Child Genius anyone??

[Allthingspretty]

should be interesting

I loved the comment Shrinidi made about French words being like porcelain - delicate, as if they'd smash if you drop them on the ground. Made me long to teach her (as an English teacher).

I read somewhere- wish I could remember where- that one of the best indicators of intelligence is memory tests like the memorising the pack of playing cards thing....

Is memory intelligence though? It counters the 'dotty professor' stereotype doesn't it?

I got 9/10 on maths. 8/10 logic and 7/10 on other two. Weird as I am wordsy rather than mathsy. But I did use InMySpareTime's tactic for the mental maths! And I should be getting on with jobs instead of sitting here doing child genius quizzes...

Hugo my goodness is very rude and his parents habpve to pull him on it. These parents are just awful, where do I start, poor children. That poor boy (new one, single mum) was awful, it was bedtime and he had no time to himself , it's going to com back to her eventually.

I think the point was that the best indicator of potential intelligence was memory- which is a bit different. I'll see if I can find it later. It was in an article about the school selection process.

I like shrinidy, she did nt hav to boast of her intelligence, her parents were not in her face, she was one of te cleverest there

It did seem to be about mainly memory, this is just a little part of intelligence, these kids will be brought back down eventually, in fact I think at the end Hugo was

I love watching this program.

Hugo is obviously very very intelligent but dear god the smug superiority! I feel very mean for being pleased that a little boy has failed. I'm going to hell. I was amazed to hear that little bit at the end where he and his dad said "fuck them" or something similar. Great language and phrases to be encouraging in a child

Longyin seems so sweet and while he is clearly very clever it appears much of his is taught rather than natural. Still, he's probably smarter than I am!

I think Shrinidi is wonderful. Her passion and love of words just makes me smile. I love the way she was describing how words sound

As much as I like watching I still can't help but feel slightly that these children are being put into an intelligence competition. Saying that though, my DD is only 13months, I have no idea if she's going to be a super genius or a completely average or a not at all "intelligent" child. I couldn't care either as I just hope she is happy and nurtured. If she's a genius then I don't want to ever pressure or force her.

I suspect the next round will be more telling. I don't think Oscar will do all that well as he doesn't have that confidence which the others do - he seems hesitant even though he knows the answers. Not sure about Shrinidhi either - she lovs words so much and would be concentrating on them rather than constructing arguments - although she has written novels.

The finalists seem a nicer lot. The parents are slightly better too - not as obsessed, smug or 'the-sun-actually-does-shine-out-of my/my-kids-derriere-so-you'd-better-pucker-up'. A bit, but not as much.

Maybe there's something in the nature/attitude of parents that help the kids achieve?

I also suspect that any playdates that Hugo ever has will dry up when schoolmates parents see that clip of dad. I did love his face when he realised that not only had he been filmed, but the sight of the (in my imagination anyway) editor standing behind the crew/cameraman giving the 'thumbs up' sign to him mouthing 'gold dust!'. What a way to teach a child. I though the whole 'trains trains planes' are the only relevant thing in the whole world and if you don't agree you are stupid/common so effoff was his character. Turns out its dads attitude (and I suspect mums too). I would hate to work with his dad!

I was IQ tested as a child and got 165 which makes me think that IQ testing in general is pretty useless. I am certainly not a genius! I spent a lot of time at primary school studying with older kids and I was definitely bright (would like to think I still am, though given my propensity to lose my own glasses nowadays, probably not) but I bet if I did a test now the result would be far more average. I think as a child I was just really interested in logic and reasoning and that made me good at the test, iyswim. It would be interesting to see some of these kids in 10 or 20 years and whether they've 'lived up' to their IQs. I have a MA and am a teacher. That's the extent of my education and achievement-which I'm not knocking, but I'm not running the country or saving people's lives or designing rockets!

Yes I really like Shrinidee literal, she really appears to connect with literature.

I love Shirindi. Her passion about words and her imagination were warming and delightful. Her description of French words being like porcelain was just gorgeous.

Oscar showed empathy and kindness and I was teary watching him play bridge with the elderly women and joking with them. Some fantastic children on this show.

Longyin's life is full of love as well. His dad adores him.

But agree with the majority on here who found Connor's mum lacking tenderness when he was crying upsetting. Hugo's parents were seriously remiss and have done him no social favours.

I also wondered if Catherine was so upset because she wanted her mum to see her win.

She was so dismissed by her mum - unbelievable.

I do feel for Connor. To be able to do a maths gcse in primary is not terribly terribly unusual and just because they can doesn't mean they should.

Maths isnt about passing exams, its about developing a deep understanding that comes from exploring the subject and instead of ticking through the exams, expanding sideways, if they like competitions there are maths comps that go away from the curriculum. What is he going to do when he gets his gcse and a level? Go to uni early? at what cost? Not only to his social development, but at the expense of missing out on so much other education. They need a good advisor I think.

I'm trying my best to give Hugo's Dad the benefit of doubt in that he was trying to make Hugo feel better. However, I'm afraid I can't. There's no excuse for him to turn his child into a bitter excuse maker and name caller. Poor lad.

I really liked Longyin's attitude at the end - mistakes are for learning. Head held up high, do better next time.

Catherine is such a sweatheart and will go far in life - she has a lovely stubborn streak that will see her through.

I reckon we will see more of Shrinidi as an adult.

merlincat Hugo might well likely be Aspergers but personally I don't think there is link between that and his somewhat unfortunate manner as my experience does not bear this out either.

No, that is entirely to do with his upbringing. His parents don't seem to have put limits or boundaries in place perhaps because he talks like a (rather arrogant) adult or because they are in awe of him or because they themselves are arrogant. Who knows? He seems to get his own way all the time, and that is not healthy for the child, whether ASD or not. I have a very strong willed, bright DS who has obsessions about stuff, he would never speak so condescendingly about other people and if he did, I would pull him up on it straight away.

Each, I reckon Catherine will grow up pretty resentful of the favouritism of her brother by her parents. I think she just wanted to be the one to shine and was loving having a bit of spotlight from her mum.

OK, I missed that one nano second and missed what Hugos Dad said, can someone enlighten me please

But,,,, omg some of those parents are absolutely horrendous, some of those poor children could have such problems to come in their lives. Obviously Hugo, hes parents have put him on such a high pedestal, and feed his obvious intelligence to such an extent I should imagine he will find it hard to relate to any children of his own age, the way he is already encouraged to look down on his peers is absolutely shocking and almost distressing to watch.

And,,,, poor Connor, his mother is so obvioulsy living the life she would have loved through her child, the pressure she puts that boy under is heartbreaking.

I do wonder how the schools that they are already in deal with these children (and parents), are they educated differently than their peers as their parents say that they are so advanced, or whether the schools would have different views on some of these children? (I bet any teacher that gets Hugo groans, not because of Hugo so much but because of his totally ott parents)

OneStep, it was something along the lines of "All those swots can Fuck Off". That's not a direct quote but it was something like that. I was so shocked I could only remember the Fuck Off bit!

Hugo's dad said the kids in the competition were swots and geeks and fuck them - I'm paraphrasing but that was the gist and he happily said fuck to his child. Following Hugo being eliminated of course.

He probably was trying to cheer Hugo up but in doing so missed an opportunity to teach him some grace and humility. Also missed a chance to gently let him know hard work is important no matter how clever you are. Unfortunately life has a funny way of forcing those lessons on us. Failure is part of life - you don't deal with it by denigrating others. Why would they want him to be friendless?

I hope Catherine is going to be ok. Her tears made me think she was insecure and needed that win.

Oh what a charming man then fuckit

Catherines situation is actually quite sad, her mother has such little confidence in her that you cant help but feel there is an underlying issue with the mother, perhaps outwardly showing her feelings to much?

Isnt it a shame that these parents cant just enjoy the children for what they are instead of trying to frantically and competitvely moulding them into something they want? I fear no good will come of it in the end, if for nothing else then their own relationships with their children.

I reallly like Longyin and his father seems very nice but even he is hothoused (for what I believe is the father wanting to do right) to an inch of his life and I cant help but wonder whether Longyin will be very resentful in the future.

obviously that was meant to say fuckwit

With Longyin's dad, he let him go on that 5 day school trip in the middle of the competition, because Longyin really wanted to go. I don't think Connor's mum would have let him out of her sight when he should be learning spellings.

I think it was lovely to see Longyin interacting with his peers on the trip, taking some leadership in the orienteering and plodding on doggedly through the mud. He's not a whiner is he? He also practised his spellings when he was away and he had a friend to help him. He took his loss on the chin too. For all people might criticise the hot housing, Longyin seems to be turning out well, and his dad does genuinely seem to want the best for him. The story about how he was very ill was very emotional, yet he didn't see that as an excuse to cosset him.

The bit where he got Longyin to play badminton to experience failure was interesting. Lots of these kids will have never experienced failure. It is important and I read recently that some top schools are introducing failure into the curriculum, via impossible tests and so on.