Child Genius anyone??

[Allthingspretty]

should be interesting

Does anyone know how long before it's on 4OD?

yy I do agree noble, and Longyin did come across as a really lovely boy which is why its a shame to see him trying to compete with these other families. He had more of a package to do really well in life, intelligence, hard work and just being throughly nice.

I think dad wanted him to have the oppotunities that he didnt, but that is a very fine line I think.

I think with Longyin its a case of a different set of values that aren't familiar to us more than anything else. We're more used to the idea of childhood being for playing and having fun and there's plenty of time for working hard and pushing yourself later. Longyin's dad said something quite the opposite in the first program. Whether it's cultural or 'tiger parenting' I don't know but I don't think either approach is wrong, they're just different. It certainly doesn't seem to be doing Longyin any harm.

With Hugo and Leo, they seem to have been put on a pedestal of 'my child's exceptionally intelligent' and everything seems to revolve around that. I think it's given them the message that they are different in a superior way and probably explains a lot of their behaviour.

Whoops, I agree with the failure, it is important that children loose well and realise that they are not always going to be the best. which is why I never let mine just win at board games, I tell them I wont patronise them, when they beat me they`ll feel great dh says I evil

I cant find the episode ondemand?

Totally agree clay about Hugo and some of the other children (I can't remember Leo - is he the one that the dad told off in the kitchen last week?). At the end of the day, no matter how brilliantly intelligent they are, they are still children and need to follow rules, learn how to manage disappointment, learn when to say sorry.

Failure is important. So is risk-taking. Small risks obviously, not suggesting you send children mountain climbing without ropes and helmets. There's a concept in mental health called 'resilience' which is essentially bouncing back from minor knocks. Its built upon those sort of experiences in early childhood.

One of the things I loved most about working in Early Years is watching children learn a new skill. There's always a temptation to jump in and help but its so much more satisfying to watch them get it wrong, adjust their technique and figure out how to do it for themselves.

Longyin would be lovely to have in a class. He is my favourite. Shrinidee is also lovely because she is just being herself.
Didn't somone right at the beginning say their child was at the same school as Hugo? Would love to know what the family are like in RL.

I really want to see the clip of hugo's dad. can't find it

Hugos dad did also encourage the child to say 'fuck off' too which was the worst part. Mum just looked on simpering. Not sure I would if DH was teaching DS that it was ok to say that!

With poor parenting like that no wonder Hugo is the way he is. My dd has asd, no way would I let her behave like that. I saw clips of Hugos brother, he looed very long suffering and a bit fed up with Hugos behaviour. I felt so sorry for Connor and felt lie giving his mum a piece of my mind. I liked longyin too

This show is going to bite quite a few people on the bum!

The most normal one left in the final from the ones we've 'met' appears to be Oscar. Clearly very clever but empathetic too.

That little exchange between Hugo and his father tells you everything you needed to know about why he is the way he is. It also begs the question, if they are so against "swottiness" and everything else the competition stands for, why did they enter him?

I don't think they are against swottiness actually. I just think it was a useful get-out clause in case he didn't win that allowed them to maintain their sense of his innate superiority. Now they can go away saying that, of course he would have won, if he had chosen to actually try, but he didn't think it was worth the effort.

It's an easy way of saving face, but unfortunately it imparts nothing of any value to poor Hugo, who will probably take away very little from his journey. Longyin, on the other hand, will probably turn this little setback into something positive in the long term. From what I recall, Longyin's IQ was in a similar region to Hugo's but his dad seemed to focus much more on strategy and work ethic than on ability. Probably much healthier in the long run!

Because they almost expected him to win, purely because he is bright and knows every nut and bolt on a Yawn-200 Jet. They came across as not very nice people as the series went on. At first I throught he was sweet, then realised he acted in a rather arrogant nature (which I am sure is either copied from or not corrected by his parents).

He will never be able to work for anyone, nor do I think he has the smarts to invent a new jet engine or train. He can remember everything about what he finds interesting, but that won't help him pass and english, geography, history, etc exam will it?

The parents need to have a loing hard look at him now, project what that will mean for him as an adult, pick themselves up off the floor and start working with some bloody good child/educational psychologists to get him more 'rounded'. Can you imagine working or living with him as an adult?

Agree with Jinsei very much!

Conor's mum reminds me of a mum I know who is very emotionally cold to her child, very hung up on her gifted ness and also very emtionally controlling.

The child is now 18 and let's just say, it's not going well.

It's so sad to witness and hard to do anything to help

I haven't seen this week's yet, but I was ....surprised....that the organisers didn't have more to say about Hugo disrupting the card memorising task last week. Why was he allowed to get away with that?

It was very odd, there should have been some kind of censure.

Shipwrecked I agree. It was more about her wasn't it?

I found it slightly horrifying that all family outings in Hugo's family are to places Hugo wants to go to otherwise he makes life hell for the others. And his choices seem to be mainly to go to places where he can show off how much he knows. He really seems to have been brought up to believe that the world revolves around him.

And it does revolve round him at the moment! Can't believe how hat must feel for the younger brother. [ sad]

I just wanted to say how much I am really enjoying this series. I agree with so many of the previous posters especially regarding Longyin and Hugo. I really feel sorry Hugo's younger brother he seems to be forgotten.

Hugo will not make a great adult if his parents continue down this path, I fear the damage is already done from what has been shown.

It must be so heavily edited though, remember that.