To think DS is an above average child!

[FragrantFiona]

He is 12 years and 3 months old and took a GCSE Physics exam at the weekend (printed from internet and sat at dining table in exam conditions). He got 84%.

Even more extraordinarily, he did this completely off his own back. Absolutely no input from me. In fact I tell him off for constantly studying stuff as I feel it’s not healthy that he’s not interested in doing normal kid stuff!

Recently found out he has a WhatsApp group where he gives homework answers to the other kids in his year. Everyone is on there!

He attends a ‘good’ state school. What should I do with him?

The answers are on the Internet as well.

Even if they got that bill through, ops son would be well into uni before anything even started to happened.

OP look into stem clubs in your area, extra curricula clubs, if he's into coding there are various free courses online

Have a look at the Potential Plus website, lots of useful resources and pointers on there.

I obviously don’t condone him giving away homework answers. I did mention charging (in jest) but he said ‘why would I charge for something that I was luckier than other to have’ . He’s extremely kind as well!

I'd encourage him to look into ethical capitalism and start thinking about how he can use his talent to make the world a better place on a long-term basis. Teach a woman to fish, etc etc.

This! He's going to be in trouble.

What do the school offer to “extend students”? My nephew goes to a university linked group on a Saturday which school initially sent him to help support his extended learning as he knew more than the computing teacher in yr7.. but they quickly recognised this and supported ways to help him still learn. We do have a university though in our city which I appreciate lots don’t but maybe there’s online options?

Not going to happen.

Definitely talk to the school, especially if he is showing as gifted in science. They will already know he is bright, but might not push it or may not realise he is capable of more, and they may give him a few harder bits to get on with. But there needs to be a balance.

Beware of pushing too much on him, he is still very young. I say this because I also had a dd who was incredible at science by year 7. Always top marks, top of the class and school did give her extra work to keep her from being bored. She was praised regularly in school by her science teachers, and won awards and whatnot. She was popular and well liked, very social.

However, at age 15 she was at a point where she was holding herself to such high standards - in everything - she was almost at breaking point and her mental health was starting to show signs of suffering. She started getting stressed and anxious at wanting to stay 'the best' at everything, especially science. If she got anything less than 100% she would be devastated and this was extremely unhealthy. She felt she had to be perfect and she thought everyone was expecting that of her, and it got overwhelming. She thought she needed to be as good at everything as she was at science and just got so down if she wasn't constantly reaching the marks she had been told over and over she was capable of. She became really scared of failure, which was not good at all, and we ended up seeking counselling to basically reassure her its ok to fail at stuff.

I'm not saying your ds will go down this route, but I had no idea that praising her for being so good at something would result in what it did. I think what i'm saying is, look for a balance. Try and get him involved in other stuff and make sure he knows it doesn't matter if he is not good at the other stuff, but its important to enjoy things we are not gifted at also.

This kind of comment really pisses me off. Talk about "project fear"

Really? Have a look at some of the other threads on it, people seem pretty convinced. I have 2 DC at private school so I very much hope it doesn’t, but even if ‘all’ they do is add VAT onto fees, that will price many people out, putting some of the smaller schools into difficulty.

Can I just add I was labelled some form of genius child prodigy, got offers from private schools and sat my gcses 2 years early. Extreme academic achievement. Now I’m 27 with two children and I can barely tell the time these days. I was pushed very hard and hated the pressure, now as an adult I have anxiety and although I am still intelligent I’m no where near the Oxford grad I was made out to be :D try to encourage some challenging tasks for him from his teacher but only do what he wants to do. Good luck!

I doubt that the Labour Party would come after private schools : they know that the state schools couldn't cope with all those extra pupils.
They might say things, but it would all pale into insignificance taking on all the other problems they would have to sort out!

YABU to think he is above average, surely you must KNOW that the average 12 year old could not pass GCSE physics.

YABU for telling him off for doing something he clearly enjoys and finds interesting. It'll be good for him to have a wide range of interests and if his studying stands in the way of a healthy lifestyle (physical exercise, time with friends and family etc), but the way to do that is not to tell him off but to guide him.

That's great but my son did all this in year 7. Jokes but why would you post that?

Foundation or Higher paper?

Not saying it's not good either way, but 84% on the Foundation Physics paper isn't so spookily amazing for a nerdy Year 8.

@sheepdogdelight Higher. Self taught as well.

His school are aware but concerned they won’t do anything with it and I understand in a large inner city comprehensive teachers have enough to deal with so have no time to pay attention to it so concerned at this stage he might get demotivated through boredom.

If you want him to be challenged are there any very academic independent schools near you where he could get a scholarship or bursary?

No bursaries for private schools in our area except for sports or music which he is definitely not a high achiever in!

Are there any academic private schools a little further afield? I would worry about him getting bored too. Or just speak to the school and push a bit

Sounds like a nerd 🤷‍♀️
Buy him a PlayStation 🤣

I thought this was a joke. If you're serious then just leave him alone.

He’s got a PlayStation and a gaming PC. Try as I might to force him to play games as punishment for studying too much he always wins so lost interest a few years ago.🤦‍♀️

find out what interests him. If he likes physics, he could look in to amateur radio or electronics/maker clubs - but I think you would need to go with him.

national schools observatory website is quite cool and informative. You can basically get a robotic telescope in the Canary Islands to take some pics for you (I think you can ask your school to get an account and they can then create one for your DS). Maybe there is a local astronomy club?

depending on where you are in the country and his interests, I’m sure there are museums and clubs/societies.

What else are you looking for from this thread, OP? I think you’ve been given excellent advice so far. I was a bit flippant in my initial post, as I thought your OP was a joke/troll post - sorry! Congrats on raising your son to be kind as well as smart, and wishing you and him the best for his time at school and whatever he goes onto do after 🌺

😂