Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Homeschooled with MIT courses at 5, accepted to MIT at 15

news.mit.edu

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 223 posts

Re: Homeschooled with MIT courses at 5, accepted to MIT at 15

#161

Post by cwbrandsma »

chrisBob wrote: post #35
evook wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah for sure... I attended a school for gifted kids. Those who where a lot younger than the rest of us where always pushed by their parents and their parents always told they where not pushing. And that is a first hand experience watching 42 gifted smart young children pushed in our education system and over their interessents on behalf of their parents. I attended this school for 6 years. It was a pain, and as if s…

>school is mandatory where I live Do you mind if I ask where you live? In most of the US school is "mandatory", but pretty much anyone can homeschool if they want.

There are a lot of state-by-state laws around homeschooling. Basically, some states make it easier than others as far as what rules apply. Some parents have to have their curriculum approved by a state board, others have mandatory checkins, and some have no requirements at all.

Re: Homeschooled with MIT courses at 5, accepted to MIT at 15

#163

Post by sawthat »

Don't know this kid, or this situation, but to commenters here who seem envious, or young people who are inspired: being a child prodigy expires at age 25. Being known for your youth means that once you aren't young anymore you've lost that. If your identity is wrapped up in being precocious be ready with a second plan.

Re: Homeschooled with MIT courses at 5, accepted to MIT at 15

#164

Post by allendoerfer »

codingdave wrote: post #143
allendoerfer wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a bit different about humanism. I think a basic humanistic education is more like a drivers license for society. Know nothing about WW2? Well, you should not be allowed to vote, because it could turn out really bad for all of us. Democracy can be really dangerous without proper education. What does all technical excellence mean as long as the Middle East is a clusterfuck? Most really big problems have little…

Are you truly proposing a limit on voting rights based on educational achievements? I think that is a road that will lead to an elite class in our society, limiting political power to those who grew up in poverty or had other struggles. We already have enough problems with an elite class within our economic power. Lets not extend that elitism into governmental processes as well.

I did not. I just wanted to say, that we should try to educate children, because they will be allowed to vote as adults.

Re: Homeschooled with MIT courses at 5, accepted to MIT at 15

#165

Post by stuxnet79 »

venuzr wrote: post #103

I find his drive and his parent's support commendable. Being someone who has not been homeschooled and does not know anyone who has, I am extremely curious about it. -How does one go about replicating this kind of success? Or even moderate success. In typical schools, you have some measure of whether your child is "succeeding". How does one go about doing the same for home-schooled children. -How do you go about prov…

Extremely important in what sense? What are the specific benefits you see to having a rigid structure? I have a little sister who is in my estimation smart, but spends every waking moment (when not in school or finishing up homework) on her iPad playing video games and watching Youtube videos. I sometimes wonder if a little bit of prodding on the part of my parents would help her find other hobbies.

I personally feel like I suffered from my parent's laissez faire attitude.

Re: Homeschooled with MIT courses at 5, accepted to MIT at 15

#166

Post by pervycreeper »

droithomme wrote: post #148
rtl49 wrote: post #22

“I will never forget the feeling of walking into the lobby of Building 7, looking up, and then touching the pillars to see if they were real. I couldn’t believe I was at MIT. My life and my ambitions moved to another level at that moment.” I think this impressive achievement is more a testament to the role that aspirations acquired during childhood play in determining a person's success than it is a reflection of thi…

> had they been provided a similarly advantageous upbringing He's a minority immigrant that fled poverty and homeschooled himself. Please clarify in what ways this was an advantageous upbringing over say an american native raised in the suburbs by a wealthy family who attends the best public schools, few if any of whom enter MIT at 15.

I didn't read anything about poverty. His father owned a restaurant, and they were able to relocate on a whim, so that suggests their circumstances were far from dire.

Re: Homeschooled with MIT courses at 5, accepted to MIT at 15

#167

Post by codingdave »

allendoerfer wrote: post #164
codingdave wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you truly proposing a limit on voting rights based on educational achievements? I think that is a road that will lead to an elite class in our society, limiting political power to those who grew up in poverty or had other struggles. We already have enough problems with an elite class within our economic power. Lets not extend that elitism into governmental processes as well.

I did not. I just wanted to say, that we should try to educate children, because they will be allowed to vote as adults.

Thank you for clarifying. I must have been thrown off by your exact words of, "Well, you should not be allowed to vote"

Re: Homeschooled with MIT courses at 5, accepted to MIT at 15

#169

Post by Retric »

webXL wrote: post #158
cryoshon wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your brain doesn't lose plasticity until you're dead. Ever hear of someone remembering a conversation they had at age 70? The neurons had to form new synapses (plasticity) for that to happen.

In my experience recall takes longer with age, and that's only if it's memorized in the first place. I think anyone over 35 can relate to this.

Much of that is simply being out of practice. At 35 you generally don't spend that much time learning new things. But, if you go back and get a masters you can get back into the swing of things.

Re: Homeschooled with MIT courses at 5, accepted to MIT at 15

#170

Post by nashequilibrium »

rtl49 wrote: post #22

“I will never forget the feeling of walking into the lobby of Building 7, looking up, and then touching the pillars to see if they were real. I couldn’t believe I was at MIT. My life and my ambitions moved to another level at that moment.” I think this impressive achievement is more a testament to the role that aspirations acquired during childhood play in determining a person's success than it is a reflection of thi…

I will never bring my kids up this way, they will enjoy life. Imagine if Steve Jobs was raised this way, we would have no Apple, this kind of one dimensional excellence is for the parents satisfaction.
Post reply on HN