Finding peers and support for a highly mathematically gifted nine-year-old

[bluebellnoodle]

DS is 9 and is profoundly mathematically gifted - many years ahead of his peers. Gifted in other areas too but the gap for maths is the biggest, at least 7 years. He attends our local state school in London. Until now he has been largely bored with mainstream academics but happy as he has good friends. Now it seems he also needs a community of other children who are of a similar age and ability as he is starting to feel isolated and disillusioned by the maths teaching (or lack of). I am trying to find a suitable teacher for him, which is not easy, because it's hard to know what the curriculum should look like. In the meantime he would love to chat maths (and other topics of course) with children who are like him. Would love to hear from any parents with children who are similar who would like to have a playdate! Or any helpful advice on how to navigate the above, based on personal experiences? Thank you so much.

Thank you for the suggestions. Kings school not an option just yet as he doesn't want to board at the moment and we have another child to consider if we had to relocate.

These posts fascinate me. Imagine being so good at maths that you could ace an A-level paper at 12. Crikey, I scraped a C at GCSE and was chuffed with that. Good luck to your son, hope he makes millions with his talent.

I agree with looking for a super selective secondary, having a peer group and (crucially) teachers that actively choose to work with DC like this is a huge benefit. He won’t necessarily find anyone as gifted as him at maths, but the school will at least have experience of it, and that peer group will mean that there is lots of enrichment like good chess clubs, high level music, opportunities to do Olympiads etc easily available.

The bursary offers can be surprisingly generous, up to 110%, so it’s worth a look at private schools.

Following, because my dc is similar (although probably not quite as advanced as OP's - and we're not in London!)
He's complained of being bored in maths lessons and it's started to make him dislike the subject. He's probably a few years ahead. School just keep saying they can't teach beyond the curriculum.

I am looking into resources outside of school but it seems a great shame to leave him to not enjoy the lessons at school because they're focusing on a set standard.

He generally enjoys school and learning. I hate the idea of him being limited and unable to excel at school, when he's desperate to learn and soak up new concepts. I can't afford private etc either. When I was a child I went to a Saturday maths class held at the local University and really enjoyed it as I met other people like me and got stuck into more unusual challenges.

Mine also enjoys piano.

Ah he can do a GCSE paper, not an A-Level one ;) That would be crazy!

But I do appreciate your kind words wanting the best for him. Honestly if he just ends up happy and able to support himself well enough I would feel relieved. Someone else in the family had a similar gift and the lack of support amongst other things completely crushed that person beyond repair sadly.

Thank you for the message - it's been interesting - some selectives seem super excited and open about the idea of a child like this and others are very clear that they don't really want the bother of it

Ah I'm sorry to hear you're in a similar situation. Is your DC in primary or secondary school? In my experience state schools at primary seem much more flexible with allowing different maths work

Hello OP. My nephews (both of them) had a similar issue, particularly with maths.

Their state primary was inflexible, uninterested and didn’t really have spare resources unfortunately. They were so bored in maths but weren’t allowed to do more challenging work because the school head believed that ‘all children learn at the same pace’.

They are now at an extremely selective secondary and so much happier.

I know their family found Potential Plus UK very useful for both connecting with peers, advice and resources.

Would you mind sharing the names of schools in the former group?

Hello @bluebellnoodle! I saw that you have already approached someone about online tutoring. If you are still looking, I have one place available and would be happy to discuss working with your son.
I teach mathematics beyond the school curriculum, including olympiad mathematics up to IMO level, for children of all ages. I hold PhDs in applied mathematics and computer science, have taught at MIPT and Université Paris-Saclay, and am the author of 20 mathematics books.
You mentioned that your son sometimes comes up with his own proofs and would like someone to actually teach him. I would start by working through a few unfamiliar problems together, listening to his ideas and discussing his reasoning. This would help me understand what he already knows and choose material that gives him something interesting to think about. We can build the lessons around his mathematical interests; participation in competitions is entirely optional.
I also write books with olympiad problems, explanations and solutions. You can find more about me and some free PDFs at babicheva.org.
I am based in France and teach online in English, French and Russian. My rate is US$250 per hour. If this is within your budget, please send me a message and tell me about some of the problems your son has particularly enjoyed.

What about Mensa?

Does he have computer programming skills? If so, has he tried Project Euler? My math nerd kid loved it.
https://projecteuler.net/

Maybe a bit leftfield, but have you considered introducing him to pokemon card playing? Or taking him to a local tabletop board games club?

My kid's very into maths, and absolutely loves the strategy and calculations involved. There are plenty of contemporary table-top games that work on probability, calculation, and even geometry. And there's a ready made community out there of all ages, most of whom are very keen to befriend and mentor through the games clubs.

And, not so social, but anyone can join in Oxford Online Maths Club | Mathematical Institute - aimed at 16+ years old I think but my 11 year old watches these from time to time. It's advanced (and a bit scary to us non maths whizzes) but not linked to the curriculum at all, and the maths joy of the participants really shines through.

I'd be happy to discuss this in PMs

Oh that does sound interesting - DS enjoys Pokemon! What kind of maths would your son enjoy doing exactly with the games?

Good shout - need to wait another year for that, or pay to have the test before age 10

Just re. The US content…

my neighbours son is at uni there. He not “gifted” mathematically, but got A at GCSE and was considered “able”.

he has done math as part of the required uni curriculum, and has struggled. Not because the content is difficult, but because the terminology and teaching is confusing for someone who has grown up with British maths. Small things like calling brackets parenthesis so (, { and [ are not the same in US math. Plus the imperial vs metric use of measurements etc…

so I’d avoid that at least while he is so young.

I was in 6th form and uni (Maths and Engineering) while we were changing between imperial and metric it was so confusing and you were meant to be able to do things both ways. I was very relieved when it was all metric, but I still think household things in feet and inches and pounds and ounces, but not consistently I flip flop between the two systems.

It’s not so much the particular instrument, as the score, which he can read without playing.

See this, for example

https://mathscholar.org/2021/06/bach-as-mathematician/

Honestly, I'm not entirely sure - I just leave him to it 😂I think some of the decks work by moving numbers around a lot to win so you have to do a lot of different calculations at speed. But a lot of it is more strategy plus some probability and memorisation. If your kid's already into it he'll probably be able to explain better than I can - and joining a local league will give him some good mentors and peer friendships.

Good luck - my kid isn't as advanced as yours seems to be, but enough to feel a bit lonely and 'different' at times. Getting involved in our local table top games scene has been great for him.

It may be worth looking at the maths courses on FutureLearn: https://www.futurelearn.com/subjects/science-engineering-and-maths-courses/maths Some of them are really interesting.

As someone who grew up in the US, ( and [ are interchangeable for BODMAS purposes (or PEMDAS as they call it), with [ only being used in the case of nested parentheses to make things easier to keep track of visually.

Personally I think when you're young it's easier to learn to deal with these minor differences.

Students in the US take math all four years of secondary school, so it's not unusual to struggle jumping in to uni maths straight from GCSE after 2 years of no maths.

Thanks!

It’s not a boarding school. It’s a state school in Lambeth. I know someone who went there.

Sorry I meant 1729 maths school in Mill Hill