Taking several IQ tests.

From some of the comments I see all over the internet, it is clear that some parents of gifted children - or non-gifted children - get their children to take several IQ tests. I even hear of children being tested every six months or so. Is this a useful practice and what are the dangers?

Well, IQ is supposed to be quite stable throughout life, that is, it shouldn't change much. So, it does seem unnecessary to keep on taking tests. In some cases the parents appear to have children who are less than official cut-offs for gifted programmes - perhaps they are hoping that a "good" test, will take them over the threshold. In others, there seems to be a perception that the child's progress needs to be tracked in this way.

Whatever the motivation for this repeated testing, there is a common danger, which posts also reveal. There is a tendency among some school systems and a large number of professionals to judge the child on the LOWEST test result. I find this absurd, for it has no sound reasoning behind it. They seem to think that the child's "true" ability is measured by their least performance. This doesn't make sense. There are many reasons why a child could under-perform on a particular day: tired, bored, unmotivated, resistant to the test, ill - etc. There are any number of reasons why under-performance could occur - but what reasons could there be for OVER-performance? What is going to make a child perform above the level of their intelligence? Nothing at all - unless they have done a particular test before, quite recently, in which case there will be an increase from familiarity with the test. (Which is why frequent testing on a particular instrument is frowned upon - and often discounted.) Apart from this possible influence, there is nothing that can make a child do better than they should have done - but there are many things that could make a child under-perform.

Given this background, it is clear that those practitioners and school systems that insist on judging a child on the lowest test result are guilty of an injustice. Their reasoning does not make sense. A child's true ability will be closer to the HIGHEST test result obtained - unless that test result was obtained from multiple testing of the same instrument in quick succession (which could raise it a little, but not much).

So, if you have more than one IQ test result and a school system is judging your child - point out the logic above. A child can easily under-perform - but there is just no way they can over-perform.

Then again, if they don't listen to you and you continue to test multiply it is clear that you will decrease the lowest test result obtained - because you will have more chance of catching your child on an off day. Thus the more frequently you test, the more results you will get - and the more chance you will have that one of them will be unusually low, for whatever reason. Ironically, therefore, those who test their child multiply are exposing their child to the risk of being underestimated.

Fintan, the athletic child

Fintan, three, is a robust child. He has a stocky build inherited from his father and has been known, since young, for his surprising strength. That, however, is not what I wish to talk about.

A couple of months ago, Syahidah, my wife, went for a jog. Fintan insisted on coming along. His mother argued that he should stay at home, since she would be running and he would not be able to keep up. Still, he insisted on coming. Syahidah resigned herself to being unable to jog as she wished, with a three year old tagging along, and let him join her.

When she got to her "track" - a waterside location, along which she could jog up and down both sides of a waterway, with bridges crossing it - she started off, at a gentle pace and Fintan jogged along with her. She thought he might fall behind, but he didn't. Seeing that he had no trouble, she adopted her usual pace and jogged in her accustomed rhythm. Fintan jogged along with her, his shorter legs having to stride somewhat more often - but still he kept up with her. She wondered how long he would be able to do this...so she kept jogging and he kept up alongside her. So, her run went on, with Fintan keeping pace. He never faltered. He never fell behind. He never complained - he just kept pace with his mother. In the end, she ran her normal course - without having to accommodate Fintan at all. He ran with her a distance that was enough to leave her well-exercised - and which, assuredly, must have been quite far for such a young child.

Knowing Fintan as I do, this performance was as much a product of his determination, as of any athletic endowment. It should be noted that he hadn't run with her before like this - and so his ability to keep up was not the result of consistent training. It was the product of whatever native stamina he possesses - and a determination not to fail to pace his mother.

There is in Fintan a strong heart - of both kinds: the heart of the body and the heart of the mind.

(If you would like to learn more of Fintan, three, or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, seven years and four months, or Tiarnan, fourteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, baby genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted children and gifted adults in general. Thanks.)

Tiarnan's observation skills

Tiarnan, fourteen months, like Fintan, three, is a very observant child. He sees things other would miss - and finds interest in matters which others would not.

A few days ago, Tiarnan was walking around our house when he suddenly pointed at a blank white wall, and said: "Look at that!", very clearly.

On this invitation, we indeed, "looked at that." He was pointing at two pin pricks in the wall, one above the other. In its white surface they were two little points of darkness. They weren't much to notice, but notice them Tiarnan had from a distance of perhaps four or five feet, when he first pointed them out.

He then told us: "Go there!" That is, we were to look more closely. We did as we were told. To an adult eye, they were probably evidence that something had been pinned to the wall. To Tiarnan they were a mystery worth pointing out, in an otherwise perfect, blank, white wall.

What is interesting about this is that his eye is drawn to imperfection and exception: that which is different is noticed by him.

We then went outside and he did something more revealing of his observation skills. He pointed upwards and about six metres away: "Look at that!" In his line of sight, tucked away near the corner of roof and wall, was a brown moth, lying still on the wall, in the shade.

I hadn't noticed it. It was far too far above my line of sight to do so. Yet, he had - and it was so much more above his line of sight. His gaze captures all. This is very reminiscent of Fintan's visual skill.

He studied the moth with great attention and enthusiasm: he has a definite liking for living things - he gets excited when he sees them - and this is both sweet and encouraging. Sweet because it is - encouraging because it shows that he is a child of passion - and such children always develop into something worthwhile. Their passion makes them so.

Singapore is quite a standardized environment. It is much the same everywhere. But, it seems to me, that for Tiarnan (and probably Fintan) in looking so closely at the world, they will always find something interesting to see. It is the detail that will occupy them.

The tyranny of examination grades

Singapore is one of many Asian nations that lives under a tyranny - a tyranny of grades: everyone is obsessed with them. An examination is not considered passed until you have the highest grade in the Universe - and then some.

What effect does this have on Singaporeans? Does it make them more intelligent? Does it make them more successful? Does it make them better people? Does it make them more creative?

The answer to the last four questions is a great big NO. It makes them much, much duller. Why do I say this? Well, to secure the highest grades on a consistent basis one must give up much of life. The children don't play. They don't have outside interests. They focus exclusively on schoolwork - and have no other life. They don't know how to interact with each other. They have poor social skills. They don't understand the world. They have no perspective on what they are doing or on the meaning of life. In short, they know nothing but the contents of the examination.

Perhaps knowing the contents of the examination so well is a good thing? Well...not really. Why do I say this? An examination is all about testing you on SOMEONE ELSE'S THOUGHTS. Many children become expert on other people's thoughts - but have none of their own. In some way, focussing too much on what other people have thought and written in books seems to inhibit the development of the ability to have your own. This is not supposition - but observation. I have taught in classrooms in Singapore - and I note an absence, even in the "best" students - of the ability to think for themselves. Many of them have ceded their own ability to think and subjugated it to the yoke of a textbook written by another. Nothing worthwhile ever comes of this mindset.

If given the freedom to write as they please, teenagers brought up to see the textbook as King and the examination as all, tend to say: "But you haven't told us what to write...". I have heard that thought many times. It saddens me everytime to hear it - for it means one thing and one thing alone: their obsession with grades and their acquisition has not taught them how to think - it has taught them how not to think. It has taught them that their thoughts are worth nothing and that the textbook is everything. These youngsters never write from their own minds - but from regurgitated memories of the minds of others.

It is common in Asia to use a child's examination grades and, largely speaking, their grades alone for selection purposes for further education - and then for employment. Are these societies being served well by this practice?

I don't think so. You see, many of the children who get the highest grades, consistently, show little ability to think for themselves. They have become rigid thinkers. Their thoughts are very defined and contained by the prior work of others. These people do not originate, do not create or innovate - they only repeat the ideas of others. Such a way of life can only take a society so far. The people that should really be identified, promoted and nurtured are not the kids obsessed with grades and competitiveness - but the kids who love to learn, understand, grow and think for themselves - and for knowledge itself. By this I mean that they have a true passion for their subject. It is these children who are likely to be creative: their knowledge springs from a love of learning - and not a need for a perfect grade. In my experience, such children are more open to considering many ideas, are more able to produce their own and are more flexible in their approach to things. They may, however, be overlooked in a society that places too much emphasis on academic competition - and the consequent grading.

If grades were the answer, places like Singapore and Korea would be the greatest centres of thinking in the world - for they have the highest grades in maths and science, worldwide - yet, they are not. Other places with lesser grades have a greater reputation for innovation. This shows that there is a disconnection between grade and real world performance. What is that disconnection? It is the ability to think for oneself. Grades measure your ability to think someone else's thoughts. They say nothing about your ability to think your own - and there lies the problem. True thinkers are not necessarily being selected for and given opportunity - those who think like others, are, however.

Is there a remedy? Yes. Education systems - and societies - need to be broader in their assessment of children and the adults they become. They need to look at the whole person - and ask: is this someone with a mind of their own? Is this someone who can think independently? Is this someone with a creative spark? If the answer to any of these questions is a yes - then, as long as they have shown a basic awareness of the material of their discipline, by passing the relevant exams, the actual grades should not be regarded as particularly important. The capacity to create and innovate - and think their OWN thoughts is of vastly greater significance. A society which shows more flexibility and open-ness in how it selects its "movers and shakers" - and members of the "thinking classes", is a society more likely to give opportunity to people who actually have the capacity to do something new; the capacity to change things for the better by actually being able to be creative.

Why do I post on this? Well, it is something I have long observed and long thought on - but the immediate catalyst was my meeting with Associate Professor Tim White and a remark he made. He revealed to me his own experience of this matter. He had encountered students with perfect grades who were "rigid thinkers" - who were not very good as researchers - while he also knew of other researchers whose grades, "included the odd B or C", who were actually "among our most gifted researchers". This is a very telling observation indeed. It shows that the common thinking around educational grading is mistaken. His better researchers - that is, those who showed more CREATIVITY in the lab - actually had poorer grades than some others, who had better grades, but less creativity. This is a phenomenon that must be more widely appreciated. Otherwise societies and institutions will continue to deny opportunity and access to the very people who have the most to offer: the creative few.

What are we to learn from this? Well, a student with perfect grades may indeed be the best thinker and the best creator - but the grades themselves do not establish that: other factors not measured by the grading system, do. Creativity is not measured by examinations (especially in the sciences). So, examinations don't tell us who is creative and capable of original contribution. Therefore, we cannot say that the student with perfect grades is the best candidate for a role that involves creative production - nor can we say that they are not. We can actually say nothing about whether they are suited to such a role or not, from the result of the examination alone. However, the same applies to the student who does NOT have perfect grades. They might actually be the best researcher and the most creative individual available - but their less than perfect grades might cause them to be overlooked. It is also true that they might not be the best researcher. We can say nothing about their creative capacity from the grades alone. Yet, we MUST not close our minds to the possibility that, of two candidates, the one with the lesser grades might actually be the better creative thinker.

How are we to decide the matter then, between candidates? Look at them more broadly and see what evidence there is in their lives and work to show creativity and use that information to decide between them. Don't just look at grading - because it is often a poor guide to the best thinkers. The greatest thinkers don't really like thinking other people's thoughts the whole time - yet examinations require just that from them. So, you won't find the best thinkers by harvesting those of perfect grade.

There is an ultimate logical conclusion to this which must be stated. In the final analysis, if a person shows that they can be creative, they should be given the opportunity to create, in a supportive context, even if they have NO examination passes at all.

Now that would really be an educational revolution.

Ainan's charity work day

Yesterday was a busy day for Ainan. After his visit to NTU, he did some charity work.

It was Ainan's first taste of volunteer work. He was helping the charity Amazing Kidz raise funds for brain-damaged children. They are seeking to open a therapy centre for them. His role was to stop passers-by and ask them either to fill out a donation form - or to buy some postcards from him for a minimum of two dollars.

Quite a few people recognized him. A couple of elderly ladies noticed him and approached to gawk - but refused to donate when asked: they just wanted to catch a glimpse of Ainan. Fortunately, this kind were not alone. There were others who, when stopped by him, gladly donated to the charity or purchased postcards.

It was a good experience for Ainan. Firstly, it introduced him to the plight of some children who are not as blessed as he is and allows him to come to a better understanding of the world, thereby - and the various places of both others and himself in it. Secondly, it allowed him to do something actively to help others - which is always a good influence on a child's growth and perspective. Thirdly, however, it helped him deal with something which is difficult for many children: rejection. When he first got rejected by someone he approached to ask for a donation, he was put out: his face was a picture of hurt. Syahidah knew how to deal with this - for she was with him. She showed him that it was not personal. She approached someone seeking a donation - and was also rejected. "See, its normal." she said to him - and he did. "If they do that, just say thanks - and move on." she advised him. By her example, he understood - and so did as she had - whenever they donated, he thanked them - and, whenever they refused to donate - he thanked them, too - and moved on to the next. In the end, it was quite a productive afternoon, by Ainan, on behalf of the brain-damaged children of Singapore.

It was my wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley's idea to get him involved - and I think it was a good decision. He enjoyed it, he helped others - and came to understand something about people and himself that he had not known.

The fund raising occasion was in association with Ben and Jerry's, the ice-cream manufacturer. It was a special event at which ice-cream was ten dollars a cone, with the funds going to the charity. People formed big queues for the event - and were generous in paying out so much over the odds for an ice-cream. In addition, Ainan and my wife, Syahidah invited passers-by to make donations. It went well.

Ainan is likely to do other charity work in future.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and four months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, three or Tiarnan, fourteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted children and gifted adults. Thanks.)

Fintan on extraterrestrial life in the Universe

Fintan, three, is an imaginative child - and with that comes a certain open-mindedness. This allows him to consider things which, perhaps, others might not. Yesterday, he spoke of one of those things.

It was getting late in the evening and Fintan had been watching television. Syahidah, his mother, rose from the sofa to do something and Fintan looked across at her in alarm:

"Don't go mummy..." he said, anxiously.

She paused and looked back at him.

"Don't let the aliens come to my house." he continued, in explanation, with a strange intonation that spoke simultaneously of anxiousness - and curiosity, as if, deep down, he wanted them to come, that he wanted to see them.

Syahidah didn't comment but let him speak on.

"Why is the aliens colour so...so...so..." there was a kind of disgust on his face, as if to say: "They look yukky." I think this is the fashion conscious part of him deciding that bright green is just not the right choice.

Then, finally, and a little longingly: "Why do the aliens live so far away?"

I think he rather wants to meet these aliens - and perhaps one day he will. Perhaps we all will - if we live long enough to see that day. I doubt though that they will be Little Green Men.

I found it curious that he understood that any aliens would be far away: it seems he has some grasp of the scale of the Universe and the distances involved. The stars are not just an arms' length away. He has already grasped that in his three year old world.

I got Fintan a "dinosaur" one day. I think getting him an "alien" might be a little more difficult. Oh well.

A quiet trip to NTU, Singapore

Today Ainan enjoyed a quiet trip to the Nanyang Technological University. This is a more relaxed sequel to his first visit, which was a little time-strapped. Our gracious and helpful host was the Head of the Division of Material Sciences, Associate Professor Tim White - a genial man with a flare for communicating science with interest and clarity.

We saw a synthetic chemistry lab - which immediately struck Ainan, with his very sensitive nose, as a most smelly place: he kept clutching his hand to his face. Interestingly, he was able to identify certain types of molecule by their smell.

Tim showed him some of the basic equipment of a synthetic lab, at work: a centrifuge (operating at 10,000 rpm - to which Ainan opined: "That is not fast...a circular saw is faster."; a fume cupboard - and a vacuum apparatus - to extract poisonous fumes. We also saw quite a few chemicals, many of them unpleasant if consumed. Luckily we weren't feeling hungry.

Ainan visited a Transmission Electron Microscope - through which he was able to view atoms in arrays. Yes, you read correctly, Ainan actually had a look at atoms today. The magnification was about six million times. Ainan listened intently as Professor White explained the operations of the device.

Ainan enjoyed making some complex structures of his own, drawing molecules, browsing through abstruse tomes and generally imbibing the nature of a chemical life. He had a great morning.

Our thanks to Associate Professor Tim White for his continued generosity. Ainan much appreciated the visit and the further opportunity it afforded him to come to a concrete understanding of a chemist's working life.

(If you would like to read more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and four months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, three, and Tiarnan, fourteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted children and gifted adults in general. Thanks.)

Front page news, Malaysia

Yesterday, Ainan was front page news in Malaysia. In fact, not just front page: Ainan was the first story on the front page of Utusan Malaysia, the most widely read Malay newspaper. That made him the TOP STORY of the day, in that paper.

It is a spooky feeling when one's son is the top story in a newspaper - but a good one.

Other papers which carried the story included Kosmo (page two); The Borneo Post and the Daily Express - these two are newspapers with good circulations.

Thus, as of yesterday, Ainan is known throughout the Malay speaking world. That is a total not far short of 300 million people.

Thank you to the Malay media for taking an interest in Ainan and taking the trouble to cover his achievement with care.

(If you would like to read more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and four months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, three and Tiarnan, fourteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, child prodigy, intelligence, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Terimah Kasih dan Tahniah

Pertama sekali kami sekeluarga mahu mengucapkan terima kasih kepada Ainan dan anak-anak saya yang lain, Fintan dan Tiarnan. Tanpa mereka tiadalah cerita dan inspirasi untuk blog ini.

Saya sekeluarga mahu mengucapkan ribuan terima kasih juga kepada peminat yang sering membaca blog ini. Suami saya amat terharu atas respon yang diterima dari semanjung Malaysia. Siapakah penulis tanpa pembaca ?

Semalam saya ke Johor bersama ibu saya, nenek kepada Ainan. Dia amat terkejut tetapi gembira melihat namanya terpapar di suratkhabar. Kepada ibu dan bapa saya terima kasih.

Kepada suami saya yang tidak faham apa yang tulis....terimah kasih atas cinta kepada anak-anaknya. ; )

Blog ini adalah tentang pendidikan, perangai kanak-kanak dan gelagat Ainan, Fintan dan Tiarnan dan is-isu yang dihadapi seorang "child prodigy". Kalau pembaca minat meninggalkan komen, tolong email kepada the.cawleys@gmail.com.

Malay Translations of Blog Posts

Today, so far, there have been about 2,700 visitors to this blog from Malaysia. In the light of this, I am going to try to include Malay translations of my postings in the future, to satisfy the interest of Malaysian visitors. Thus the same posting would appear in two languages. I would welcome your thoughts on this - from both English and Malay readers.

Malay postings will not necessarily be available at the same time as the English postings - but, if there is enough demand from Malaysia and Indonesia (as well as, of course, Singapore) I shall continue to post in Malay.

I hope this widens access to my blog. This post will be translated later - since I understand the irony of promising in English, a translation to Malay!

These translations will not, of course, be done by me, but by my wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley - so I thank her, in advance, for her help in this matter. I do not know whether she will have time to translate all postings - but she could certainly do some, which no doubt would help many readers.

Best wishes all.

Tiarnan Budak Burani

Tiarnan Budak Berani

Tiarnan baru berumur 14 bulan dan mempunyai 2 abang. Jadi, ia memang jadi persoalan, bagaimanakah Tiarnan bergaul dengan abang-abangnya yang lebih tua dan besar darinya. Kalau diperhatikan dari segi permainan dengan abangnya inilah yang kami lihat.

Selalu juga Fintan (3+ tahun) dan Tiarnan bermain bersama kerana umur mereka yang rapat. Kadang-kadang, Fintan akan merampas mainan Tiarnan kerana tidak sabar menanti atau mainan itu dianggap kepunyaan beliau. Jadi apakah yang yang dilakukan Tiarnan jikalau mainan itu diambil darinya ?

Waktu bayi, kerana tidak bisa melawan abangnya (dari segi fizikal, Tiarnan kurus. Fintan amat tegap dan berat macam besi).Dia diam sahaja tetapi sekarang berbeza pula. Selepas mainan dirampas dari tangannya, dia terus ke kamarnya, ambil mainan yang berbeza, lari kembali ke abangnya dan tunjuk mainan itu di depan muka abangnya. Selalu juga, dia katakan "Look !" - lihat. Seolah-olah, mengatakan, "Lihat abang, kamu bisa ambil mainan saya tetapi saya ada yang lain."

Tiarnan tidak menangis, merengeng atau merajuk. Malah dia tidak takut dengan abangnya atau mengadu dengan ibu bapanya. Tiarnan mempunyai percaya diri and tidak mudah patah hati. Insyallah, bila besar dia tidak mudah kecundang dan walaupun gagal atau dikalahi bisa bangun sekali lagi.

(If you would like to read more of Tiarnan, fourteen months, or his gifted brothers, including Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and four months, or Fintan, three, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, baby genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Tiarnan, the Defiant

Tiarnan is fourteen months old, with two elder siblings. It is that fact that I wish to consider. How does Tiarnan deal with having two, older, larger brothers?

I will look at the situation through the lens of a single behaviour. Sometimes, there is competition for toys - who plays with what when - between Fintan and Tiarnan, since they are quite close in age, Fintan being three. Occasionally this will mean that Fintan will snatch a toy off Tiarnan, if he is too impatient to wait, or perceives the toy as "his" and therefore rightfully owned (which may, indeed, be the case). So, what does Tiarnan do, if a toy is taken from him?

Well, recently, in the past few weeks, he has adopted quite an amusing response. After being snatched from, he will run off and get another toy. Then he will come back and brandish it in the face of the snatcher, as if to say: "Well, you can't get this one!" He stands there, diminutive and all defiant: it is both sweet and funny - but interesting for what it says of his developing character. He doesn't bemoan his loss. He doesn't cry. He doesn't kick up a fuss - he just goes off and gets another one - and then challenges the snatcher to do the same to his new toy. There is, in this the sense of an admirably robust and resilient personality developing - one that will not be easily thwarted by the actions of others. I think, from the evidence of his style of play, that Tiarnan will be the sort of person who has the persistence to overcome many challenges and always find a way to bounce back.

(If you would like to read more of Tiarnan, fourteen months, or his gifted brothers, including Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and four months, or Fintan, three, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, baby genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Ainan's gum arabic flow experiment

Ainan is an incessant experimenter. He never ceases to engage with the world in an experimental manner, testing it, learning about it, studying it in an active, responsive manner. This, however, is something I have come to be used to. It is the daily background of our life with Ainan. What ever manages to amaze me, however, is the degree of control he exerts over nature in his experiments: he seems to have an instinct for what to do to achieve the end he desires.

I will give you an example. About a month ago, Ainan had in his possession something he called: "Gum arabic". Where he got it from I do not know. Yet, he had some. I didn't know anything about this substance so he decided to show me something which he believed he could do with it.

He took the gum arabic in his hand and pinched it with his fingers so that it formed a dumbell shape - two spheres connected by a bridge. He then stretched it out so that the bridge became longer - yet it remained connected. He placed one end of the dumbell at the base of a door, sticking it to the surface of the door - the other he stretched until it was high up and held it there.

"Watch." he said, knowing what would happen but not telling me.

Before my eyes the "gum arabic" flowed down from the upper dumbell to the lower, along the bridge that still had not broken. This surprised me because the bridge was about one and a quarter metres long at this point. The material flowed continuously, the bridge becoming hair thin - perhaps thinner - but still it flowed and didn't break. As I watched the upper dumbell flowed down into the lower one - and, despite the greatly stretched nature of the bridge, it remained unbroken throughout.

This moment is typical of Ainan's gift for experimental interaction with the world. He seems to understand the properties of substances very well and knows how to relate to them to achieve his end - however unlikely those ends might be. Perhaps what I see here is the foundation of an experimental scientist to come, one who will, one day, engage with the world in new ways, with new results that advance whichever science he eventually chooses to contribute to.

(If you would like to read more Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and four months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, three and Tiarnan, fourteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Tiarnan arranges time with mummy

A couple of days ago, Tiarnan, fourteen months, was leaving the house in the arms of his mother, for a trip out when he turned back.

"Look!", he said, pointing at his brother, Fintan, three. Fintan was following them out the door.

Tiarnan assessed the situation and its likely effect on his trip with his mother.

"In!" he said, to his elder brother and pointed back through the door through which Fintan had come.

Uncannily, Fintan did as he was told and went back into the house. I rather feel this was a kindness on Fintan's part - but it was funny to see the elder brother obey the command of his baby sibling.

On seeing Fintan return home, Tiarnan burst out laughing in his michievous way: he had got his way, in what was perhaps an unexpected manner.

He had a good, personal time out, with his mother - just as he had commanded.

Tiarnan is growing into a little boy who asserts himself and his needs quite directly. He is also revealing a developed sense of humour which shows itself in the way he interacts with his brothers and in the things he laughs at. He is quite a cheeky little chap - in the most endearing of ways.

(If you would like to read more of Tiarnan, fourteen months, or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and four months, or Fintan, three, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted children and gifted adults in general. Thanks.)