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Belgian boy Laurent Simons heads off to university aged 8.
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Marco:
With a few well meaning profs it's possible, couple decades ago pretty much all bachelor classes except one or two lab classes were tested only by final exam and with a little begging they would schedule one for you if you had good reason. they would probably still be free to do so when they elect. Master classes tended to be project oriented and given by more important staff, not very suited to rushing without a lot of 1:1 time dedicated by busy important people which I doubt they will be enthusiastic about.

But assuming it's bachelors EE that probable leaves one or two semesters with mandatory lab classes, all the exams and final project, which could be done fast when it's not external.
sokoloff:

--- Quote from: EEVblog on July 01, 2018, 07:12:42 am ---I'd like to know the logistics behind this.
Ok, so he's bored and super smart and talented, but the usual thing in those cases is to look at putting them up a year. At what point does the school re-evaluate the kid every few months and decide to give him the proper grade tests and put him up a grade that quickly each time. Seems dodgy to me, and I can't see that happening that fast in a school here in Australia at least.

And I'm also skeptical that the test are being done to the same standard. They develop new tests every year and very likely wouldn't had even had the year end tests ready at those point to give him?  :-//
--- End quote ---
Being a child who both skipped grade/courses and took advanced math courses one summer to learn and test out of Geometry, Algebra I, and Algebra II as part of SMPY, I can comment on some of the likely logistics. Skipping grades (though obviously not to the extent that Laurent did) is fairly straightforward. Testing out of subjects was done (IIRC; it's been 35+ years) by doing coursework from the same textbook the class used, basically 6-8 hours a day, with two roving tutors working with the class of perhaps 15, then taking the placement exam basically anytime I was ready. Over the course of three weeks, I knocked out those three courses and started [but did not finish] Algebra III. On something like those math courses, it's quite straightforward and I think most people could learn the coursework in a month of full time study (that's more or less the effort devoted to each subject in a typical middle or high school). It's hardly surprising that someone a few standard deviations above the median could do it 5x as fast. In my case, the exams seemed completely legitimate and felt appropriate to the coursework. There are course credential tests available for homeschooling parents. One does not need to rely on the school preparing a new test or other logistical non-hurdles.

It doesn't strike me as particularly impossible to learn STEM subjects at a rate 5-10x (or even 20x) as fast as the typical "drag it out" pace of high school. The amount of "Miss Foobar; I did the problem a different way and got a different answer; is that OK?" nonsense waiting on the other kids to catch up is incredibly wasteful and represents a fair amount of the determining factor of the pace of schooling. (It has to be; you can't and shouldn't teach to the top of the class; ideally you teach to the broad middle or even slightly below, but there's a lot of pressure to teach to the 5th or 10th percentile pace.)

For me, I feel like I graduated high school with an entire extra year of healthy adult life ahead of me. What is an extra year of free adult life worth? I'm sure Laurent has some hurdles ahead of him (mainly socially, as did I), but if I'm going to make errors in raising my own children, it is more likely to be in favor of offering them acceleration, enrichment, and additional academic (and athletic and experiential) opportunities than it is to be in the direction of holding them back, plopping them in front of televisions, or making them "do their time" in the interest of social cohesion with kids who are less capable in areas in which they are skilled. We get maybe 50 years of reasonably healthy, reasonably self-directed adult time. Given someone one more year of that is like giving them a 2% bonus on the fat, sweet spot of life.
EEVblog:

--- Quote from: sokoloff on November 13, 2019, 02:10:16 pm ---We get maybe 50 years of reasonably healthy, reasonably self-directed adult time. Given someone one more year of that is like giving them a 2% bonus on the fat, sweet spot of life.

--- End quote ---

And therein lies the issue.
There is no research that says accelerating kids this early makes them any better at anything in their adult years, but it does potentially deprive them of a normal and fun childhood with all the associated social development.
I can understand a year or two early, that's fine (and very normal) but having your 9yo attend and graduate university just turns them into a freak show. I actually feel sorry for the kid.
If he's bored there are countless things you can get him to do instead of graduate him 8-9 years early from school and throw him into university and then have him graduate 9 months later, to then what?...
maginnovision:

--- Quote from: EEVblog on November 12, 2019, 11:18:50 pm ---In related news, Huxley will be going to Kindergarten next year, he'll be the youngest in the year by several months. Majority of kids will be 12 to 22 months older. Sagan, born the same month, was the 2nd or 3rd youngest.
Seems that everyone is holding their kids back now so they'll be "smarter" than the other kids.

--- End quote ---

That's interesting, my 4 year old wasn't eligible to start school for being too young. My son will be the same since he was born only a month(and 2 years) later. What is the minimum age there?
EEVblog:

--- Quote from: maginnovision on November 14, 2019, 04:08:48 am ---
--- Quote from: EEVblog on November 12, 2019, 11:18:50 pm ---In related news, Huxley will be going to Kindergarten next year, he'll be the youngest in the year by several months. Majority of kids will be 12 to 22 months older. Sagan, born the same month, was the 2nd or 3rd youngest.
Seems that everyone is holding their kids back now so they'll be "smarter" than the other kids.

--- End quote ---

That's interesting, my 4 year old wasn't eligible to start school for being too young. My son will be the same since he was born only a month(and 2 years) later. What is the minimum age there?

--- End quote ---

https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/enrol-nsw-public-primary-school


--- Quote ---You can enrol your child in kindergarten at the beginning of the school year if they turn 5 on or before 31 July of that year. They must be enrolled by their sixth birthday.
--- End quote ---

So if your kids 4yo and born on 31st July, they could be going to Kindergarten with 6yo kids born in Feb, so 20 months potential difference.
Like I said, was common when I was kid to go as soon as you could. Then for Sagan (now 8yo) it was fairly rare. Now with Huxley, even with him being born in May, he will be the youngest in the entire year by almost two months. It's very "trendy" now to hold your kids back a year so they can be "smarter" than the younger kids.
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