Proud Parent

Before I discuss my excellent news I would like to tell a story that a friend of mine related to me from his time as a manager at Toys R Us.

As I stocked the shelves with the latest 'must have' toy I was approached by an elderly couple. "Excuse me, young man. Can you help us?" Yes ma'am I would be happy to I responded, glad to have a break. How may I help you? "Well we are looking for a present for our granddaughter." Ok. And how old is she? "She is four, but she is advanced for her age."

My friend told me that it did not matter the age of the child, if it was the parents or grandparents that were in the store, invariably "their" child was "advanced for their age" Now if you know anything about statistics you know that not everyone can be "above" average, unless of course they are from Lake Wobegon.

Since I was told this story I test it out all the time and it is funny to hear parents say how above average their child is.... That said I would like to mention my own child who is above average :)

Our daughter Mia started reading at the young age of three and we took her to a doctor to see if something was wrong. They tested her and put her through a battery of tests and came back with a diagnosis that she was gifted and had an I.Q. of 155+ (Average is 100). We worked with her and when it came time for her to go to school we found a gifted school in district five here in Chicago. Mia went to Lenart until her fifth year. At that time Arnie Duncan of the Chicago Public School System made the decision to move the only gifted center in our district somewhere else and Mia would have to be on the bus for two hours a day.

We moved her to our local school that year. While there she won the science fair, speech competition, second place in young authors competition, played piano, violin and guitar and was on the chess team and the swim team. She was also a grade ahead in most subjects, but alas the school was not challenging her enough. As a family we sat down and talked about what to do.

We decided to homeschool Mia! It was a difficult decision for all of us. I am retired and had to coordinate her schooling. We spent the last two years working with her and in May we had her take the practice SAT and she scored over 1300 on it. Since my wife and I both teach at the collegiate level we started thinking about how could Mia get into college early?

We looked in the area and decided to try at the College of Dupage, a highly respected two year college in the nation, and Mia nailed the entrance exam and was admitted into the school in the honors program. She is only taking one class at a time so as not to overwhelm her, but we are so proud that she is using the talents and skills that she has and is a happy and well rounded teenager.

Thank you for allowing me this moment to brag about my above average daughter.

Keep Teaching,

PhiloProf