The Nurburgring race track, Germany

I have to come that the true purpose of children, is to surprise their parents. That, after all, is what my children do, with astonishing regularity.

A few weeks ago, Fintan, seven, was in a shopping centre, with me. We were walking past an electronics store. Outside it, were some high end televisions, showing glossy images, to attract attention. One of them showed a racing car in action.

"That", said Fintan, as he stopped in his tracks, "is the Nurburgring."

Personally, I was flabbergasted. How on Earth could Fintan recognize a German race track, from a few seconds of footage on a TV?

"How do you know that?", I asked Fintan.

"Anyone knows that.", said Ainan, with an implicit shrug.

"Really?", I countered, looking at him, intently. "How many seven year olds do you know, that recognize the Nurburgring, from a glimpse?"

"Ah.", said Ainan, coming to a realization, "Yes. Among seven year olds, perhaps none of them would recognize it...but among those who know about racing..."

"Yes...and how many youngsters do?"

Ainan fell silent, his wordlessness sufficient agreement for my liking.

I thought the whole incident very informative for the way my son's mind worked. He only needed a fragmentary image of the Nurburgring, to recognize it. That can only mean that he is very visual in his thinking - or at least one aspect of it - and is able to match parts of images with ease. I was impressed, for it was something that, at forty two, I could not do. I simply didn't know enough about racing to recognize the tracks. Fintan, at seven, however, had imbibed enough background knowledge, from his shared passion for cars, with Ainan, to do so, in an instant.

Like I said, to be a father, can be surprising, at times, but also humbling...for though young, little children may be able to do things, that one cannot do oneself - and they do it, without apparent effort.

Well done, Fintan!

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To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

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Singapore Zoo: a day out.

Yesterday we went to Singapore zoo with Tiarnan, sixteen months and Fintan, three.

Now, Tiarnan had never been to a zoo before and his reactions were most interesting. When he was taken to the White Tiger enclosure, he looked inside at its green expanse and seemed puzzled: he didn't know what he was supposed to see. It was about a minute of looking around, until, one sudden moment of perception, he saw the two big cats basking in the Sun. His face split wide in his enthusiastic grin, the one he saves for when he is very happy, and he pointed at the White Tigers. They were, indeed, beautiful - and it is somewhat saddening to read, elsewhere, that there are as few as 7,000 tigers (of all kinds) left in the world today. 100 years ago, that total was over 100,000. Someone has been doing a lot of hunting.

There were several instances of Tiarnan's behaviour that are worth remarking on. Throughout he was very intense, with a slight frown as he looked at the animals, as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing: these strange looking animals were actually alive and moving.

On one occasion, Tiarnan excitedly pointed at a metal bin and said, very clearly: "Zebra!". We looked at the bin. It was black and white striped, like a Zebra. It was a funny moment - and an enlightening one, too. Tiarnan has never seen a Zebra in the flesh - but he recognized its coat pattern when suggested in paint. That speaks well of his visual perception - and ability to associate.

Later he saw actual Zebras and he was reduced to pointing and going "OOOH!", so excited was he.

At one time, he pointed and said: "Crocodile!" and looking where he had pointed, we saw a TV monitor, with a crocodile showing. I find it interesting that he is already able to name and identify animals of all kinds - and yet he had never seen any in the flesh, until yesterday.

I will save Fintan's zoo behaviour for another post.

Fintan's creative perception

Fintan, three, sees the world through artist's eyes. An example of this occurred a couple of months ago.

We were travelling back from the East Coast (an artificial beach, actually), when Fintan pointed out of the window and said: "Man who...", then he pulled back an imaginary arrow on an imaginary bow, indicating with actions what he had no words for.

I looked at where his eyes were fixed. There stood an incomplete metal structure. It looked like part of a giant Ferris Wheel. It was positioned in the Marina area. A memory came back to me that once it was mooted that Singapore build a giant "Eye" like that in London. Perhaps this was it. Or perhaps this was some kind of industrial machine whose purpose was not clear. It was a grey metallic structure consisting of an upright column, with a metal framework attached shaped like a slice of cheesecake: an arc stretching out into space. Clearly it was only partially built. Now, that he had pointed it out, I, too, could see how it could be seen as an archer, standing majestically by the sea.

How beautiful is Fintan's world that he can see such things in it. He sees patterns everywhere, reinterpreting the world with his artistic gaze wherever he looks. In many ways, his way of seeing is much more interesting than the world actually is. For everywhere he looks he sees something exciting in it. This pattern matching, of course, is an old tendency of many men: one need only think of those who first saw the constellations above in points of light and gave them names and histories. Fintan is doing the same in his own way, with his own world: giving a little magic to a world that may have none without it.

Perhaps Fintan the pattern finder will become Fintan the artist, one day. His outlook certainly seems like one.

Old age in the eyes of one young

Tiarnan knows what old age is - yet he is only eleven months old.

We have a puppet from the former Czech Republic, in the form of a "wizard". It looks a rather Gandalf-like figure, with a long grey beard and long grey hair.

Recently, Tiarnan looked at this puppet, on the wall, and said: "Atto". Now, this is the Malay word for grandfather - and is the term used to describe his own grandfather, on his mother's side, rather than a name. His grandfather does not have long grey hair - he has short hair, much of which is still dark, with quite a few streaks of silver. Nor does he have a long, grey beard - in fact, he is clean shaven and neatly presented. Furthermore, the puppet is Caucasian in appearance and Atto is Malay, so physically they are quite different. Yet, it was clear from his remark that Tiarnan saw "atto-like" qualities in the puppet. He had recognized that both his grandfather and the puppet looked old (at least compared to him, I suppose - since his grandfathers - both - are in pretty good condition!)

This is one of the qualities that Tiarnan shows already in his thinking: recognizing similarity and commonality - and being able to categorize a new phenomenon alongside others already known. I think it is an important thinking skill in coming to understand how the world is, what it is and how it works.

I wonder what I look like to him?

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

Tiarnan and the "animals"

Tiarnan is eleven months old but, in that short time, he seems to have picked up quite a bit of general knowledge.

Yesterday, Syahidah, his mother, drew on his elder brother's face, with make up: it was an animal face.

On seeing Fintan's made up face, Tiarnan said: "Tiger". Spot on.

Later in the day, as Fintan wore a different set of make up, Tiarnan said: "Dog", on seeing him. Again, he got it right.

I found it interesting that he could see the representation of the animal face in a few lines of make up - and understand what was meant by those lines. That is the beginnings of understanding of art.

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

The meaning of a shadow

On the 22nd of December, Tiarnan, ten months, was being held by his mother. Both were lit from behind by an incandesent bulb.

Syahidah, his mother, waved her hand in the air, as if to say goodbye, throwing a shadow on the wall. Tiarnan looked at the shadow of the moving hand, pointed and said: "Bird". To him, the waving of a hand, in shadow, had resembled the flapping of a bird's wing.

Tiarnan shares this visual characteristic with Fintan - both are associative in their thinking, especially visually.

This moment recalled another time, several months ago, while in a taxi. He had peered out of the window and announced: "Bird, bird" as we passed some birds by the side of the road. He is rather fond of them and their flying ways.

Fintan and the "Crocodile"

Fintan, three, is a very visual child. Sometimes this leads to surprising moments.

He was watching television with his mother, Syahidah, the other day and she began flicking through the channels, in rapid succession. She came to one channel and said, on seeing the image on the screen: "Oh look Fintan, this will be good, it is about a crocodile."

Fintan said, at once: "No mummy, that is not a crocodile, that is an alligator."

Syahidah stopped her channel hopping to let the channel play. Sure enough, a moment later the commentator referred to the creature as "an alligator".

How on Earth did he know and see the difference between them? Most adults I know wouldn't be able to distinguish them, at all. In fact, I don't think I could.

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