College at age 11...

[Seanr]

http://www.newsorganizer.com/article...68cbde1718cfe/

Subhed: He knew the alphabet by two, fractions by four, and entered college at eleven. What happens to a kid who's too smart for school?
Santiago Gonzalez, 13 years old and a full-time student at one of the nation's top engineering colleges, wakes up at 5:30 every morning during the school year so that he can spend an hour and 20 minutes developing iPad and iPhone applications in a programming language called Objective-C, which he learned from a textbook when he was nine. That textbook and 86 similar volumes - Applied Finite Mathematics, Infinity in Your Pocket, Programming in C++, Dictionary of Physics - sit in a bookcase opposite his bed. A dozen stuffed animals - purple dragons, Donald Duck, Shamu, a hound named Patrick - reside permanently at the foot of the bed.
Sometimes after Santiago gets up, he consults a notepad on his bedside cabinet. "It might sound a little bit strange," he says, "but I program in my dreams. I have a bug and the solution occurs to me and I jot it down." The notepad is generally covered in lines of notional code ("M inherits from physics body with gravity, etc.") and schematics of computer hardware: Santiago can visualize the activity his code kindles inside a machine. But sometimes a whimsical invention shows up - an electronic knitting device called the "Knitingator," for example. Santiago sketched the complete unit, its subunits and its component parts ("guider," "spooler," "controller," "feed boom," "knitboard," "rail"), with both side and overhead views. The diagrams are in three dimensions - Santiago can't remember ever drawing a solid object two-dimensionally.....

Didn't post the whole thing
Long read, but jesus. I know I'm no where near his level, but I do remember being bored in school for the same reasons...

[zoobernut]

http://www.newsorganizer.com/article...68cbde1718cfe/
Long read, but jesus. I know I'm no where near his level, but I do remember being bored in school for the same reasons...

Really long read but well worth it. I specially liked the sections where the article discusses theory of education and where schools in this country really fall short. I think everyone who has a moderate level of intelligence has similar issues to Santiago in school. The difference for him is that he had to go much further than most others to get past those feelings of boredom and angst. I remember in 2nd and 3rd grade I was so bored that I assigned myself essays to write on various subjects usually history or nature related. Elementary school in particular was agonizingly slow and boring and as is stated in the article the "enrichment" programs were laughable.

Hopefully cases like this help to push education in this country further.

[bechyni]

Santiago Gonzalez

Don't believe it.

[Celestialstrife]

He's a Coordinator!! lol

[Dimmauk]

I had the same issues in school and even in college. When you are smarter than your classmates and sometimes the teacher, staying engaged was difficult. Now I'm seeing my daughter go through the same thing, they have to move her to other grades because she gets bored too fast. They made a gifted and talented schedule in kindergarten for her and she is already taking scantron tests.

I hope I can keep her engaged so she doesn't get disinterested like I did. My parents had no idea how to deal with me, they wouldn't even let me good to Duke after is was invited after taking my SATs in 7th grade.

[XRaheemX]

I was pretty bored in school as well. Maybe not this early in life, but I did graduate early to start working fast.

Side-note: Bloodsport was great.

[Tyche]

Glad I don't have the problem of being too smart! Although I did the Duke thing in 7th grade, I think most all gifted kids did. I'm a terrible student though. In my work in college, we have to do a lot of proctored exams outside of our normal classes that measures our practical learning. I usually score in the top 3-5% in the nation. One of my professors pulled me to her office the other day and asked why I get such marginal grades in class and do so well on proctored exams. More than the intelligence of kids such as this one, their work ethic is what amazes me the most.

[Meresgi]

I was bored the moment I started Elementary school






I'm a goddamn genius.

[XRaheemX]

lol, I'm not sure boredom necessarily translates directly to intelligence. It depends on WHY you're bored.

[Senoska]

Talk to me when he gets a cooking show.



edit:

"but I program in my dreams. I have a bug and the solution occurs to me and I jot it down.

This is so goddamn true. I do exactly the same thing. If I'm stuck in some software, going to bed, I almost always wake up with the solution.

[Mazmaz]

Boy they really went for readability with that article didn't they?

[Priran]

Talk to me when he gets a cooking show.

I see your chiyo and raise you a becky

[Senoska]

I see your chiyo and raise you a becky

I fold, because you out weeaboo'd me

[hey]

More than the intelligence of kids such as this one, their work ethic is what amazes me the most.

Yeah. In elementary school, we had a advanced classes for math/science, which i really enjoyed, and i think did a lot of good for me. it still wasn't really anything too difficult, but was enough to keep me engaged.

After that though, in middle school, we could go up one grade for math, which i did until 8th grade when i got so bored of it, that i ended up getting kicked out because i had a C (i aced every test, otherwise i did jack shit. they required a B to stay in the class, which was impossible without doing any homework). I then had to take the exact same class i took and passed the year before. My high school had the same option for math, but only if you already did algebra 1 in middle school, otherwise the only thing they offered was honors classes, and fuck that, since they required 3x more work, and it was still basically the same material, just without all the idiots in the classroom.

Throughout high school i basically ended up doing nothing but sleep and play my gameboy, except when tests were given, which i always managed to get As on. One time i was even absent from school for a week, i go into a class, ask what i missed, and told the teacher i'd take the test, even though i missed the entire lesson. Got every question right.

It's really sad, because kids like him really are not that rare. It's just when they aren't pushed, they get bored, realize they don't have to do jack shit to pass, and so they don't bother. We would see a lot more 11 year olds in college if there was an easy way for them to take that route, and they were pushed to do so.

[Lordender]

Bet he's glad he didn't choose to go to penn state.

[archibaldcrane]

Bet he's glad he didn't choose to go to penn state.

11 years old?

[Chun Liroy]

I'm a terrible student though. In my work in college, we have to do a lot of proctored exams outside of our normal classes that measures our practical learning. I usually score in the top 3-5% in the nation. One of my professors pulled me to her office the other day and asked why I get such marginal grades in class and do so well on proctored exams. More than the intelligence of kids such as this one, their work ethic is what amazes me the most.

Ditto.

[zoobernut]

It's really sad, because kids like him really are not that rare. It's just when they aren't pushed, they get bored, realize they don't have to do jack shit to pass, and so they don't bother. We would see a lot more 11 year olds in college if there was an easy way for them to take that route, and they were pushed to do so.

I completely agree with this and I feel like that feeling of boredom and complacency that accompanies boredom is the biggest issue facing kids that need to move faster than the regular curriculum does. Kids do best when they are pushed to their limits, without burning them out. The difficulty is that this point is different for so many kids you cannot have one class with a bunch of students and hit it perfectly for all the students using the current teaching styles. It also shows the importance of parents involvement with their kids education outside of class. You don't have to be a certified teacher to put together lesson plans and get your kids to push their education once they get home, seems like most parents just don't take the time to really engage in their kids education and just expect the schools to take care of everything.

[Seanr]

I know I started to stagnate when I went into public schools

[Gadritan]

I know I started to stagnate when I went into public schools

The most tragically stupid people I've ever known went to private schools. Somehow I don't think that has much to do with it.