrested for DeCSS, then they become more interested in the source code and being able to play with it.
Let him wander (Score:2)
The big challenges will be social things, try scouts and things, interacting with your peers is realy important.
Despite the great intelligence few geniuses ever make it on their own, and they may not seek it out on their own. Face it at 9 you have a very naive world view.
If you want to help them the most, make them explore the other things they make overlook.
Re:Here's a thought... (Score:3)
No Offense, But... (Score:4)
Open him up to all the available sources. I didn't have anyone to point me toward all the things that are out there when I was about twelve and I think that stifled my computer experience and knowledge by at least six years. If I had known I could learn to program something other than BASIC and actually install my own Unix server when I was a kid, I would be far beyond where I am now. Instead, I didn't find this stuff out until I hooked up with the right friends after highschoool.
Show him the people, groups, books, online guides and other resources are and offer to assist with anything that piques his curiosity. Help provide the hardware resources that he needs to tool around with things that he is intrigued by. He'll find his own path -- you need to be the machete he whacks the clutter away with -- not his compass. His natural intellect and insatiable desire for knowledge will be his compass.
Pushing a kid in math or technology is just as disasterous as pushing a kid in football or wrestling. They need a foundation and companion -- not a booster rocket strapped to their ass, shoving them toward things.
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seumas.com
Please People (Score:2)
Start with objects (Score:2)
Re:corruption (Score:2)
Re:Here's a thought... (Score:2)
We have to play with some drooling morons that are your age! It helps build skills!
Let's teach him to be arrogant and condescending! Yeah, that's a great lesson! What a brilliant teacher you would be.
Guess what -- you can learn things from anyone, not just people that are the same level or smarter than you are.
The obvious answer. (Score:3)
Sorry, but this is a crock of shit (Score:4)
The reasons is simple - socialization. Being a successful adult is as much a function of charisma as a function of intelligence.
Added to which, such children are typically treated as freakshow material by their peers, which will ultimately limit their endeavors.
My best advice is maybe bump the kid up a grade or two, keep him stimulated on the side, but don't let him be removed from his normal peer group, and don't let him avoid "mundane" tasks like physical labor.
Re:messed up (Score:5)
I studied engineering at an Ivy League university (and don't think I'm tooting my own horn, 'cos I basically sucked at it). One of my classmates was a child prodigy who entered the university at age 14 and was a real whiz at all of his physics and engineering classes... but he had no social skills, he was a real pain to be around, he talked too loud and always talked about himself and how easy the classes were for him, because he was forever trying to impress the rest of us to gain acceptance.
One night at dinner he sat with me and a bunch of my friends who were talking about a recent show at an art gallery... he listened for a minute, looking confused, before he asked, "Why is THAT important?" He just had no clue that the liberal arts were anything more than a frivolous waste of time.
The best thing you can do for your nine-year-old is to expose him to as much as you can, and to make sure that he doesn't become specialized on any one thing too early in his life. Good luck!
Network protocol layers (Score:3)
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Just say no to 'cutting edge technology' (Score:5)
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I'd like my teaching to steer towards cutting edge technology.
Don't.Anything 'cutting edge' you try to teach a nine year old will be useless by the time he starts shaving :-) (I'm assuming male).
I'm a final year student, at a very good, academic, university. In the first semester of our course we were taught SML (a functional programming language, a style quite unlike procedural languages such as C) and MIPS assembly. Throughout the course we have touched on lisp, c, java, sql, perl, uml, and many more on options that I didn't take. All the time we have been given a good foundation in hardware, networking protocols, algorithms, patterns, and software engineering.
Give the kid a strong academic education. Teach fun stuff, sure, but make sure you teach dull stuff like orders of complexity of algorithms. Give him as broad education as you can - introduce him to as many areas as possible, and if he is a hacker, he will sit up all night studying the key areas that interest him anyway. That's just my $0.02.
cheers,
G
What they said ++ (Score:5)
Second, while he may be prodigal in a sense of what he can learn, despite occaisonal appearances to the contrary, he is still very much a child psychologically. You need to read some very good books on child development and psychology to try to determine what stages he is currently going through. Understanding his current emotional stages will help you a lot in dealing with him properly. Perhaps even an exploratory visit to a child psychologist would help even more to iron these things out, since they're especially hard to determine in children like these.
Third, here's my personal insight. I was a "child prodigy" type that never got pushed much at all. When I was 8-9 years old, I was already making post high school scores on standardized tests. Nobody pushed me into any advanced fields. My parents did a little in the form of tutoring me up to a few grade levels ahead of myself over the summers between school semesters. I also got my first basic interpreter around that time, and then quickly moved (on my own, no pushing) into assembly and later to C.
I feel that my life turned out very well, and that I have nurtured my own curiousity without any extra push. I can also see now in hindsight (not much, I'm still only 24, but whatever) that as much as I believed that I understood things at various ages, there are some things that no amount of raw intelligence can teach you. There are some things that must be learned over time. And these are not sappy things like true love, these are concepts important to creative processes and learning.
I would also note that of great benefit to me was a lot of overseas travel and living as a child. I believe now more than ever that immersing a any child in as wide an array of situations and experiences as you can helps to maximize them in a very natural and gentle way.
why dont you ask him.. (Score:2)
really though-don't try to live your life through this kid. if he wants to know about nanotechnology then thats what you should teach him. dont try to teach him what you would want to know.
he expressed an interest in java? then teach him java. if he just wants a good primer on computer programming i would look into the art of computer programming by donald knuth. this book is language neutral. it teaches how to be a good programmer. this can then be applied to any language.
use LaTeX? want an online reference manager that
tips (Score:4)
Probably, the child prodigy (anyone, actually) should be able to
Re:messed up (Score:2)
That's nonsense. "Childhood" as such is purely a twentieth century invention. In the 19th century a nine-year old, if he wasn't born into the idle rich, would have been apprenticed and be well on his way to learning a useful trade. And even the rich child wouldn't be that idle -- he'd been well on his way to learning to read Latin and Greek. Personally, I think that one reason why kids get into drugs today is that their childhood is horribly *boring*. I know I was bored out of my skull before I discovered computers.
Don Knuth and Danny Hillis (Score:3)
Ask him about what kinds of problems exist and how we solve them short term. How should we approach them for long term solutions?
In this way, you're exposing him to great thinkers that have contributed to our technological landscape, while asking him to think and potentially become one of these people.
A host is a host from coast to coast, but no one uses a host that's close
Couple of nuggets was G/T and works with (Score:3)
1. Begin with projects not just book learning. Make things into games and challenges not just straight out of the book. This is a child emotionally and they like to learn when it's fun. If you're studying something, put it in the form of game, challenge, or neat project.
2. Remember that this is a 9 year old no matter how intelligent he or she is. Unless the child has an incredibly high emotional age your still dealing with someone who is undergoing the rigors of pre-adolescence and is subject to things such as loss of attention, boredom, hyperactivity, among other things. Just do not forget child's age and be patient.
3. Take the advice of some of the early posters and make sure the child is adjusting and can interact with the rest of the children. Even though this may not be your job, it will help the child develop.
4. Have one-on-one and group time.
This is where I differ from the rest of the posters here. I went down both paths in two different schools. One, I was in class with rest of the children and the other I was brought together with other children at my own intellectual capacity. I can tell you flat out, I learned more and had more fun when I was with others that could think on my level but were still my age. So if he or she does have friends and they are gifted as well, try to get them all together and do things with one another intellectually stimulating. You don't need to dump massive amounts of knowledge just give them the right tools to problem solve. The kids will have a better time and learn more when they are all working together. Think about it, weren't projects more fun with a great group!
5. Care. Do not take on this challenge unless your 100% committed to the child. Dealing with a child who is gifted requires at least as much effort as one who has a disability. Where a child with a disability will challenge you emotionally and physically, the gifted child will challenge you intellectually and emotionally. Do not get frustrated with them if they do not perform to their intellectual capacity. Keep positive and urging then to explore the world around them. The child will progress at their own pace they feel comfortable and you are but a guide.
I am very happy you have chosen to work with a gifted and talented child and I wish you all the best. However, don't feel as though you have to cram every major new breakthrough into their brain, just show them the wonders that are out there and they will take care of the rest.
Re:messed up (Score:2)
As are infant mortality rates below 10%, weekends, (relatively) painless dentistry, heart surgery, antibiotics...
Just because it's a recent invention doesn't mean it's invalid.
Re:Here's a thought... (Score:2)
My biggest problem over the course of my education was not being pushed hard enough. I've never had to study hard for anything, and even slacking off, I tend to get good grades (mostly A's, some B's).
I now have great difficulty focusing my abilities enough to truly use them to their fullest extent.
Besides, the list of football and basketball should be supplemented with trips to the Opera, and if you have the budget, the Smithsonian.
Doug
Most important ability: (Score:2)
The ability to learn for himself. Find him a problem to solve, that you know he cannot solve with his current knowledge. Make sure he has enough books and other material to learn how to solve it. Make it interesting (building a robot or something :). And FFS make sure he doesn't burn out - teach him how to take time off.
Re:messed up (Score:2)
Of course not -- I couldn't be a scientist if I believed that. The point is that he original poster was assuming that having a child do something other than play with toys was a recent invention which was responsible for ills of modern society.
Re:messed up (Score:2)
Of course not -- I couldn't be a scientist if I believed that. The point is that he original poster was assuming that having a child do something other than play with toys was a recent invention which was responsible for ills of modern society.
Re:Sorry, but this is a crock of shit (Score:2)
Socialization is a good idea, but be careful which group he socializes with. There's no way he can relate to his normal peer group and no way they can relate to him. If his normal peer group is anything like mine, all he'll probably get from them is an incredible feeling of loneliness, and he might forget his intelligence and think of himself as failed at the game of life.
If there's a program for extremely talented kids like Path and the Midwest Talent Search, he should take it and get introduced to all the other smart kids in his area. True, he needs charisma, but I doubt that his peer group will teach him anything but how to withdraw into an adamant shell until he can lay on his bed at home and ask a silent God why he's an outcast. He will learn much more about social interaction by being around other children who, if not commensurate with his talent, at least aren't going to throw him away for lack of machismo.
Unless his gift extends into the gym and still allows him to play macho head games unlike mine, his normal peer group will only be a poison that eats at his soul until there's nothing left.
Don't miss this window. (Score:5)
I would say absolutely push this kid to learn challenging material (I'll get to the content in a moment). Also do the big brother stuff, or find someone who can. I'm not sure about pushing peer-group interactions, because it would be hard to find a peer group. Dumping him with other kids his own age might just enforce the perspective that most people are dumb and not worth his time. Teaching him to look for information and answers from other people, online, might be a start. It would be nice to find others on his emotional and intellectual levels, but I can't tell you where to look.
As for material to study, I would stay away from the "bleeding edge." You never know what will collapse, or what will be radically reconceptualized. Anyway, the best programmers (just for example) aren't the ones who have been writing C since they were five; they're the ones who have a deep understanding of the mathematics that underly all programming and automatic systems. These are the people who will always be valuable, who can understand any new development. They'll still be advancing our understanding after the market-glutters who learned perl and java for two years in college are used up and discarded.
Rather than specific fields, then, look at the commonalities among the big trends in science and/or computers, and see what their basis is. Don't study nanotech, study physics. Don't study cloning; study cell biology. Aim for knowledge that won't become obsolete, and will create a firm foundation for whatever comes.
Apropos of the pop neurology above, I'd recommend the more arcane / symbolic fields like math and logic. It's a rare opportunity to be able to build those things into the brain on a low level, and should not be discarded. This is probably also a good time to teach music, even though the idea is somewhat tainted by prodigies who had their lives ruined by overbearing tutors.
I think my advice is good. But to put it to proper use, you'll need compassion and sensitivity. The most important thing is to foster a love of learning, not to crush it. So make sure that at every step, your charge is studying something he loves; make sure he knows why it's valuable and just how cool it is.
- Michael
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Go ahead, blame me... I voted for Nader!
Re:messed up (Score:2)
(note to the trigger-happy: the above is a compliment)
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Go ahead, blame me... I voted for Nader!
Non-verbal communication (Score:2)
However, if the prodigy doesn't grasp the social skills naturally, you can teach the technical side of social interaction, which is non-verbal communication.
Some information communicated non-verbally is obvious. Others are subtle and can be very valuable to someone with deficient social skills.
The one problem with the prodigy is that they must be constantly stimulated and be put on a real path with an achievable career. The "constantly stimulated" is important. Take a prodigy and send them to college for four years or so. They'll lose their edge and probably claim they were smarter before they went. Keep the process of discovery going. Stagnation kills the prodigy mind.
Charisma (Score:4)
If your definition of a "successful adult" means "used car salesman/politician", then maybe. However, I've met a number of extremely successful scientists and none of them gave a damn about being charasmatic.
But let him be creative too! (Score:2)
Get him creative toys. e.g., a computer instead of a Playstation. It'll do games *and* let him learn. Make sure there's a compiler(s) on that machine too. Or if he's younger, get him a large Lego set, and not the legos designed to make one thing (such as the phantom flyer). Get him the generic plain bricks of various shapes and sizes. Let him be a kid, but leave opportunities for him to *do* more if he *can* do more. Get him a telescpoe, or a chemistry set, or a microscope. And don't forget books real ones, made from dead trees. Kids will plow through an encyclopedia set on their own because the articles are all relatively short, not overly technical, encourage looking up other stuff, and result in your kid absorbing a waide and varied knowledge base. It did for me.
Don't forcibly bust him down into being "like everybody else". That's as stifling as forced tutoring.
Ask the child!! (Score:4)
Psychology!! (Score:2)
Beyond that recommendation, follow two simple rules. Present him with ready access to core information that he wants and needs, such as programming information, mathematics, physics, chemistry, etc. And then just let his inherent curiosity drive him. If you feed curiosity, you will strengthen it, and THAT will make him great someday more than learning a particular aspect of technology.
"Well rounded" (Score:5)
1) Remember that while the child might be intelligent in some areas, this does not always mean that he is gifted in all areas. He might be capable of understanding quantum mechanics, but his understanding of biology might stop at "We are all made of cells." Literature and the arts are often left out of a true prodigy's education.
2) School is not so much to teach you *things*, but rather to teach you how to *learn*. As others have said, teach him how to research, and how to answer problems and questions on his own. Assign projects on things he knows nothing about that will be difficult to find (some obscure historical event, for example).
3) Social skills are important. Teach him how to be "friends" with somebody. Teach him how to have fun, and how to joke around. Make sure that he sees education as something fun (more difficult than it sounds)
4) Teach him how to relax. From the sounds of it, this kid is under quite a bit of pressure from somewhere (possibly from himself, but I would guess itis external). Teach him how to take a break from that, even if it is just for an hour.
5) Teach him how to motivate himself. One day that pressure is not going ot be there and he is going to have to know what to do without it.
6) Teach him why he should be learning these things. Show the results of string theory, of relativity, of in everyday life.
7) Teach him that he has limitations. Everyone does, his are just higher than others.
The last thing I can say is to be there for him. I have helped more gifted/talented children by doing that than anything else. I have received phone calls at 3 in the morning from children I have known that just need reassurance that what they are going through is normal, that someone else has gone through the same thing.
Note: I used the male gender in my examples, but know of more than enough gifted/talented females.
The other thing I would say is to do some research yourself. Do not push him into a field, let him decide for himself. And remember that the child will soon pass your own abilities in the field. Check out some books on gifted/talented methods and psychology. There are many out there.
Good luck!
Intelligence/social skills (Score:2)
good point, basically. Still in my opinion intelligence is one part of being a charismatic person. But we could discuss something like that for hours
I agree with you, if the kid never develops sufficent "emotional" and "social" intelligence he will have it even harder a life than he is already going to have. As you have mentioned it is quite hard to fit into you peer group when you basically just don't fit in. It's basically a question of inerests, the kid will certainly be interested in a lot of things which others of his age won't even have heard about.
So as this post [slashdot.org] post mentions don't just concentrate on academical things, take him out, show him the world.
Teach him a instrument whatever, but don't just let him become focused on just one aspect of education.
After all he is just a young boy, just because he now is interested in computers that doesn't mean it's the only thing he is going to be interested in and if you don't show other interesting things he will never know what he has missed.
Re:Sorry, but this is a crock of shit (Score:2)
The reasons is simple - socialization.
This is not the reason. The reason is that, although adults that were child prodigys do have good retention and are quick learners, others, who were smart but not prodigys, eventually catch up. Prodigys are in posession of a subset of skills that prove to be very effective at making them advanced at a young age, in adulthood other skills like creativity and passion prove to be the read advantage
Re:Just say no to 'cutting edge technology' (Score:2)
I agree. Avoid 'cutting edge' and go for timeless, enduring lessons instead. Most 'cutting edge' technologies end up on the cutting room floor of history.
I would recommend a grounding in Algorithms, writing some 2D graphics to illustrate and visualize the problems and solutions.
Functional programming, which has heavily influenced much of programming language design and has been around for 40 years would be good. Toward this end, I recommend the TeachScheme! [rice.edu] materials, which are tutorial, freely available and also emphasize timeless Computer Science lessons.
Once some proficiency has been gained in programming, go for 3D POV and other graphics which can help with learning mathematics.
Of course, technologies that are hear-to-stay, like Linux, C/C++ and Java should also be included at some point.
For socialization in an environment where this person can both excel and gain access to a peer group, you could do a lot worse than competitive scholatic chess. There's almost certainly something going on in your area, but you'll do a LOT better in a major metropolitan area with finding peers. You should be able to get some pointers on this here [uschess.org].
If electronics is the direction, then encourage complete programmable embedded projects. Avoid dabbling, go for palpable result oriented projects that have an end. Achievements that you can both be proud of rather than a lot of dead-ends. You might want to look into the FORTH programming language for flexible programming of small embedded systems.
These would be my choices, but of course, I don't know the 9-year old. You do. However, I do want to get back to the avoiding 'cutting edge' technologies. Would you be going cutting edge for this persons development, or for your ego?
If this person is interested in a particular technology, then by all means, investigate it. You would also do well to encourage Science Fiction and readings on Relativity and Cosmology to fire the imagination.
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Re:Here's a thought... (Score:4)
The point is most of those people at his age are not particularly likely to be very ACCEPTING of his smarts, and will very likely go out of their way to make sure it's clear to him that being smart is bad.
And that's a lesson that too many smart people never learn. No, not the one you're talking about. It's this: No one like a smart-ass. It's usually (although not always) the smart kid's fault when he gets picked on. It's one thing to be smart, but it's another thing to act arrogant and be a "know it all".
It's like an athlete who is a ball hog. They're so much better than everyone else that they feel they need to make every play, and eventually no one like to play with them. Then he goes home thinking, "well, they're just jealous because I'm so much better". No, they're not having fun! They want to participate, too.
If I could be a little immodest for a minute. I used to be a smart-ass. I used to take great pride in solving every math problem in my head before the other kids applied pencil to paper. But eventually I learned that I could slow down and not announce every answer in an arrogant fashion, and could let others participate. Wow! I suddenly got a lot more popular, because I didn't spoil everyone's fun.
Now I just confine my arrogance and "know it all" attitude to Slashdot. :)
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Re:Dead Poets Society (Score:2)
I recently met a girl who's so amazingly well rounded I'm in awe. She talks about philosophy, history, math, music, and pretty much everything else with an understanding of how it all fits together. She's got knowledge and passion... and spending time with her gives me that rare feeling of humility.
If he resists non-technical things, introduce him to DaVinci.
As another poster has mentioned, intelligence is about making connections between and among things. Help him have an amazing variety of connected and disparate things with which to develop those connections.
-Nev
Re:Couple of nuggets was G/T and works with (Score:2)
Re:corruption (Score:2)
"No, you can't. Go be a kid. Ride your bike or something."
"Where?"
"What? You're a kid. You're supposed to have fun riding your bike. It doesn't matter if you're going anywhere."
"But I'd have more fun programming in assembly."
"No you wouldn't. You're supposed to have fun doing things that other kids do. You're a kid. Here, I'll send you over to the neighbors' and you can watch cartoons with the kid there."
"But he's stupid and he beats me up."
"Then you just need to learn to socialize better!"
"I'd rather learn assembly programming."
"I ORDER YOU TO GO HAVE FUN!"
A large number of people are suggesting that the kid should be discouraged from following his dream, and instead of expanding his mind the tutor should work on fitting him into a mold. And they get modded up for it, because they express it in a sentimental kind of way, suggesting that the child would be happier that way.
Bullshit.
I was a gifted child, and all through elementary school I was encouraged to learn more. Then I got into middle school and suddenly I was a burden to them. They didn't want to give me advanced classes, they wanted me to learn the same things as all the other fifth-graders, it would be more convenient for them that way. Incidentally, I had a miserable time in most of middle school, and now I think of all the stuff I could have learned if I had been given the opportunity then.
Sure, he COULD learn to be a programmer as an adult, but why stifle his youthful mind and then try to cram programming into his adult mind which would have a much harder time learning?
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Obfuscated e-mail addresses won't stop sadistic 12-year-old ACs.
Re:teaching method (Score:2)
Your IQ is your mental age divided by your actual age. If you got a 191 as a child and kept learning things, you could get a 191 as an adult. If, however, you burn out and stop learning things, your IQ goes down, as it should.
Children don't naturally get higher scores on an IQ test - the average child's IQ would be 100 just like the average adult's. The difference is that average children don't take IQ tests, so you don't see those scores.
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Obfuscated e-mail addresses won't stop sadistic 12-year-old ACs.
Re:Charisma (Score:5)
Mmm. Science is very much about people skills, unless you happen to be the absolute number one person in your field. Corporations and government entities don't sit around thinking "hmmm, what asshead prima donna scientist can we give money to this week", and the scientist that can do great work with no coworkers is rare indeed. As a computational chemist, I think I have some insight into this world ;-).
No man is an island, in any field. Besides, having your work be your life is pretty lonely. I used to think I didn't need people very much either, but I became a whole lot happier when I realized how stupid I was being. Having friends to knock of on friday to get beer and cheese fries with is just as valuable to the soul as being a penta-PhD.
I see your web address has math in it, implying that you are a math-head. So here's an example for you: Dr. Karen Uhlenbeck. She's the math professor I just took a mathematical modeling class from. She is very intelligent (which is an understatement of truly titanic proportions), and has a list of awards from scientific bodies that's almost a full page long in condensed form. I've heard the other math people refer to her as being one of the best geometers of the past millenia, one of the founders of the modern understanding of analytical geometry, one of the people whose theories underly modern quantum physics, etc. She is by any definition a brilliant mind. You know what? She's really, really funny too. She's very charismatic and personable, and when you're around her it's like you're just chillin' with a homey (to use a term from my home neighborhood); you get the feeling that she really genuinely cares about the people studying under and with her. It's only after you walk away from class do you realize how much you learned in the process of smiling and laughing. She obviously loves what she does and has a very happy, rewarding life. My point being that she's very much a people person and yet is also, as another professor put it in hushed tones, probably one of the top 5 or 10 living mathematical minds.
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Re:Sports (Score:2)
Imagine this the other way around. Consider the people who are "born athletes" - how would they have ended up if instead of practicing sports, they had been forced to solve differential equations?
Fitting the child into a mold is NOT the answer! If he _wants_ to play sports, of course, let him, but don't assume that throwing a football at him will make him "better" in the long run.
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Obfuscated e-mail addresses won't stop sadistic 12-year-old ACs.
Re:messed up (Score:5)
As someone with a good founding in Ed/Psych, and at least a few years in front of the classroom, i've worked with some gifted kids. My advice runs similar to what I was learned in the first year of grad school about any kid: Remember that the ACTION in education is not teaching, it's learning. The person who does that action is the child, not the "teacher", which is a completely mis-labeled term. You're nothing but an assistant.
The best thing to deal with gifted kids is to expose them to huge amounts of resources that they can explore at their own pace. Then you let them go where they want, and you simply act as a coach/guide... suggesting areas tehy may want to explore first, applications of what they're seeing, and being there for discussions. Remember, they will probably soon know more than you do about any given subject -- but discussing it is usually the best way to anchor that knowledge. So being a enthusiastic sounding-board for them is important.
Don't worry about pushing them in any particular direction... in fact pushing at all is the worst thing you can do (that includes pushing them into sports, or other stuff) because any path they choose themselves is always more interesting to them than one they were forced into. Remember that they ALREADY are far enough ahead that you don't need to worry about them having the basics down. He'll graduate high school and go on to college and get a job. So anything else he does is pure gravy, and the best way to insure he keeps inerest is to let him choose.
Also -- kids are kinetic and tacticle things. Whatever path he chooses, try to figure out ways he can create and build using it. And try to figure out what other skills are needed to create whatever project he's into, and point him toward them. (...hmm... you may need a scripting language for this. Let's take a look at Python. Hmm... may need to do some metalwork on this one -- let's learn to weld!
The thing most kids really need is a "partner in crime"... so be there for him. Do things with him. That's the important thing -- he'll do the rest.
Re:Charisma (Score:2)
If you're definition of a "succesful scientist" means, that he/she has published in a few magazines and maybe even won a medal for scientific achievement, then maybe. However, the succes of a scientist should not only be measured by the articles he has published, but also by his achievement in teaching others what he has learned and in inspiring others to explore strange new events. The charisma of a scientist can encourage a generation to follow in his footsteps. Now this doesn't mean he has to be a salesman of his subject, no not at all. But he has to be passionate about what he does. This passion is what makes it fun in the end to learn something and from this passion comes charisma.
On top of charisma which comes from passion, there should be charisma in social affairs. Why? People are social beings. What greater joys then sitting around a table with a good bottle of wine in the middle, chatting with old friends.
Re:Here's a thought... (Score:2)
That's the point. There's no need to take everyone else's advice and point him away from his gift. You just need to make him AWARE that he needs to do it with grace and humility. That lesson will automatically require the socialization others talk about.
And that is FAR more difficult to teach or learn than science. I wonder if I ever will learn this myself.
Horsefeathers. *rolls eyes* (Score:2)
Sorry, but I can't let this one slide.
It's "usually" the smart kid's fault when he (or she) gets picked on? It was my fault that my high school French teacher couldn't control the class well enough to keep people from blatantly copying my tests, and the kids gave me trouble because I told them not to? It's my FAULT that I think academic dishonesty is inappropriate?! I think this is a good thing.
It's not a question of being a "ball hog" or having all the right answers. If someone asks me how I did on a test, am I supposed to lie for the sake of other people's self-esteem? Is that truly the message you want to be sending here?
Girls, in particular, have enough problems with being conditioned into believing that being intelligent is a negative thing. Bullshit comments like "smart kids who get picked on have only themselves to blame" make it worse.
Shall we then say that students of a different race deserve to be made fun of, that women who dare to walk alone at night or wear something more revealing than a nun's habit deserve to be treated as sex objects if not acutally threatened with rape, or that someone who has a physical or mental disability deserves to be harassed for it? And that objecting to this is "spoiling someone's fun"? Is this REALLY the message you want to send?
Think about it.
Never mention the "P" word. (Score:5)
To a child prodigy, this becomes a more vulgar and profane word than damn, fuck, or Microsoft could ever be.
I was a child "prodigy," though probably not to the level of this child. However, I started to rebel because I started to be told how much potential I had.
The subtle meaning kids pick up on is: I would love you more if...
Affection becomes conditional, at least in the eyes of the child.
---
Now, as for what to teach him, I saw a great suggestion below. Teach him communications! Teach him how to observe his classmates, and make it a game to be able to interact with them.
In the "bleeding edge" areas, teach him whatever you can connect to the basics. However, teach him what he is interested in. Pass subjects by him, and see what makes his eyes shine. Have him research the basics. Then start developing small projects that increase in complexity. Most importantly, make him complete the project. This will teach him the power to finish, something many people don't learn until much later in life.
However, above all, MAKE SURE that he understands you care about him, not his brain. This is the most important. Without this, all the training may not matter because that brain will be shattered with a
Re:What they said ++ (Score:2)
I've learned not to give much of a care to spelling. It's about communication. Everyone got my point, and you wasted some time correcting my spelling in print, something everyone else's brain took care of for them almost unnoticeably.
Ig yoj can'r resd thit sintinc, uv get serous prablems.
Can anyone answer this question? (Score:2)
The question is "what would be the appropriate things to teach him?"
I would recommend the same tools that an adult would use. Books, the internet, and lots of hands on experience "hacking." Take a loose path, lean it more in their areas of interest, and less toward the purely academic areas (unless they are into that). Most good CS people claim they learned mostly on their own, and liked it that way. Let him/her be more self-motivated than a normal child at that age.
Re:Charisma (Score:2)
The homepage of Karen K. Uhlenbeck [utexas.edu]
Oh yeah, she does seem to be bright and funny. Just read the comment on the bottom part of the homepage. (and we'll just forgive her the horrible formatting)
P.S. Maybe she is somebody for a Slashdot Interview
Re:Here's a thought... (Score:3)
Discipline in studies is very important. I made it through school figuring things out as they appeared, rather than studying. Eventually subject matter appeared which required a progressive development of skill. Without doing the homework the answers were no longer immediately evident nor could they be worked out in the time alloted for exams. I fumbled, had difficulty studying, piled up debt and dropped out.
I find I'm doing much better now that I'm studying part time while working full time. Although much of the subject matter I'm studying now is in the arts and humanities, I'm still scoring great marks. I find I can take the time to fully appreciate the material. I'm contemplating starting up a calculus study group at work.. a rather sickly geeky concept, but it keeps everybody motivated.
When I was a kid, I desparately saved cash for electronics equipment, chemistry books and computer hardware. Jobs were scarce, so many of my interests took a back seat. I could only focus on computers, fine models and metalwork. A friend of mine was given an old oscilloscope, collections of books from Motorola and tonnes of chip samples. Of course, he won many science fairs and is working in electronics. Myself, I'm working with computers.
People who take bragging rights on their grades worry me. It is entirely a product of your environment and your genetics. Your enviroment and upbringing provide discipline and motivation. Genetics is the only explanation I have for people who try really hard, can be brilliant in some areas, but still fail to grasp particular concepts. When you brag about your grades, you may as well be bragging about your hair colour or your socio-economic bracket. Bragging about that stuff indicates to me that either the person is desparately seeking peer approval, or they are trying to make up for some other insecurities.
I don't know what life is about, but it is certainly not about how good your grades are or how much money you make. Of course for whatever reason a low income can make life quite intollerable.
IMHO, the worst thing that could happen to this kid is that he'll drop out of school because between focusing on microbiology and obsessing over robotics, he'll flop out of everything else -- socially awkward with only a high-school education. On the other hand, with private tutors, he probably already has the attention of professors and the like who can mentor him out of those problems.
Re:Here's a thought... (Score:2)
The bartending association of America collectively spits in your drink.
^^^^^ Moderate this up!!! (Score:2)
I was homeschooled for four years, and many of the local homeschoolers where what my mother and I nicknamed the "homeschooling anarchists." They were so very big on this "don't push the kid!" stuff that they just assumed my mother had pushed me to learn to read when I was two years old.
She didn't push. She got out of my way, mostly.
There were moments I wished to be a "normal" kid, but most of the time I realized that I was actually having more fun and enjoying life more than most of my so-called peer group, and I was learning a more important socialization skill -- to get along with people in other than my immediate age bracket.
Let the kid follow his own interests, whatever they may happen to be, as long as they don't involve something that is likely to do him physical harm or get him (or you) locked up with the key thrown away for the rest of his life. For that matter, we should be doing that with even non-"prodigy" children.
Re:Charisma (Score:2)
Re:Here's a thought... (Score:2)
Sorry, but ball hogs don't get picked on. They may not have many friends, but they definitely don't get the ostracism that smart kids get.
The problem is that today's american society, despite being very technologically based, still doesn't value intelligence as much as looks or athletics. And that's not the fault of the smart-ass.
As far as it goes, most smart kids, at the point in which they're being taught that society hates them, aren't emotionally developed enough to understand your point anyway. Certainly they should be pointed in that direction, but it's not a lesson that gets taught at the end of a bully's fist.
To reach the edge, you must start at the hilt... (Score:2)
However, I think it's perhaps better to start on general CS knowledge which serves as a wonderful base for whatever he wants to do with computers. Perhaps he'll want to be the next Linus, but he might also want to be the next Feynman and if that's so it's good to give him the best grounding in CS possible so he can exploit computers to the fullest in other fields of research.
My starting point? Look at the Teach Scheme! [teach-scheme.org] project. After Pascal, Scheme was my first language I spent a lot of time in while at college and I'm a lot better for it now using whatever langauge I choose. Scheme is a great way to start learning CS concepts and is quite powerful as well. I think Java is a great language and use it all the time at work, but Scheme is a better place to start an education in advanced CS concepts. The Java KVM on Palm is a good second place to go though as you can build small apps really fast (look around developer.java.sun.com to find the current beta KVM for the Palm).
As for the "go outside" people - that's great, if the kid wants to do that. But just as you don't want to push him technically where he doesn't want to go, you don't want to push him into outside activities he doesn't care about. As a tutor, you should help amplify what he is and wants to be, rather than shape him. If he gets really into a computer project and wants to spend a year doing just that, I personally think he should be able to and I do not think it will hurt his "socalization" skills in the slightest.
Also, consider this - he's probably getting some socalization skills just from the tutor being around! And better ones at that - why would you care if he can socalize well with a bunch of nine year olds when he'll end up interacting with adults? Far better he learns to deal with people in an adult manner. That's the final goal of socalizing kids anyway, to be able to work with other people well.
Re:Charisma (Score:2)
"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were. Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never seen to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee..."
Were you ever really a kid? (Score:2)
If you're a smart kid in elementary- to middle-school today (or within the last 10 years), you most likely have problems unless you're also a natural social butterfly.
Sadly, part of school is dominance games. Some kids rise to the top of the pecking order. And to maintain that status, they have to show how much power they have over other kids. But they couldn't pick on anyone who's too high up on the social ladder, or they'd be seen as an asshole.
And guess who's usually lacking in social skills during those formative years? You got it....the different kids. I'm talking about anyone who's a little weird, in any way. And people with smarts are different.
Because of that, smart kids don't have to be smart-asses to be picked on. It doesn't take announcing the answer first to be targeted. All it takes is getting most of the answers right. You're right, it does sound like you were a smart-ass, by announcing the answer to a problem before anyone else had started working. But most smart kids, including me, werent. In fact, I never talked during class unless called upon by a teacher. However, the other kids started to catch on to the fact that I always knew the answer. And that's when trouble starts.
warped notion of success (Score:2)
More likely, many really smart people figure out pretty quickly that a good life is not about taking the biggest risks, driving the biggest cars, or having the largest number of people grovel at your feet. They live just the way they like, doing what they enjoy, and they can easily figure out how to do it. And, you know, for some that means a pretty excentric life style. So what?
Learn programming first, THEN write an OS (Score:2)
If you want a cutting edge field that will lead naturally to nanotechnology, I'd suggest molecular biology and genetics.
Re:Here's a thought... (Score:2)
I'm not sure where the word "external" came from or what it means in this context, but if you take a narrow enough definition of "environment" then yes, you can make it sound as though I'm saying something irrational.
I would consider having a wealthy family (immediate or otherwise) part of one's environment. Wouldn't you?
Cutting out genetics and environment leaves very little ground for what can be considered an accomplishment. It is both sides of the nature/nurture argument, which is why I qualify the statement with the word "purely."
So if you go to the best schools and have the best tutors because of your rich uncle, that is not an accomplishment. If your uncle lands you a cozy job, that's not an accomplishment. But if you succeed in that job and are happy with life, then your uncle has definately accomplished something.
Of course I'm assuming that the rich uncle's objective was to make your life happy. If his morals are sufficiently out of touch with society, then he could have failed horribly to make you absolutely mizerable.
tips from a gifted child (Score:2)
I myself was/am a gifted child, with an IQ of 174 (Cattell). I think that i might be able to offer some help. The most important thing for the child at this moment is friends. Not sports or hobbies, or anything... just friends. They will develop in the child all the necessary social skills, etc, etc.
As to what to teach him, take him to a library all day for a week, and note what he reads (ask him first, not to go towards fiction). He will migrate towards what he loves to do. THAT is what to teach. I have hated all the times in my life where i know what i was being taught was important or whatnot (like your example of nanotechnology), but i really only had a slight interest in it. "Teaching" isnt really the right word, but if you help him learn (believe me, gifted children are never 'taught' something) what he loves, he will be following the best course available.
all you must to is to make available information, and he will learn. that is all that is important.
just my 2 cents
Re:Horsefeathers. *rolls eyes* (Score:2)
When I was in junior high school I was severely taunted, teased and picked on by certain people, for no good reason. Primarily, it was a function of the fact that I was in a lower-middle income area, and these people were uneducated, ignorant and had the wrong values instilled in them by their families. I was smarter than almost everyone in my school at the time. There were a handful of other particularly intelligent folks at my school (two of them ended up with me at Harvard, one at U Cal Berkeley).
Then I moved (twice actually) and ended up at a private school in New York, surrounded by upper-middle and upper class people who valued education and success. They still gave shit to kids who were smart-asses, people who were obnoxious were still disliked. But I wasn't hated for my intelligence and I DIDN'T HAVE TO HIDE IT. Not flaunting it is one thing. Actively concealing it is another entirely.
I went on to do quite well at this school, as at others before. I was still in the top 5% of this school intellectually, but I was accepted by a lot of people socially, and I tried to avoid being arrogant or obnoxious about it, but never had to nor wanted to hide it.
My point is this: being in a healthy environment where you can express yourself and not dumb yourself down is wonderful, and being arrogant will always make people dislike you. But being surrounded by morons who are themselves arrogant and obnoxious and project their frustration and anger onto you is a hostile environment which fosters the kind of arrogance you refer to (it's hard when your self-esteem is constantly shot down not to hold on to the one thing you KNOW you have over everybody around you).
In any case, a pleasant mix of arrogance and humility, and knowing when to use both in a maximally effective fashion has allowed me to get extremely far in the world, much farther than IQ alone would ever have carried me.
Re:Here's a thought... (Score:2)
You walked right into that one.
I agree with you completely that discipline and motivation are very positive qualities. Infact the very first thing I said in my post was "Discipline in studies is very important." I am not well disciplined, nor do I find motivation easily.
OK, let's try this again :) (Score:2)
You said that most, but not all, of what smart kids go through, they bring on themselves. That their problem is that they are arrogant and condescending and act like they are better than everyone else. That other people don't want to be around them because they are no fun.
You're working with a stereotype here more than the reality. I have a problem with this. When I was in school, there was a long period of time that I specifically went out of my way not to contribute to class discussions etc. because I didn't want to be seen as the stereotyped obnoxious brain. And it didn't help worth a damn. I had skipped a grade, so I was the youngest one in my class, and people knew how old I was. The kids I had trouble with were STILL only friendly when they wanted to copy my homework, and nasty to me when they figured out I wasn't going to let them.
I had, and have, friends. Real friends. They don't treat me this way, and they don't consider me an obnoxious overbearing bitch.
I overstated my case, yes, but your advice is dangerously close to "pretend you don't have a brain and everything will be fine." And there is FAR too much of that going on as it is, especially for girls. And yes, it did hit a nerve, and I should have tried to be a bit more objective. But I still consider it irresponsible to tell a smart kid who's having trouble dealing with the cruelty that s/he's surrounded by "it's all your fault! Hide your intelligence! Pretend you are exactly like everyone else! It's more important to be liked than to be right!"
Hell, I still deal with that at work. I went to my boss about a mathematical error that the person who was training me was telling me to make, after first pointing it out to the person who was training me and getting screamed at for my trouble. Once my boss understood what I was talking about, she said "well, this won't be a popular decision..." WHO CARES if it's "popular" or not? We get audited, we have to follow basic mathematical and accounting principles, they were not being followed in this case, and the manager is reluctant to fix a major mathematical error because it's UNPOPULAR to do things correctly?!
I think this is absurd. If that makes me arrogant, so be it. And yes, I've strayed off topic a bit, but the point is that I don't think it does any good to tell bright kids that they need to play dumb to fit in, because all it does is reinforce the stereotype that "smart = social outcast," and makes kids and adults ashamed of their own intelligence.
Yes, exactly! Thank you! (Score:2)
This is very important. Sometimes (and I work with people much like this) people actually become arrogant about their own lack of intelligence. It becomes something of a point of honor for them. I find this frightening.
And yes, being in that environment is incredibly frustrating. In general, being surrounded by people who don't share your own values is stressful, and tends to create one of two reactions: either an attempt to reject your own values for the sake of fitting in, or holding on to those values more strongly than ever, usually in an obnoxious way that makes everyone else dislike you. Or both reactions at once, and a nervous breakdown.
The best solution does seem to be to get out and find people who share your values, but that can be taken too far, and make you become narrow-minded. So there's no perfect answer. But at least there seem to be better ones than deliberately playing dumb!
Some stuff (Score:2)
What About a Good Foundation? (Score:3)
On the social skills - a person doesn't have to be charismatic or a jock but a good understanding of social interactions can *really* help
Too applied (Score:3)
I think it's silly to be teaching a 9-year old, prodigy or not, stuff like Java or any other applied technology, no matter how bright. These topics are transient, and will have little value 10 years from now. Teach him art,languages, literature, mathematics, history, economics and the sciences (at of course a level appropriate to his talents). Don't worry about the applied topics - he will choose those when he decides what he wants to do. Your job is to give him a solid foundation to generalize from.
Broadest Education Possible ... (Score:2)
You have a great opportunity here. A wonderful opportunity to help produce a kid and thence an adult who can make a contribution to the world being a slightly better place. Here are my views:
1. Don't neglect the arts. I hated english literature classes 'cause they suck but on the other hand I like to go and see plays. DO take the kid to see museums, art galleries, plays that you think are hard to understand.
2. Don't patronise him/her, maybe it's you who has completely missed the point. Be open minded.
3. Don't force the kid to learn too much but on the other hand make sure a minimum gets done on what would be normal schooldays.
4. Fun, don't neglect it. All kids like to go and watch ballgames/hang out at the mall etc... too.
5. Make sure he/she has a few hours a day playing with kids his/her own age. Musn't neglect those social skills.
6. Let the child lead their own education, don't prod them, poke them or grind down their ego by saying that something will be too hard for them.
7. Don't be afraid to tell the kid when he's wrong, but do it nicely. </RANTMODE>
Hope this is vaguely useful.
Elgon
Weird Assumptions, people. (Score:2)
It is not like - uh, if he's that intelligent, he must be some inert kid sitting alone in his room doing weird experiments or something.
The assumptions you people are making is stereotypical and very unfair. Please. Being extremely good at one aspect of life does not necessarily mean failures elsewhere.
Peers? (Score:2)
Now there's a thought, get him interested in something artistic and apprentice him to some nice Laurel...:)
OK, I'm being silly.
On a more serious note: I have never much cared for the notion that the "peer group" is or should be decided on the basis of chronological age. Yes, it's probably a good thing if he has a few friends reasonably close in age -- he needs time to be a kid too. But being able to socialize with adults, or with older and younger kids, is a more valuable skill once you get out into the workforce and not everyone is the same age as you.
Let him form friendships based on his own interests and hobbies. Make sure he finds some other than one narrow field of academics, yes, but don't tell him that he MUST socialize exclusively with people he has very little in common with, except when he's busy being a child prodigy. That's not fair to him.
Re:messed up (Score:3)
If he's REALLY smart, don't teach him anything (Score:2)
Those "socially inept geniuses" are a stereotype, a true genius can find out rather easily how to be well integrated with society, and will find out that's important to have social contact with people. I think you are confusing true geniuses with "idiot savants", those people who have one very specific and limited ability, at the expense of general intelligence.
Give kids some credit? Please? (Score:2)
Sometimes. Not always.
Yes, they will make mistakes -- that's why the presence of understanding adult mentors is so important. However, assuming that you know more about what's best for a person (even a child) than that person does is at least 90% of the time an act of insufferable arrogance.
Too many parents want their kids to be something they are not. I have had fewer problems with my parents in this regard than most people, but I've still had problems. Kids need at least some freedom to make their own decisions, their own (dare I say it?) mistakes.
As for me, the biggest mistake and the most wasted time of my life was TRYING to fit in with my so-called peer group as a young teenager.
BASIC Stamp (Score:2)
But to address just the question asked, here's my suggestion: get a JameCo catalog or visit jameco.com [jameco.com], and see what educational kits and/or books they have involving the BASIC Stamp. (Or see the manufacturer's site, parallaxinc.com [parallaxinc.com].) This is a puny little computer that's programmed in BASIC. If the kid likes electronics, it's a nice way of combining that with programming. You can start out with simple things (flashing LEDs), and build up to more complicated things, like insect robots...what 9 year old geek wouldn't enjoy that! There are many areas of programming to learn, and embedded microcontrollers like the Stamp avoid a lot like structured programming and operating systems, but they teach the basics, emphasize efficiency, and can just be a lot of fun.
Z before A (Score:5)
The world needs another MLK or Ghandi a hell of alot more than another Linus or Bill Gates... do us all a favour..
Re:Here's a thought... (Score:2)
Approval, not attention. If you're talking about the typically cruel behaviour found in highschools, that's a screwed up environment to begin with. If you're part of it, you're entitled to be a bit screwed up. It doesn't mean that you're not seeking approval, and it doesn't mean that you're not making up for other insecurities. I know it is an oversimplification, but it is what I think when somebody starts bragging about that sort of thing in front of me.
Re:Here's a thought... (Score:2)
You can brag about anything you want, but if you brag about your grades in front of me, it won't have a positive effect.
As for what one can consider a genuine accomplishment, you're quite right, there isn't much. I have to run, so I can't get into it right now. The crux of it is doing something because it is what you consider to be compliant with your own form of morals, not what you are naturally led to do.
Turning down major corporate contracts over ethical concerns (any ethical concerns) is an example of something to be proud of.
Most of these decisions have already been made (Score:2)
I suggest the best we can do for him is to answer his damn question. I have my own answers to this, based on a 30-year perspective in the field.
Work on several things at once. Familiarize him with several different operating systems. How many you can do depends on the financial resources of the family. I don't know what those are: it may be all they can do to hire a tutor, or they may be super-rich. Without making good/bad judgements, show him Windows, MacOs, BeOS, and at least two flavors of UNIX, probably Linux and FreeBSD. Make clear the difference between window manager look'n'feel (twm vs. Enlightenment vs. KDE) and the underlying window system, as well as the difference between the window system and the underlying OS, when there is a difference.
For more straight-up academic study, C is the Fortran of today. But also throw in Knuth's volumes on The Art of Computer Programming, and shore up the academic underpinnings where he shows weakness reading Knuth. For academic purposes I'd show him C and Lisp, then, together, Java and Smalltalk (use the Squeak implementation), to give a perspective on OO concepts.
For academic study of operating systems, you couldn't do better than to use the reprinted edition of John Lyons's commentary on UNIX. You can let the kid play with the system covered in those listings by running a PDP-11 simulator and the V6 UNIX that are now available. This eliminates all of the latter-day cruft and exposes the bare bones. This is what you want to study if you want to know how an OS works. Networking is a whole separate thing which you may not want to cover right away. Andy Tanenbaum's book is still probably the best all-round introduction to that.
slashdot rocks! (Score:2)
Re:Charisma (Score:2)
Personally I enjoy the company of such people more than that of people with more "social skills" (such skills really are mostly just knowing when it would be more polite to lie when asked a question)
My uncle was best friends with a child prodigy (Score:2)
When he was growing up he would hang out with my uncle and would go play bridge after school with adults. He was an extremely fast reader, so fast that when he went to a speed reading course they sent him home because he could read faster than anyone who had ever been to the course before. My uncle, who later got a doctorate in economics was always very humble about his intelligence because he had spent his life growing up hanging out with someone who, according to all the people he knew who knew him was the smartest person that they had ever met.
So not all prodigies are scientists or nerds or are pushed extra hard by their parents. I would recommend that if his peer group is too difficult, hanging out with intelligent adults or a few brainy friends of the same age is always a good way to go about learning social skills. He might not end up being interested in science anyway. If he's pushed too hard he will think that the only way to gain acceptance by his parents is to excel in scientific fields where he might not have a deeper interest.
Re:Just say no to 'cutting edge technology' (Score:2)
Mods on crack (Score:5)
I find that very poor behavior. Most of the comments were, indeed, redundant, but not in the sense that they all needed to be modded down. Now, ALL such comments are below the +5 limit, and if I had mod points I'd put every one of them back up there. I have a feeling someone disagreed with the point being made and did that on purpose.
It's a very good point. I was never considered a child prodigy, per se, but I was regarded as highly gifted and I was given opportunities at many instances in my childhood to advance at the expense of me remaining a normal, happy-go-lucky kid with the rest of my peers. I refused all such opportunities, went on to complete a pretty normal education, and now I'm just as smart as I ever was, except I DO have charisma, charm, and friendliness to sit on top of my masked arrogance and impatience!
Plus, people can actually talk to me. No offense to the Slashdot crowd, but I'm a Comp Sci major about to graduate, and I HATE every one of my peers in my department because they're all arrogant snobbish assholes. They can sit around on Friday night formatting their hard drives and messing around with Linux, but I think they're missing out on life. (Note that my point is that they do that all the time... I've spent Friday nights home on my computer, but I can ALSO go out to a bar and have a good time, which I'd rather do... and they can't do that, they'd be out of place)
My only regret was pointed out in another post... because I never put a consistent effort into school, I find it hard applying my intelligence consistently in anything. I'm technically diagnosed with ADD, but I'm sure that I could have trained myself to focus a lot better early on - had I been treated for having ADD prior to two years ago. Perhaps a missed opportunity, but I think everything happens for a reason, so no big deal.
Mod the hell out of me but I just wanted to say that.
Oh, I think it's funny that almost no one gave answers that the person had in mind, about real subject materials to present to the kid... I think any kid at 9 years old who says he wants to make an operating system is perhaps a little loopy anyway. I mean, I played with Legos as a kid, but I didn't say I wanted to build an office building.
Stop and think. (Score:2)
AFAIK, Linus wasn't a child prodigy. Linux is the result of sharing and hard work, not genius.
But that's cool. Teach him the value of hard work and sharing, too. Lots of bright kids never learn to apply themselves, because everything is too easy along the way.
> I'd like my teaching to steer towards cutting edge technology
Please, steer him through the basics first. In IT, oldies like correctness and maintainability will never go out of style. (Erm, well, they shouldn't have gone out of style.)
In that regard, one field that has been around for a while and can never attract the attention of too many geniuses is the field of correctness proofs. Rather than steering him through all the glitzy overhyped toys on the current scene, steer him through discrete mathematics (along with the other basics), and then see whether you can get him interested in correctness proofs. If someday he designs a language and associated IDE that incorporates correctness as an essential part of the development process, then we will have a software revolution indeed.
Also, don't push him exclusively to CS/IT. Let him see the joys of the other sciences, and of language and literature and music. The world's a big place, and a big mind should suffer as few limitations as possible. Our species could use another Homer or Michaelangelo or Beethoven, just as much as we could use another Einstein or Turing.
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"Tutoring," not "raising"... (Score:2)
However, that's not what the poster asked. The original question was, to paraphrase, "I am going to tutor this very gifted child for a limited amount of time, in a limited vartiety of subjects; he's already shown interest in computers and programming, and I would like to encourage that. What subjects and material would best allow me to do that?"
In answer to that question, I have a few suggestions:
Yes, I know this is not a complete education. Tutors aren't usually asked to provide one, however; their role is generally to provide extra assistance or encouragement in a few subjects, and let the kid's full-time teachers and parents worry about the rest of their education.
Anyway, good luck, and much good karma (the spiritual, as well as geek kind) for taking time to do one of the most important things humans can do: teach.
Re:But let him be creative too! (Score:2)
This strikes a nerve with me. I fondly remember the BASIC interpreter that came with my Apple ][ back in the day. Why isn't a basic programming language of some kind considered standard equipment anymore, at least in the Win world?? Even as recently as the early '90s QuickBasic was there if you knew enough to look for it.
I think this is a great disservice to children and adolescents. Back in the good old days, you were confronted with a BASIC interpreter every time you turned on your PC. Almost every kid who had a computer back then could bang out at least a few lines of code. There may be free or low-cost compilers etc. out there now but it is not quite the same as it once was.
IIRC the 800XL in that Czech hospital has a built-in BASIC as well.
What Do You Teach? (Score:3)
It is far better to present sources of information and how to use these sources. From their intellectual curiousity will drive the student to areas that are stimulating. The teacher then becomes a guide to raise questions for consideration and to make sure there is some focus.
advice from a recovering education major... (Score:3)
However, while you are not-lecturing, you need to pay attention to what the student is learning, what the student's interests and learning style are, etc.
The trick is to provide the right direction at the right moment that keep the student from becoming either bored or frustrated.
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