Hi there. In this education post, I talk about some cases of brilliant young students. The contents & notes are based from my observations over the years and from my Mathnasium work.
Topics
- Hard Working Students
- Fast Learning Students
- Parental Involvement
Hard Working Students
I do think that hard working students are rare. Education and school for students can be tough as the school work can be long, boring and/or even difficult.
Those With Grit & No Complaints
I view grit as something like doing something that you do not like. It is also getting through hard times and difficult work. Grit is something that I think is hard to teach and even develop. Young students who do have that grit and are able to get through work that is not easy or fun are rare.
In mathematics I often see students give up or get demotivated when things get tough. Grit is needed in a subject like mathematics where the topics build upon each other. The work does not go away if the student brushes it aside. Topics come back in one way or another in a subject like mathematics. Those with grit tend to do well in mathematics and in other difficult not so fun topics.
Hobbies & Talents
There are students who have hobbies and talents outside of school. These can include sports, art, music lessons, martial arts, and chess. Hobbies and learning outside of school is good for meeting new people, limiting boredom, investing time to build skills and for learning different things not typically taught in school.
Hobbies for young students also helps with possibly building a career in sports, music, art, e-sports. With a lot of practice and time commitment students can be very successful in their craft.
Fast Learning Students
From my Mathnasium work, I am quite amazed with fast learning students. They are able to digest some difficult, technical and even abstract concepts in a fast manner. (Some of them are faster than I was when I was their age!) How these students digest information does come from a combination of focus, discipline, curiousity, high skill, high effort and hard work to build skills.
Parental Involvement
Some of the brilliant students may be intrinsically motivated where they motivate themselves to work hard and be successful. There are also some students where the parents do guide their kids to do well. Parents could do some homeschooling and extra education sessions on top of regular school. These parents think in the long term for their kids futures by investing time and money into their children. How the parents help their kids with their education and careers in terms of rigor and intensity can vary. That can be a different topic and post.
When it comes to parental involvement from a monetary standpoint, budget is important. Not everyone has the money and would be willing to spend big money on private school lessons, after-school programs, tutoring lessons, sports programs and so on. Those with lower budgets can still be a part of their kids education. There are resources such as Youtube educational videos, free or low-cost online educational websites, low-cost educational books, homeschooling kits, Khan Academy and IXLMath.com.
