“Do not try to make your child well-rounded. “Do not try to say, “Be normal like the other kids,” says Winner. Ok, You Beat The Odds What Do You Do With Your Prodigy?įor starters, don’t fight it. Note to parents of non-prodigies (so, most of you): No amount of flash cards, professional training, or baby Einstein DVD’s can make your kid a prodigy if the stuff isn’t there, so don’t try. Winner describes it as “a rage to master.” That behavior, along with the talent, is critical to identifying prodigies. Most of them are only interested in that domain,” says Ruthsatz. “They’re unusual in their devotion to their particular domain. But while there is at least a little wiggle room on where “really, really, really gifted” ends and “prodigy” begins, one thing all prodigies share is a total focus on the area in which they excel. Others extend that timeline to adolescence. Signs of prodigy-hood can be seen as young as 2 or 3-years-old.Ĭlinically, some say a true prodigy is someone who achieves professional mastery of a skill by age 10. Some might include chess, or even sports. “These are kids who are years ahead of their peers.” Typically, child prodigies emerge in math, language, art, and music. They tend to be very advanced in one area, usually not all areas,” Dr. “A prodigy is somebody who is on the extreme end of giftedness. But for those holding out hope - or wondering what to do with a kid drawing like Rembrandt in elementary school art class - here’s how to identify and nurture a child prodigy. So, they know what they’re talking about. Ruthsatz is at the forefront of research into the nexus of exceptional childhood behavior and autism. Winner runs a Harvard lab focused on gifted children and Dr. Winner and Ruthsatz are two of the world’s leading experts on prodigies (prodigy-ologists?) Dr. Joanne Ruthsatz of Ohio State University.ĭrs. “One in 5 million children might be a prodigy, says Dr. Ellen Winner, professor of psychology at Boston College. And, if you have to ask if your kid is a prodigy, they aren’t. These are examples of genuine child prodigies, the kind making the 6 o’clock news or attending medical school before puberty. Without you, there’s no way little Johnny could repeat key punchlines from Ghostbusters or identify the starting point guard on your preferred squad of ballers.īut while those things undoubtedly matter - seriously, people, Ghostbusters - there’s a difference between special and “special.” By age 8, Mozart composed his first symphony and mathemagenius Terence Tao scored a 760 on the math portion of the SAT. "They're like, 'You know what, I don't think you can have piano lessons, because you're still in diapers.' So I listened to every note of Mozart's 'Alla Turca,' and I started playing, and they're like, 'Wait, the audio's not on, so who is it? Oh man.' They thought it was a ghost or something playing." When they found out who was really playing, Ethan was allowed to take piano lessons.Of course your precious sunflower is special, because you are an excellent parent. When he was 3, Ethan asked his parents for piano lessons. His accomplishments are comparable to those of well-known established musicians and entertainers, and he's only 7 years old. He can play more than 200 songs from memory, has composed more than 30 pieces of music that are being published, and has raised record amounts for children's charities. He's shared a stage with Beyonce, Josh Groban, Santana, Natalie Cole, Nelly Furtado, Wyclef Jean, Smokey Robinson, Gloria Gaynor, Patti LaBelle, and The Pointer Sisters. Pianist, composer and world-class entertainer Ethan Bortnick has appeared on Oprah, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Good Morning America, and Martha Stewart. Pianist Ethan Bortnick, 7, composes pieces about animals and wants to be a zoo keeper.
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