<p>So, what is your impression of this family. It kind of sounds to me like homeschooling in the best way - letting your kids' natural imagination and curiosity take over. Not having to be bound by standardized tests or rubrics, etc. </p>
<p>While I love that idea in theory, I never thought I could do it adequately by my kids. And so I wonder how this mom educated so many kids to such a degree! Do you think they have had a well-rounded education? How did they adjust to the college classroom after so much creative learning? [Sorry for all the questions, but they all just piled up in my head as I was reading this! :) ]</p>
<p>A close family friend went to Harvard when she was 12 and graduated with a medical degree at 21. Now, she’s raising two kids. She’s smart, sweet, funny, and makes great spaghetti.</p>
<p>Xiggi posted this earlier, and I give a thumbs up to the mom, but a caution that it doesn’t always work out that way with homeschooling and those who embark on should be realistic and honest with themselves. </p>
<p>About years ago, a young girl who was just in her teens went off to a 25 university. She finished in 4 years and went to law school and finished while she was still too young to pass the bar. She also studied music under some of the top teachers in the country and was considered a prodigy in both academics and music performance. My son who was the same age was having trouble in middle school as she was embarking on her college years. I knew the mother and child well.</p>
<p>Fast forward, and the two young adults have played in orchestras and ensembles side by side, and my son ended up going to the same school she did. They have very similar jobs, similar pay. She couldn’t find anything in law or music. So it’s not always where you start or how soon you get to set points on ones journey. And their journeys are just started, but if you’d told me that this would have happened, I would have told you that the two kids were of two different species.</p>
<p>I’m very impressed with the obvious love of learning, and love for one another, that these parents have managed to instill. I also imagine that these parents have given their kids much more than their local school system could have provided. The kids seem happy and engaged. While we don’t have the complete picture, but it sure looks like a success story from here.</p>
<p>We were told when our S was three that mentally he could handle K with ease. We made a conscious choice to have him slow down and have relationships with his age mates. We have never regretted it, tho we always let him participate in what struck his fancy. </p>
<p>Glad it has worked for this family. Wonder how they are able to handle all the bills on one income–maybe FAid too? Even with commuting, tuition adds up. Glad it’s working for them. Our kids took the SATs at age 12 and probably could have also taken GEDs and gone to college then but we really wanted them to slow down and have close friendships with peers. I guess with a family of 10 kids, that could be your peer group.</p>
Well, for one they sell an ebook for $20 (yet unfinished, 95pgs) about their story. Both parents are also available for professional speaking engagements. I hope a contract with TLC is not in their future.</p>
<p>Sorry, I looked for a thread on this already, but xiggi’s did not have an obvious title that tied it to this article, so I missed it.</p>
<p>It seems like a lot of the prodigy stories I read have parents who are not also geniuses, but regular, ordinary, often blue collar type jobs. The brain is a mysterious thing I suppose I am curious about the classes and ages and degrees of all of these kids, as well as how they perform as architects, doctors, engineers etc at their age.</p>
<p>I think that the approach to homeschooling sounds great, but I’m not sure of the purpose of the rush to college. If your children are happy and excited and engaged at home, why leave the environment for college at 12? </p>
<p>I’m also hesitant to seem like a snob, but Faulkner is a school with pretty low admissions standards. Their average student comes in with a 21 ACT and a GPA of 2. That isn’t to say that you can’t get a good education there, but I wonder where the kids would have ended up had they been allowed to grow and learn in age appropriate manners a little longer, and choose a college based on their interests and not on the need to stay close to home.</p>
<p>“If your children are happy and excited and engaged at home, why leave the environment for college at 12?” - It’s a large family. Maybe you can only keep so many kids happy and engaged before they need interactions outside the home.</p>
<p>My oldest homeschooled child started college at 14. They limited him to seven credit hours per semester. We joke that it’s taken him four years to earn a two year degree.</p>
<p>My younger children are not headed towards that same path. They are all so different. The teens are doing enrichment programs that do not give college credit. </p>
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<p>I got the impression that they do most of their studies at home. They switched from a parent led curriculum to the college one because their children were ready for classes in those subjects and at that level.</p>
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<p>That’s a good question but I’m not sure how they learned in non-age appropriate ways? No one way is right for every child of a certain age. I agree that there is no need to rush but it sounds like the kids were just ready.</p>
<p>Our S tried a college statistics course the summer after his sophomore year in HS and said it was easier than his 6th grade math class. He was very disappointed and found his HS class much more interesting and rewarding, with as many APs as he was interested in taking, which prepared him well for college. He did not have much respect for the instructor or students at the college and was bound and determined never to take a course there again, even if it was wholly free, as the initial one he took was (he had won a scholarship by earning the highest SAT scores in the state for 8th graders).</p>
<p>I think a key difference is that you describe your children as having different paths. That makes sense to me. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I think the likelihood that for all 7 kids, college at 12 was the best choice is unlikely. </p>
<p>If they had a story where one kid went to Faulkner at 12, and one decided to hold out for MIT and dorm living at 15, and another got a fellowship to study abroad, and one went to conservatory, and one stayed home to write a novel, but it just seems unlikely to me that by following your child’s lead, and letting them guide the way would lead to the same path 7 times in a row.</p>
<p>As a former homeschooler (13 years), and mother of 7, I’ll tell you what I think: I don’t believe for one second that these parents are just average, ordinary folks! They are truly exceptional and must have both parents working on it full-time. Kudos to them–they must be very organized, and their kids very self-motivated, independent workers.
I still tutor homeschoolers, and I know a lot of big homeschooling families. The “ordinary” picture is not so pretty!
We have 5 NMF’s in our family, but didn’t think of starting college early. There are a lot of smart kids who can get passing scores on ACT/SAT during middle school (age 11-14) and enroll in a local college. They may get degrees at a young age, and know a lot about their “passion,” but they will have some big holes in their education, too. Most parents prefer to have their kids stay with similar age peers.</p>