Dads proud all over again....

[Dr Mordrid]

OK....

Our youngest son Erik (7) is doing great in 2nd grade as noted here previously. His reading is literally off the charts (a DiBLS score of over 250 when 40-45 is the grade target) and his math and science grades are likewise. He's even starting geometry.

This marking periods report card came today and not only did he ace it (1's in every possible catagory including gym and music) but his teacher wrote this in the comments section;

Erik is doing a great job this quarter!! I am amazed at his knowledge base....WOW!! I feel like he's teaching me too!! His reading skills shine. He really has become a fluent reader. I appreciate his helpfulness and dedication to making appropriate choices during his school day. Keep up the good work Erik!!

Not only did the teacher sign it but the Principal also put hers on it (unusual).

Mother, siblings and grandma were in tears after reading this one....and I was a bit weepy myself.

Methinks he deserves a trip to Toys R Us....or Borders Books which seems to be his latest favorite place.

Dr. Mordrid

[KvHagedorn]

Have you gotten him to take an IQ test yet?

[Dr Mordrid]

No, but the wife is considering it (she's a teacher). The problems are finding a test that's appropriate for the age group and getting his nose out of his science and astronomy books.

Last week he asked me to put DeepSky on his computer. He had it down enough to be more than functional in 30 minutes and has spent the last week cruising around the universe. He is already trying to read articles in Scientific American and Discover Magazine, and doing a pretty good job of understanding them with a bit of help.

Needless to say reading in this house is treated like breathing; something you do automatically and often.

Dr. Mordrid

[Fluff]

Good stuff.

[az]

I was once like him, more or less. Now I'm doing nothing.

[VJ]

Cool... a true Dr Mordid junior!

az: I know the feeling... Luckily, my research can keep me busy. (I took up flying just to learn/do more useful stuf)


Jörg

[Umfriend]

I've never been like him and I'm make shitloads of money!

j/k.

Good to hear Doc. What always strikes me when you post about little Erik is that although he is clearly beyond his years (or is that to say someone is old? ) you two seem to be able to bring him up like a normal kid. Seems like an accomplishment to me. (To be sure, my 3 kids are not exactly dumb but not as quick as Erik is. Bringing them up normal is still a challenge though )

[Gurm]

Kiddie IQ tests are relatively useless - even moreso than their adult counterparts. At Erik's age the most they could do is say that my IQ was... "untestably high".

Also bear in mind that kids ALL have higher IQ's than adults (brains like SPONGES)... so the tests have to be scaled accordingly.

[Dr Mordrid]

That's why they have separate tests for kids. Any test series worth using is scaled this way for youngsters, often towards underestimating their score.

Yes, it's tough raising him especially when the other kids notice his answers are a bit more than a bit beyond the others they hear in the classroom. What makes it better for Erik is that he isn't the only one; his classroom has 5-6 kids like him and fortunately his best friend is one of them.

During the 1st marking period conferences his teacher made it a point to schedule all of these parents near the end of the evening so after our private meeting with the teacher we could all have a meeting with the Principal and teacher and get to know each other. Quite a meeting to say the least.

In it they reinforced that the kids have to be raised "normally" but that the school district was going to support these kids with advanced materials once the kids had completed their grade level work. The parents were very pleased to know this plus that the issue had made it up to the school administration and they had come down on the side of supporting smart kids.

This is easier for our district to do because back in 1994 they went "out of formula", meaning they turned down State and Federal monies so they could get away from the PC strings that come with same and do things their own way.

Dr. Mordrid

[Gurm]

It would have been nice if my brothers and I could have had some directed teaching of this sort. Instead, we were forced to become autodidactic, with mixed results. Things that interested us... well, we blazed through all the available material. With me it was math, science, language. With my brother it was music and a wide variety of bizarre disciplines such as archaeology, geology, atronomy, etc. My youngest brother was limited early on by a hearing impediment that stunted his lanugage growth, but once it was repaired he caught up very quickly.

The most the school had to offer was one underpaid "uplift" teacher that did some extra things with the kids. Imagine if we had a school like that one!

High school was a whole different world, the difference between public and private/parochail/charter is like night and day!

I fully support educational reform, all schools need to be brought into the 21st century and stop trying to "mainstream" kids. Don't push the bright kids down in order to keep everyone level.

[KvHagedorn]

I agree totally. It's hurting everyone, in particular the best and brightest. For example, is there some reason you and I are poor, even though we were among the brightest students in our schools? Not making excuses, but we both could have achieved more.