[ExI] Gifted children

[Adrian Tymes]

On Wed, Nov 7, 2012 at 1:25 AM, Sondre Bjellås <sondre-list at bjellas.com> wrote:
> We live in Norway and our daughter is still only 19+ months old, but we've
> already started thinking about what we can do for her in regards to
> schooling. Here in Norway, there are virtually no private alternatives other
> than religious schools. The public schools are some of the worst in the
> world and Norwegians score poorly in global tests.

Worst in Europe, maybe.  "Worst in the world" means you're
comparing to countries which have virtually no public schooling,
and/or outlaw girls going to school.  It seems highly unlikely
that Norway's schools would be nearly that bad.

> Which country would be a good alternative where one would be able to get a
> visa, permanent residency?

I echo Bill's statement that you should seriously look at
schools within Norway first.

That said, if you're serious about changing countries - which
suggests you have reasons other than just education - schools
in parts of the US are really good.  Be careful which part you
choose, but for instance, the public primary education in Palo
Alto, California ranks among the best in the world (though
schools in certain other parts of California, not so much) - and
the area is generally welcoming to transhumanist mindsets.

> Our daughter on the other hand, is showing incredible skills even at 19
> months.

Be careful.  Lots of parents think their children perform far, far
beyond the level they actually perform at.  It is a natural
cognitive bias - but it is still a bias.

> She have been using the iPad since she was 3 months old, for watching
> movies. Now she plays a lot of games, and whenever she comes across any
> device, she'll unlock it in a second and find her favorite apps and games.

Try getting her interested in math and logic games.  Not the
typical "do a puzzle to get some flashy unrelated reward", but
games where the puzzle to solve is actually related to advancing
things.  Things like these, though they may be too advanced
just now: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_Odyssey#Similar_games

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/7221/on-sets may be
better at her age.

> The norm here in Norway is to put kids
> in kinder-garden at 1 year of age, we felt that was to early and we thought
> we could do better ourselves.

Kindergarten in the US starts at 5.  See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_United_States