My son scares me.......

[venray]

I have a 5 year old (some of you know him). He is in Kindergarten.
Today he went on a field trip and brought home a pumpkin. He decided that he wanted it to be a Jackolantern and I managed to convince him that it would last longer if he drew the face on with marker instead of carving it.

He started to tell me how he wanted it to look so again, I suggested that he draw it out on paper first. He drew 3 different pictures and then he took the features from each that he wanted to use and combined them into one.

That is not the scary part. He then decided that in order to make the jackolantern come out the same as the drawing, he should draw another to show how to put it onto the pumpkin. He created the following which I thought looked like something out of rugrats until he explained it to me......I know it is a child's drawing, but I wasnt expecting a "schematic...lol..

The eyes are going to be squares (taken from his first drawing) thus there must be 4 steps in drawing each. You will see each of the steps numbered and arrows drawn to denote the direction that the lines should follow.

The nose is a circle, thus only 1 step.

The outline of the mouth is to be done in 8 steps and the teeth 1 step for each.

When I asked him what all of the extra lines were, he explained that it was to show the motion of the marker as it draws the lines.

I am going off to hide now....before he sends me to the cornfield ala twilight zone.........


Ray

 

[JPie1]

its an amazing thing Ray! brainpower...

 

[kis123]

That's pretty conceptual for a five year old! Do we have the next Bill Gates in your home???😀

 

[venray]

He has an amazing mind and a vocabulary and word usage to match. He is begining to read and can identify words that he hasnt learned in school just by sounding them out.

Brainpower is scary in a 5 year old.....I can only hope he turns out like Bill Gates and not Ted Bundy....

Ray

 

[AquaFeline]

Cool... give him plenty of books and a rich environment and lots of free time and you'll have a certified genius 😉

 

[venray]

He loves his books and brings reading materials home from school once a week to read to his mom and I.

Not to mention that he can handle a computer better than I can in some areas. He plays Zelda and Final fantasy and advances through the levels far more quickly than I can.

He can then tell me exactly how he proceded to get through each maze as if he still has the map in his head. I think he has a type of photographic memory that I have been aware of since he was three. He forgets nothing and can explain things in great detail.

Sigh..another 2 years and I wont be able to keep up with him.....


Ray

 

[Haltickling]

I guess that's how an engineer would approach the problem. Systematic to the core, even outlining each single step of production. Simply amazing!

If his progress in learning continues at this rate, I'd consider getting him special tutoring for extraordinarily gifted kids if I were you, Ray. Not because of prestige, but because "normal" school might become rather boring for him soon.

 

[TklDuo-Ann]

Yes. But, to address another recent idea he had... Did Tracy make it home okay the other day? And, if so, was she able to get out of the car? STILL ROFLMAO about that one!

Ann

PS - Great idea, Hal!

 

[kis123]

He loves his books and brings reading materials home from school once a week to read to his mom and I.

Not to mention that he can handle a computer better than I can in some areas. He plays Zelda and Final fantasy and advances through the levels far more quickly than I can.

He can then tell me exactly how he proceded to get through each maze as if he still has the map in his head. I think he has a type of photographic memory that I have been aware of since he was three. He forgets nothing and can explain things in great detail.

Sigh..another 2 years and I wont be able to keep up with him.....


Ray

These kids are born mastering computer skills I had to pay for! My son taught himself computer while sitting in a classroom with kids who were much more severely disabled than him. He had a lot of time on his hands!! He managed to learn both Apple and IBM computers (when apple was not at all compatible to IBM clones).

I was in a computer store many years ago. My son was about nine years old and was playing on a computer with windows 95 on it. I spent over ten minutes trying to get past the win95 logo. I looked next to me and my son was online and playing games. I asked him how he got past the logo. He showed me and I looked really stupid! Now any computer issues are forwarded to him!😉 😛

 

[venray]

Hal..that has been a concern of ours from the start which is why we did not teach him much in the way of reading or music. He gets that in school and along with math, he is really doing well and keeping interest so far..

Ann..she did indeed make it home in one piece..🙄

Kis...it is really something to watch young minds put things together in new and exciting ways..

Ray

 

[steph]

WOW~very complex individual~clearly a genius in the making! To this day, I can't freehand a good STICK figure!

XOXO

Ray

 

[Ghost2004]

Kudos to you

you must have done something damn right in his upbringing.
Methinks you have a budding Gates or Ford there! 😀

I teach 1st grade and even tho I am only 2 months into my first teaching year it's astonishing how much some of those kids know,how creative they are, and how they can handle problem solving and mechanical skills better than my generation could. Heck some of the Lego and Knex they built are almost high school and beyond level

IMHO I think that a lot of the computer and technological games, when they are not overutillized or used as an "electronic babysitter" are actually beneficial, as they help stimulate the creative and logical centres of the brain, encourage independent thinking and problem solving. AND most importantly, if they're combined with involvement from parents and relatives.

Ghostie

 

[AffectionateDan]

Hey!

Yes. But, to address another recent idea he had... Did Tracy make it home okay the other day? And, if so, was she able to get out of the car? STILL ROFLMAO about that one!

Ann..she did indeed make it home in one piece..🙄

Oh no you two don't! Spill it! What was the big idea?

 

[venray]

Dan....we could tell ya..but we'd have ta kill ya....lol

We'll fill ya in in person.......

Steph....he doesnt get any artistry from me..that is for sure. He can freehand a better circle than I can trace...😎

Ghost.....thanks for that..we like to think we have had a little to do with it..😉 Actually I honestly believe that a lot comes from us NEVER speaking to him as if he were a baby. It was NO BABY TALK ALLOWED right from before he was actually born, and our friends and family went along. I think that alone helped with his vocabularu and word usage which in turn made it easier for him to understand different concepts.

Thanks for all of your input folks. I didnt want to seem like a bragging daddy...he really startled me with the explanation of his latest work...and to watch the expression on his face while he was creating it was priceless!..


Ray

 

[steph]

Brag away~you should be screaming it from rooftops! 😛

XOXO

 

[venray]

LOL..Sometimes he DOES make me want to run screaming....😉

 

[steph]

oh <gg> HA!

Just you wait! (My best friend has seven!) YOUR "fun" is just starting 🙄 😛

Actually, a lot of my friends w/kids tell me I'm their "favorite," I think because I speak to them as if they were adults. Now, I know a lot of people are going to jump on me for this but as an example, a few weeks back, my friend's kid, Josh (he's six) was being a total hellion the other day, ignoring mom and dad's requests to behave completely. I motioned to him to come to me, quietly pulled him off to the side. I said, "Hold my hand," he did. I told him, "You are acting like a total ass, what the hell is your problem?" he told me, since his mom had the new baby, he wasn't "feeling special anymore." I hugged him and promptly informed mom and dad. At least for now, he's behaving much better these days...

Seriously though, you deserve to feel proud! 😛

XOXO

LOL..Sometimes he DOES make me want to run screaming....😉

 

[venray]

Last night I told him that he had 20 minutes before bedtime...he said " Actually Dad, it is 8:38 which means that I really have 22 minutes!"

Sigh.......

Ray

 

[kis123]

Last night I told him that he had 20 minutes before bedtime...he said " Actually Dad, it is 8:38 which means that I really have 22 minutes!"

Sigh.......

Ray

This one sounds like my daughter. She started school before she turned four. She's a fourteen year old junior with a old soul. She reminds me a lot of my mother. She's the closest thing to a reincarnation I've ever experienced! Her tastes, likes, and dislikes are very similar to my mother. The wierdest thing is that my mother died when she was five!

I started her in school early because I couldn't hold her back any longer. She wanted a lunchbox and ride the big yellow bus to school like her big brother. I found a small private school that was running a pilot program at the time. If she passes the test at the end of the year, she'd advance to first grade. If not, she'll repeat kindergarten and be just one year ahead. Don't you know that little bugger graduated merit roll? She cried because she didn't get honor roll (that's more like me)!

She let her teenage hormones get the best of her and her grades dropped. She's back on track now and expects to go to the college of her choice with a scholarship.

I know this isn't about my kid, but it looks like they're walking similar paths.

 

[venray]

This thread can be about all kids, Kis....I find this type of discussion enlightening and it gives me hope for the future genration.....I encourage all parents to post their experiences here.

😀

Ray

 

[steph]

I have a good friend, Jen, with an five year old "old soul", Billy. He asked his mom afterwards why I called him an old SOW! 😛

Last time we got together he decided we was taking too long saying our goodbyes~it'd been about 15 minutes, he was right to be annoyed and she'd promised him they could stop and get orange juice on the drive home. He walks into the room, puts his hands on his hips and glares at us saying, "MOM! This isn't LEAVING, this is talking..."

XOXO

 

[ticklkitten]

He has an amazing mind and a vocabulary and word usage to match. He is begining to read and can identify words that he hasnt learned in school just by sounding them out.

Brainpower is scary in a 5 year old.....I can only hope he turns out like Bill Gates and not Ted Bundy....

Ray

WOw, that is impressive venray! Watch out though now... my brother was like that when he was little. And then when he was three years old he got into my dad's toolbox and took the door off the dishwasher! Your son has an engineers mind.

Kitten

 

[crydun]

He loves his books and brings reading materials home from school once a week to read to his mom and I.

Not to mention that he can handle a computer better than I can in some areas. He plays Zelda and Final fantasy and advances through the levels far more quickly than I can.

He can then tell me exactly how he proceded to get through each maze as if he still has the map in his head. I think he has a type of photographic memory that I have been aware of since he was three. He forgets nothing and can explain things in great detail.

Sigh..another 2 years and I wont be able to keep up with him.....


Ray

your son sounds a lot like me at that age and at 4. Aqua is right. Get him some books. That's what my mother did for me and in first grade I read 78 books for the read a lot program. Sounds like you have a future leader on your hands.

yes, it does sound like a photographic memory. I had this as well. i could see people in stores and years later, remember what they were wearing the last time I saw them. (wish I still had that. Would come in handy at college. ah well, too many seizures)

Sounds like you got a brainy on your hands. It's a great, complicated ride.

 

[giantfan121262]

My boy is pretty bright himself. About a year ago, I dropped him off in kindergarten and he tells the teacher as I was walking out the door "the weather forecast is done by a meterolgist" this is coming out of the mouth a a four year old kid. the teacher and I just looked at each other in amazement.

I have to agree with a point made in this thread. You talk to your kids just like the way you would talk to you Mom, or any other adult friend. It enhances their vocabulary ten fold, and it gives them a better sense of esteem b/c I feel that they feel they are relating to the "big people".

Ray, all I got to say is, what are you doing with MY son? LOL