A memory for old age.

Today, I saw something which I rather feel, I shall always remember. To some, it might seem like a little thing, but to me, it is an iconic image.

I was coming home, after having been out, about my day, when I noticed something on the gate, to our house. It is a wide, black gate, made of old, much put upon wood. At the touch of a switch, it parts to let cars or people alike, through. However, the surface of the gate has a patina of dust, clinging to it, partially because of the nature of the paint on it.

Now, there is nothing remarkable about dust on a gate, but to me, there was something remarkable on that gate. All over the surface, little fingers had traced pictures, in the dust. They were pictures of happy, smiling people, joyously at play. I imagined, as I saw them, Tiarnan's and Fintan's fingers, drawing in the dust, expressing what was in their hearts and minds. It is clear, there is much happiness there - but also a desire to express it. They had drawn spontaneously on what their world offered them: a dusty gate.

I wished, in that moment, for a camera, but we have none that is working today (we have lost the charger). I hope, therefore, that the rain, which began moments after I saw the images, doesn't wash them away. I would like a photo of that indelible memory, so that I can show others, what I saw that day and explain to them, what it means to me. On that gate, I saw my children's childhood laid out before me. It was a sweet one, filled with innocent happiness. It made me smile, so, to see what they had done. I knew, in that moment, that I would remember that gate and its traced happiness. I knew that that gate would be forever with me, because it captured the essence of my children, as they are now, at the beginning of their lives.

I only hope I can photograph it, before it is gone.

Thank you Tiarnan (four) and Fintan (seven) for showing me what is in your hearts. I am happy to see it so.

I will remember that drawing of theirs upon the gate: the question is - will they remember it too? Will it become a memory of their childhoods...or will it be lost, for ever, as just one more day, in this eternal summer we live, near the Equator?

I hope to ask them one day, and to remind them of their tracings on the gate, in its obliging dust.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.htmlI also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

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A child's response to Wall-e.

Ainan saw Wall-e with us all, a few days ago. His response to it was most interesting. He didn't just talk about it, he actually did something.

When he got home, Ainan drew all the characters in Wall-e that interested him. He drew them with a biro in a notebook and labelled them all. What particularly struck me was that each character was recognizable - and was given its appropriate name - yet he had only just seen the show once. Ainan had absorbed the physical esssence of each character and was able to reproduce them, in pen, later.

He drew images of the following characters from memory: Mo, Eve, Van-go, Buf-4, Go-4, Brl-A, Auto, Wall-e, Wall-a, Pr-t, D-fib, L-t, Vak-uum, Han-S. To me that seems an awful lot of different characters to register in sufficient detail to be able to actually draw a good likeness of each of them later. Yet, Ainan did just that.

To my mind, Wall-e struck Ainan deeply enough that he had to respond to it in a creative manner in some way. His response was to draw every character, perhaps to capture the experience for himself in his own way.

For me, the most memorable aspect of the film will now be the way Ainan responded to it. Though I must say the film itself is an enjoyable comment on modern life - and a warning about it, too. See it, if you haven't already.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight 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, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

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The signs of an artist

I believe that who we are to become is evident in our childhoods. Careful observation of any child will lead to an understanding of their special gifts, strengths and passions, their natural inclinations and ways of thinking.

Observation of Fintan, four exactly, points us in several directions but mainly, two: life as an actor and life as an artist.

At the weekend, I took Fintan to see Transformers. At the end of the show, I asked him which transformer he had liked best. Instead of giving me a name, or a description, he did what can only be interpreted to be an infallible sign of an artist. Fintan drew the Transformer in the air, before my eyes. He traced the lines of the one he liked, as I watched.

"Optimus Prime? The big truck Transformer?" I gathered.

He nodded.

This display pleased me. It showed me how Fintan is beginning to think: as an artist does - in terms of lines and structures. Here what is significant is not only what Fintan did - but what he did not do. He did not reach for words, to describe his favourite Transformer; he did not give a name, he did not give a description - his instinct was to draw it, in front of him - to convey the image he had in his mind, directly to me. This shows me that visual thinking predominates in him - but it also shows me that the visual mode is his preferred means of communication.

I think Fintan will one day say much, in silence, with his pencil in his hand, sketching his thought, but not speaking of it. This is the characteristic of a true artist.

(If you would like to learn more of Fintan, four years and no months, or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, seven years and seven months, and Tiarnan, seventeen 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.)

Fintan draws mummy and daddy

Yesterday, we gave Fintan, three, a piece of charcoal and a piece of paper to see what he would do. He decided to draw his parents.

First, he drew mummy. He gave her eyes which looked like eyes and a mouth which looked like a mouth. The eyes had lashes and the mouth had teeth. He did not draw a stick figure stereotyped face as most children draw - but actually sought to render what he saw before him. It might have been better if we had given him another medium rather than charcoal for he tended to smudge what he had drawn - but the results were very interesting. He actually produced a recognizably human face.

Daddy's face was less complimentary - but again he followed the "draw what I see" mode and came up with something in a style of his own.

What was particularly interesting was the manner in which he tackled the task. When it came to me, he held the charcoal in his hand and looked at me for a long pause, as he took in what was before him, before he began to draw. He was very much performing as the little artist deciding how to approach his subject. He drew with earnest but with speed and clearly enjoyed what he was doing. Perhaps he will be an artist like his mummy, one day. It would be nice to think so.

We didn't direct him in how to draw, but let him draw as he pleased: that way we had a chance to see how he saw the world - and not how we wanted him to see it. It is better that way, I think. It is more true to the child.