As a mother of three very young and inquisitive little boys I am guilty of hiring the electronic babysitter while doing laundry, making dinner, and talking on the phone. And I am sure if I did an informal telephone interview with other mothers I would find this to be true for most everyone. I know that excessive T.V. watching without adequate interaction will cause verbal delays. That’s just common sense. We don’t just plop our kids down in front of the television for hours on end and then just walk away. So in lieu of the recent Baby Einstein shake up I thought I would take a moment to jot down a few very successful non-television activities that my boys and I have done together this summer. They both have busy little minds and are often easily bored so I have to get creative quite often to keep them occupied.

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In Montgomery Alabama:

Serennah Harding, age 16, a Huntingdon senior and biology major focusing on pre-med studies, and Heath Harding, age 11, a freshman at Huntingdon College interested in becoming a movie director someday, were both in College by the age of 12—as were their 2 older siblings.

(Image provided by Huntingdon College Office of Communications.)

The following video not only highlights the accomplishments of Heath Harding, but also sheds some light on the positive impact of homeschooling gifted children. His mother, Mona Lisa, has successfully prepared Heath and his three older sisters for college by age twelve. She continues to home school his four younger siblings.

CNN Video: College by 12.

If you would like to read more about the Harding family and their success, visit Harding Family Page.

As the 110^th Congress begins to take a second look at the reauthorization of Public Law 107-110, we need to consider one very small population of public school children that is being left behind. The much needed NCLB (No Child Left Behind) act covers the immigrant child, the special needs child, the minority child, the child that lives in an urban school that is under-funded and under-performs, the child whose needs cannot be met in the school district for which he lives…. Or does it?

What if that very same child was also gifted, functioning two or three grade levels above his peers and soaking up new knowledge like a sponge? There are currently no provisions for such a child, nor is there funding, as the NCLB act has forced many states, including Illinois, to reallocate funds from gifted programming toward achieving better test scores among at risk populations [1]. (more…)