How to Make Your Child a Genius

When he was nearly three years old, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son watched his mother and father plying chess in the family’s ramshackle home in the Mekong Delta, and, like any toddler, pestered them to let him play, too. Eventually they relented, assuming the pieces would end up strewn around the kitchen. Not for one minute had they imagined that their son would be able to play. To their astonishment, not only did Son know how to set up the chessboard, but he had also learned many of the complex rules of the game. Within a month he was defeating his parents with ease. By the age of four, Son was competing in national tournaments against kids many years older. By age seven, he was winning them. Now twelve, he is Vietnam’s youngest champion and a grand master in the making.

Son’s parents – teachers with a combined income of less than $100 a month – are at a loss to explain their otherwise ordinary child’s talents. ‘It’s an inborn gift,’ says his father. ‘You couldn’t train an ordinary three-year-old to play like that.’ The young prodigy, for his part, doesn’t think the question is worth pondering. To him, the strategies and logic of chess comes as naturally as chewing bubble gum. ‘I just see things on the board and know what to do’, he says. ‘It’s just always made sense to me.’

How a child prodigy like Son comes by his talent has never made much sense to scientists. Throughout history, prodigies have been celebrated as objects of envy and adulation. Rarely, however, have they been understood. Often taunted by their peers, hounded by the press, prodded by demanding parents and haunted expectations of greatness, they are treated as wondrous curiosities. As Maria McCann, a specialist in the education of gifted children, puts it, ‘They are our beautiful freaks.’

The question most people want to answer is whether prodigies are born or made. Only recently has science begun to probe the cultural and biological roots of child prodigies. And there are still no definite answers. Studies have shown that raw intelligence, as measured through IQ tests, is very inheritable. But the connection between high intelligence and the behaviour of prodigies is far from absolute. Prodigies master very specific skills. Nowhere can this be more clearly seen than in the case of Indian prodigy, Tathagat Avatar Tulsi. At the age of six, he was able to take any date in history and immediately calculate which day of the week it was. The newspapers nicknamed him ‘computer brain’. This type of intelligence cannot be inherited.

One thing the experts are beginning to agree on is that a child’s upbringing has a big impact on whether a gift is developed or not. According to Wu Wu-tien, a Taiwanese educationalist, ‘Prodigies are half born, half made.’ The parents provide stimulating environments: the home is full of books, they read to the child at an early age, and take them to museums and concerts. They do not talk down to their children and they allow them a high degree of independence.

 

1) Why were Son’s parents surprised?

2) What does Son think of his gift?

3) According to the article, what problems do child prodigies face?

4) What is ‘the big question’ about child prodigies?

5) What answer to the question ‘How to make your child genius?’ does the article suggest?

 

Task 50. Match the words / phrases with a similar meaning.

1) gifted a) for the future

2) in the making b) difficult

3) prodigy c) completely abnormal

4) adulation d) extremely talented

5) peers e) admiration

6) demanding f) genius

7) freak g) contemporaries

Task 51. Discuss the following questions.

1) Have you heard any stories about other child geniuses?

2) How do you think society treats them?

3) What might be the benefits and drawbacks of having a child prodigy in the family?

4) Do you know any children who have a special gift for something?

5) Do you think child prodigies are ‘born’ or ‘made’?

6) How can talents and gifts be developed?

 

Task 52. Read the text and choose the correct words in italics. Then choose the correct answer.

At the age of 15, Min Yehn seems to have everything a teenager could dream of – a computer, a mobile phone, beautiful clothes and even piano. Min Yehn, however, has little time to play / study with a mountain of homework to do. Like most other Chinese schoolchildren of her age, Min Yehn has to go to school from Monday to Friday, nine hours a day – an hour more than her parents spend at work. At the weekdays / weekend, unlike her parents, she has to get up early for piano lessons on Saturday and Sunday morning, followed by private Maths and English classes in the afternoon. As a reward for her hard work, Min Yehn’s parents let her play video and computer games for one hour on Saturday and Sunday evening.

Min Yehn is not alone. According to a new study, more and more children in large cities across the country are experiencing joyless / careless childhoods. On average, China’s children spend 8.6 hours a day at school, with some spending 12 hours a day in the classroom. The majority of children spend longer hours at school than their parents at work.

As for Min Yehn, her mother, An Hau, knows well that her daughter doesn’t get enough sleep or playtime, “We have no other job / choice ”, she said, “if she gives up now and doesn’t study hard, she will regret it as her future will be lost. She will complain to us more then.” “This is the reality of China”, she sighed.

 

1. The text tells about …

A the life of schoolchildren in China.

B clubs in Chinese schools.

C subjects that children study in different countries.

D schooling in Britain.

 

2. Min Yehn has to study …

A more hours than her parents spend at work.

B less time than her parents work.

C half a day, and then she has her private time.

D on Saturday and Sunday evening.

 

3. What is true according to the text?

A All the Chinese children spend 12 hours a day in the classroom.

B Many children in large cities have too little time for joy.

C Min Yehn is one of the few children who study so hard.

D Children in China prefer to study on Saturday and Sunday.

 

4. Min Yehn’s mother …

A doesn’t know that her daughter has not enough time for a sleep or play.

B doesn’t worry about her daughter.

C thinks that her daughter’s future will be lost.

D says that hard work at school is necessary for a successful future.