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Original poster

BBC2 Child Genius programme - now ks, *that* was a 'pushy mother'

32 replies

Tinker · 05/05/2004 22:09

Interesting programme - only saw last half. What about the New York mother? "He doesn't like losing" Was it, perhaps, she didn't like losing? "I talk to him as though he were an adult". But he's not. Or is this where I'm going wrong?

OP posts:
suzywong · 05/05/2004 22:11

She was barking and boy is she going to have time on her hands when he leaves the nest.
And what about the African Anglo child and her equally mad mother?
Makes me very happy my DS1 is simply bi lingual and obsessed with Thunderbirds, that's enough for me

kiwisbird · 05/05/2004 22:14

I knew I would not get here first!
That particular child needed a fu**ing cuddle
not another chess game! He is 6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is so important for you to encourage where your children lead you, not take them down your chosen road..
She will be a doctor... as well.... earlier Arrghhh my son is gifted , he may be a dustman, I DON'T CARE! While I support and encourage him, I would never dream of forcing his mind towards one end
I am watching the next one later, my ds has encountered Jaon Freeman on occasion and she is a very interesting woman, if not a little toooo busy LOL
ooooohh seething just a bit, a prefering the nurture theory as I brought him up singlehandledly for 7 yrs

shrub · 05/05/2004 22:17

i caught the last half too. who is tony buzan? and what did he do with the children to make them all geniuses?

kiwisbird · 05/05/2004 22:19

non were geniuses, they simply improved as any child should with such excellent encouragement and education, attention to their needs from an knowledgeable gent.
This should be the right of every child and is the best ad for home education I have seen yet!!

shrub · 05/05/2004 22:22

agree with the cuddle, i think he needs 6 years worth! do you home educate kiwisbird? (curious as we are soon to approach that crossroad)

Tommy · 05/05/2004 22:24

She was really scarey! Poor kid. Thought the rest of it was quite interesting though. Found out today that DS1 is the only one in our baby group who knows his colours - where can I sign him up for genius classes?

kiwisbird · 05/05/2004 22:26

shrub I wish I could, I did look into it recentlym but decided due to peers it would be better for ds to remain within his school (he is yr 5)
Could change though

futurity · 05/05/2004 22:33

I almost cried when that boy was upset at losing..he is only 6..what is his mother like!!!

bron42 · 06/05/2004 00:12

Can't believe the speed at which some of you respond! As a relatively new netter it's great to be able to off load when you see something you are so angry about. Those two poor kids - 2 years old and her bloody week mapped out for her. She looked helpless in the ballet class, she just wanted to play and that ruddy teacher pulling her back in to "focus" I guess. Makes me feel proud that, despite wanting the "best" for my kids, I have no problems letting them develop at the rate that they want to, not what I think will turn them into a genius.
Tony Buzan - I want to meet that man. What a positive glow he gave me. Makes me want to change the way I teach. From Monday, mind mapping will be in my lesson plan!!!

SueW · 06/05/2004 07:09

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This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at OP's request.

hmb · 06/05/2004 07:17

I felt that the mother of the 6 year old chess player was rather disturbed. Didn't you cringe when she said that she used to sit and char to the child about how much she wished his father was there. FFS! And the mother of the 2 year old was just so ott.

I thought that the most sane 'child' was the kid with the 180 test IQ who said the thing he wanted most in life was a family. He was obviously doing very well academicaly, but his aims were so healthy.

I'd have been interested to see if there would have been similar results if a different set of six were given any form of intervention at the level they were on the program, along with the extra interest from the familes and the TV camara. It seemed to me that those kids were very emotionally 'needy' and would play up to get attention (I teach lots like them, sadly I'll also have 27 other kids in the class so I can give them the level of attention that they crave). Once they got attention, felt special and more confident they could improve. Many of them seemed to have decided that the best way to get the attention was to be 'thick' and a trouble maker. Bazan gave them an option to be something else.

hmb · 06/05/2004 07:18

Agree with you about the role of the parents Suew

glitterfairy · 06/05/2004 07:47

Agree with everything you said re the parents of those two kids child abuse is pretty near the mark there! That poor little boy and that girl who was giong to be a doctor hope she rebels like crazy! Tony buzan's mind maps are good I use them a lot with groups. Also memory work very useful. I liked him and his enthusiasm and optimistic caring attitude. Is this possible though in the education of today and how sad if not?

shrub · 06/05/2004 07:50

what is mind mapping and what exactly did tony buzan do to help them?

hmb · 06/05/2004 07:59

I use mind maps a lot with all my classes. They are a brilliant teaching tool and revision aid. You put a central concept in the middle of a large page. You put key words around the central concept and link them with lines and phrases. They better you understan a concept the more connection you can make between the key words, the central concept and each other. It is said that the map you draw links to the patterns made in your brain. Kids love them. And you can do them for anything.

And I think what he did most of all was give them to confidence to learn. They had all got into the mind set that they 'Couldn't' learn, that they were thick and stupid. They also got a lot of attention that way. He showed them that they could get attention is a more postitive was, as someone else said, acted like a good parent.

shrub · 06/05/2004 08:16

thanks hmb

misdee · 06/05/2004 08:18

will this be repeated at any point?

popsycal · 06/05/2004 08:18

another advocate for mind mapping here too

unfortnately I didn't see the programme....
is it repeated at all?

Tissy · 06/05/2004 08:29

did anyone see the Lenny Henry show this week? The African mother reminded me so much of the caricature on there. My dd (2)would probably enjoy ballet classes (running around and jumping to music), and does enjoy banging away on grandpa's piano, but if I tried to teach her chess she'd throw the pieces at me and shout "no WANTA!". I hope the poor little thing has a bedroom full of trashy plastic toys and cuddly animals, but they're probably all improving playthings.

wickedstepmum · 06/05/2004 08:40

Surely children should be happy? I hope mine are clever, I hope they do well at school and at work but MOST OF ALL I want them to be happy!! Where were there friends? Where was the ordinary mucking about? I talked to all of mine from the moment they were born but I didn't give them all my shit...

ks · 06/05/2004 08:49

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Codswallop · 06/05/2004 10:00

lAUGED OUT LOUd TO MYSELF AT THE VIOLIN WITH THE LITTLE GIRl

oops

Codswallop · 06/05/2004 10:01

I never like mind maps myself but educators always like them
probably why I can be alittle forgetful

Codswallop · 06/05/2004 10:02

Oh and my last thought was , abotut he kids i SLough - yes great so they came on but were going to be abandoned again.

I must say the teacher in teh Re lesson at the beginning was pretty crap and yes I did teach kids like that.

ks · 06/05/2004 10:03

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