Child Genius (C4)

[TheFirstOfHerName]

Anyone planning to watch this?

I was a little like these children; joined Mensa as a child, but used my ability to coast through school/university rather than to achieve anything noteworthy.

DS2 is also of this ilk. We are not doing any of the things these parents are doing, although when opportunities arise through school then obviously we let him participate.

Bright kids are highly motivated to do things - I guess the challenge is they tend to get rather obsessive e.g. 6 months glued to Minecraft then shift to another obsession.

Should we seek to broaden them with music, dance, drama, etc or let them follow their passions? This was the challenge with the homeschooled kid.

Doing school type work with them at home is clearly pointless as will just make them further ahead and therefore more bored and disconnected from their class. This is what has happened to most of the Child Genius kids - you either end up at Uni at a silly age or are left at a loose end or burnout.

Yup and when the obsession is over its OVER

mate said today her nephew ( now a Dr in the USA) called homework 'busy work' as it had no function for him apart from to keep him busy

I know a family with a high IQ child who also believe no school to date can meet their child's needs. After 2 primaries they went down the Home Ed route. Then for secondary they opted to try school again. Two schools later they're not happy still. School is boring the child they say and the teachers are stupid (their words not mine) Home Ed may be on the cards again but neither parent is educated enough can cover the full curriculum. Their child has had to move schools and homes to try other schools and has never integrated in any place where they lived. The local kids were never considered smart enough to be friends, they were considered silly as they were into 1 Direction or whatever so not suitable companions apparently. This child has been raised to believe they are superior to other children. They are discouraged from making friends among their peers and encouraged to spend time among adults who will have stimulating conversations with them. If the child mentions another kid in school the parents immediately ask about that child test result and where they rank in the class.This child continually gets the message they are so brilliant that no school is good enough to teach them, professionally trained teachers are too stupid to see how brilliant they are. I can only wonder how they will ever adjust in the workplace.

That poor child, micro :(

I know it's terribly sad IMO as they can't look back on a childhood of fun shared with peers,let alone pranks or mischief.
It must be lonely but they've been coached to believe they don't need the company of peers, that less academic kids are "messers" in school and aren't worth their time. I can see trouble ahead if the home ed again, there will be no interaction with other kids at all unless they can supply evidence of high SATS or similar.
The few kids who attempted to befriend this kid, including my own, were interviewed about their study habits and test scores, career aspirations and so on. DS was 9 at the time and having ASD was always going to fall short of their standards. I got interviews too about him and was left in no doubt as to their opinions about their own child's superiority. Then DS said he wanted to be a teacher and was told by the Dad he could probably manage that as they don't seem very bright he was "dropped"soon after.

Micro what horrid parents, they are setting their dc for a nasty fall when they enter the real world full of mere mortals.

Sounds as though the parents aren't very socially aware, micro. Interviewing parents and children will get them a reputation.

How do they plan to prepare their children for somewhere worthy of their talent;Oxbridge presumably or would even that be beneath them, Micro.

I've been thinking about this show. One of my thoughts is I wonder what Aliyah and Tudor's parents think of the criticism they have been getting? They may not be on MN but the show has been reviewed in the Times and the Guardian. Hugo Rifkind said that he expectedAliyah to tell her folks to get knotted in a few years' time.

Another is, apart from Tudor / Hazelle, all the kids appear to be only children. Presumably, Aliyah's parents wouldn't be able to put in all that effort if they had other children (I do know that hardly any parents of only children are like this).

Bloody hell micro they sound horrific. Poor boy :(

Sad to say but most parents flee when they spot them at the shops. They are known to corner you and grill you about your child's progress and your educational philosophy, assuming you have a well thought position, if you don't you're below par. This couple eat, sleep and breathe their child's cognitive development but his social and emotional needs are not such high priorities. They are mystified that other parents are lax about stimulating their children.
The dad was always like this my cousin knew him in school and he considered himself more expert than the teachers then and argued and contradicted them at every opportunity. He believes he was failed by school and seems to want to perpetuate this idea with his son. He dropped out of education and drifted with no career or steady job but resents those less academically able than him who have made successes of their careers. I hope history won't repeat itself. Mum seems less negative about the education system though she still believes virtually no school in a 60 mile radius is equipped to educate her child.

Micro poor poor boy having parents like this!

Just caught up with this,
Loved Eleanor, loved her family.
Tudors family, bless him, his dad looked very very angry.

I watched Blinging Up Baby yesterday (I know, I know) and one of the mums was entering her DDs in beauty pageants. Her little 4yo had so much pressure on her and totally freaked out at the first onstage bit. She came 3rd in her category. The disappointment on her mum's face though was not even vaguely hidden, she was full of contempt and anger and not even trying to celebrate the fact she came third (not that most normal people would see it as an achievement as such but obviously this mum does as she is obsessed with 'pageanting'). And her older DD actually won her category but she didn't even seem bothered, just angry with her little one :(

I know that's not relevant to the whole genius thing but it really stood out to me that despite these two competitions - child genius and baby beauty pageant - are at opposite ends of the 'worthiness' scale (ie one is intelligence and hard work, the other is superficial) there were two equally pushy and frankly horrible parents.

It's on at 8 pm tonight I think. It's uncomfortably compulsive.

It's on now - anyone watching?

Will Tudor's parents show any sign of a heart this week?

No sign of a heart so far :( Poor little boy.

i dont think ive ever heard of these words

though my 15yr old is saying he does

the shame

Would it kill Tudor's parents to smile and say well done?

I like Cuneyd (sp?)

Interesting that they're touching on ASD now.

Me too. His parents have come across as pretty normal so far as well.

He is very like DS2, especially the AS and obsession with Science.

Dear god, I didn't have a clue with any of those words except indefatigable.

Sophie seems remarkably, erm, normal?