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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Genius child

110 replies

snowolf64 · 26/10/2015 20:55

I have been possibly lucky to have born as my son a HPL child (high potential learning ) at not even 2 and a half he can read and spell many 9 letter words name all the planets in order and just so much more, when you got a child and sits there and spells rectangle and hexagon and stuff like that it;s just weird. so how do i get him a sponsor to get him to private school because sending him anywhere else feels a bit like getting your hands on Einstein and sending him to work in Mc Donalds... help rich people

OP posts:
Funinthesun15 · 28/10/2015 08:01

OP- I don't respond to unpleasant personal messages. If you find my posts the most "offensive" and "disturbing" you received and want to take me up on them then feel free to do so on the thread. I will happily reply.

Sending abusive PM is disgusting!

Only1scoop · 28/10/2015 08:07

I've just reread BandR's post. Not offensive at all.

I find your Op more worrying and rather ignorant.

Nottodaythankyouorever · 28/10/2015 08:20

Words fail me.....

AnotherNewt · 28/10/2015 08:25

I do think that 'help rich people' sounds more like a begging letter than an enquiry about the future development of an infant who currently has unusual talents.

OP: as you child is so young, it is impossible to assess what's going on. It'll be a good few years before potential really manifests itself.

Until then , you need to keep doing what you probably already are doing - talking a lot, reading to him, discussing what you are reading, taking to museums, exhibitions etc.

If you can, you should start saving now for private school (compound interest will help, and if you cannot secure a full bursary you'll need to find your share of the fees somehow). I can't think of a body that pays for children to attend mainstream private schools (other than charities which can support in cases of bereavement affecting existing paying pupils, terminal illness of fee-payer, and the like).

So the route is means-tested bursary (which is not the same thing as a scholarship). For these you apply to the school. You might want to register him speculatively now with all the private schools within reasonable commuting distance, just in case, but you do need to look to see if they offer bursaries at all and if so from what age.

Also if what you want is more money, to the tune of several thousand per year, can you change jobs to a higher paid field (as your DS is barely out of babyhood, you have time to retrain), work more hours, take on a second job, have a lodger etc?

mrz · 28/10/2015 08:55

I think the OP is a wind up

Only1scoop · 28/10/2015 09:03

I certainly suspected.

Hence my 'blimey' earlier on.

Lonecatwithkitten · 28/10/2015 15:12

At 2.5years most of what 'extends' them are things that you do. Using different forms of transport, visiting parks and age suitable museums. Going on walks looking at the changing seasons. All these kind of things build a fabulous base for when they go to school.
I say transport in particular as when my DD covered this in year 1 she was the only child to have travelled on a bus, train, tube train and boat. She understood about buying a ticket and could contribute so much more to class discussions.

Slugonthewindow · 28/10/2015 15:59

Careful lonecat, I suggested similar and the OP didn't like it one bit...

Oddly, where is the OP....

reni2 · 28/10/2015 20:22

Your ds could be very intelligent. He could also just be quite early learning stuff because he has a good memory. He might be totally average aged 7. I doubt you'll get a scholarship before then and I cannot imagine strangers on the internet sending you money to educate him, that's your responsibility.

Try posting in the g&t section about what to do to support him, but you won't get money there, either.

8reasonstohide · 28/10/2015 21:02

Concentrate on his emotional and social well-being at such a young age. Early years place more emphasis on that than the three R's!
Also over the years so many G&T children, MENSA children and 'Genuises' have ended up mental health wrecks, hating their parents and become recluses as they got older.
No amount of academic study will enable your child to function adequately in an ever changing society.
Allow him to go to nursery and PLAY and be with children his own age and basically learn how to function in the big, wide world. If your child is G&T, delaying the acdemic side will not do him any injustice. It isn't as if he can go tomedical school and become a top surgeon at the age of ten.
Here's a thought. There's a children's story called 'Baby Brains'. Can't remember the author; it is a book aimed at KS1. Read it. It's a little insight into why pushing a young child isn't all it's cracked up to be, even if they have the academic capabilities.

snowolf64 · 28/10/2015 23:00

HI all
I am not a foreigner as a few of you have presumed, nor am I a woman which is another presumption, Ds 2.9 has never been pushed, as a matter a fact on Saturday mornings when I really wish he would sit there and watch Hulk, Spiderman and Avengers assemble with me, he would rather watch the tv in the other room with songs about shapes, numbers and alphabet.

He was assessed by a health visitor who said she is 100% sure his not autistic, my partner who worked at a primary school with SEN children is also sure our son is not autistic. I have been told that private schools have the ability to move a child into higher classes of there year group if need be to help learning remain challenging, I think it might be hard for a gifted child to spend every day for the next god knows how many years learning to read and things they already know. I don't want this for my son...

OP posts:
dietcokeandwine · 28/10/2015 23:12

OP any decent state school will differentiate learning opportunities for the very able children. You don't necessarily need a private school for that.

(As an aside neither the health visitor nor your partner is in any way qualified to assess whether or not your DS is on the spectrum; only a developmental paediatrician can do that.)

gamerchick · 28/10/2015 23:12

You can't assess a bairn at that age as not being 100% not autistic it even autistic.

If you want to send your kid to private school then you need to fund it yourself like everyone else who goes down that path. It is most likely that your child will level out and be in line with his peers. Time will tell.

gamerchick · 28/10/2015 23:13

*or

snowolf64 · 28/10/2015 23:17

for those of you that i did reply to via private message, I was merely telling you my point, trying to explain my position and in some cases give my honest opinion of what you seem to be saying. I am new to this site and sent private message replies so as not to enter into some Internet troll war if thats what it is. as for looking for sponsorship or rich people to help, then yer thats right just as multinational companies help sports people from all warps of life, then why not for the next as astrophysicist or biochemist, really whats so absurd about that notion?

OP posts:
NerrSnerr · 28/10/2015 23:20

OP, you've been given good advice on this thread. Fair enough if you want him to go to private school. You have a couple of years to look I to scholarships and to get saving. I would wait and see if in the position myself. My siblings were like you describe, by midway through primary they were no longer exceptionally bright, just run of the mill clever. I also know very little about autism but do know that the health visitor should not be saying he's 100% not autistic. If they did say that then I would ignore. They cannot know for certain and it's a very unprofessional thing to say.

Only1scoop · 28/10/2015 23:21

What's absurd is you talking about 'finding 'rich people' to fund your toddlers education....

Start saving perhaps?

reni2 · 28/10/2015 23:24

I'm sure most of us have known stunningly advanced toddlers who turned into lovely and academically unremarkable children as well as barely verbal 4year olds turning out very gifted. It is too early to tell.

ReallyTired · 28/10/2015 23:27

snowolf64 The reason some people wondered if you were foreign was your unusual choice of language/ phrasing. For the record, I think your grasp of English grammar and spelling is excellent. Usually people talk about burseries or scholarships for helping children to attend private school rather than using the word "sponsorship".

When your son is a little older I suggest you look at the web sites of private schools you are interested in. Certainly Harrow has scholarships for gifted state school boys and will even pay for a few years of prep school. Other top private schools often have endowments to help gifted children from low income backgrounds. If you live near London then this website might help you.

www.feeassistancelondonschools.org.uk/index.php

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/8838238/10-tips-for-private-school-busaries.html

Pobspits · 28/10/2015 23:33

I genuinely didn't know Hv could assess for autism and certainly not to be 100% sure.

Anyways that's by the by, the point is that if your son wants to succeed then he will.

You may find he needs extra help with the likes of socialising for example and a private school may not necessarily be the most supportive for what he needs.

Gifted or not he's still just a toddler and there is still a lot for him to learn in basic terms even if he can spell.

Just enjoy him.

madwomanbackintheattic · 28/10/2015 23:47

Op, who assessed your child and using which tests?
(For ability, not autism) Did you go private for the assessments?
Most reliable practitioners do tend to wait until around school age.

There are very many mners raising (very) bright children, and fwiw this is the first begging thread I've come across on this topic.

The local education authority doesn't accept 'gifted' dx before yr r, even if it is settings that request assessment, so I don't hold out much hope for your chances. Start saving now if you have your heart set on private school. It's perfectly possible to do well in state. We can't afford private, either, but I'm damned sure I wouldn't be posting begging on an Internet forum.

Canyouforgiveher · 28/10/2015 23:47

thats right just as multinational companies help sports people from all warps of life, then why not for the next as astrophysicist or biochemist, really whats so absurd about that notion?

What is absurd is your son is 2 and a half. I don't see many multinationals sponsoring the next sports star age 2.5.

Mind you it sounds like a idea for a sci-fi novel .... In the 22nd century, multinationals sponsor alpha children from birth - logos are tattooed on their foreheads and any patents or awards or achievements of these children become the property of the company. Read what happens when one child rebels against the corporate sponsor his mother chose for him ....

madwomanbackintheattic · 28/10/2015 23:47

Lol pob, if the HV was a diagnostic authority for autism it might bring the waiting times for assessment down a bit...

madwomanbackintheattic · 28/10/2015 23:49

Canyou, it's like 'The Sparrow'. Sophia is one such child with such a sponsor. Grin

Canyouforgiveher · 28/10/2015 23:54

but I just love all warps of life. I think that could definitely end up in the novel.

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