Little Einstiens

We got news this week that my niece Stephanie will be starting 2nd grade this fall. This is unusual, because she's in kindergarten now, but she's so advanced that they're going to skip her over the first grade. Such a precocious child -- she takes after her uncle...

I didn't skip first grade -- well, at least not all of it. I stayed in first grade until a number of aptitude tests showed that I was a lot further along than my classmates. So a couple of months into the school year, my parents drove me out to a couple of schools and asked which one I wanted to go to -- I picked, then started mid year in second grade. It wasn't a big deal for me at the time -- I went to church with one of my classmates, and my aunt was a few grades ahead of me at the same school. After a year or two, my mysterious disappearance at one school, and appearance at another was forgotten by my classmates. It wasn't until 8th grade that I became reacquainted with my past, when i met up with the girl I had a crush on in kindergarten. The only time my accelerated schooling left me behind was when everyone else in the class got their drivers licenses but me (and Mary Ruppert, who skipped 4th grade). I didn't get left behind my new classmates (I was 35 out of 235, Mary was the valedictorian), I had a B+ average while doing little or no studying, and I still scored at least 95 on all aptitude tests at my new grade level. I would have done better, but I found school to be boring most of the time.

My daughter Laura also has phenomenally high test scores, but in the years since I've been there, the district has developed programs to keep children at grade level without them getting bored -- Laura has been in accelerated versions of most of her classes since the 2nd grade. Her grades have been straight A's for the most part, except for band (she didn't like to practice, so she was getting B's -- the last semester she did practice, got an A, and made first chair). Now her pre-algebra grade is in danger of being a B -- according to her midterm report, she has an A+ average on the exams, but isn't doing the homework at all, it's boring.

Just like her old man...