Razel Solow, Ph.D. and Celeste Rhodes, Ph.D. turn the chief criticism of early college entrance–that early entrance inhibits healthy social development–on its head in College at 13: Young, Gifted and Purposeful (Great Potential Press, 2012). Their book is centered on a longitudinal study of fourteen women who entered Mary Baldwin College’s Program for the Exceptionally Gifted (PEG) between the ages of 13 to 16. Dr. Rhodes, who had been the Assistant, Associate and Executive Director of PEG, began the study supported by a grant from the Malone Family Foundation. When poor health precluded her from continuing her work, Dr. Rhodes invited Dr. Solow to finish the project. Dr. Solow is the former director of the Center for Gifted Studies and Education at Hunter College.

Rhodes’s and Solow’s case study materials stretch from birth into well-formed adult lives. Pseudonymously presented, the PEG graduates share their stories in detail. The reasons they entered PEG offer important insights into the life of a gifted girl in middle school. Many scholarly publications on the development of gifted children precede College at 13, but Rhodes and Solow stay away from normed studies. Instead, they stay with their subjects’ voices and let these fourteen women describe the world of giftedness. The women share stories of being isolated, confused, humiliated, and slapped. The authors spare nothing.

Grounded in this detail, Solow and Rhodes make the case that socialization and social development ought not be confused. Socialization, the art of joining a group, can be an impossibility if the group is fundamentally hostile. The middle school years, when students turn away from their families and toward their peers, present a painful choice: give up your passions, conform, and be included; or not. Beyond fellow students, the girls’ teachers are a mixed bag, some supportive and some clearly destructive. The consequences of socialization denied include social development inhibited. Echoing her fellow PEGs, Julia says, “Not caring about what everyone thinks is one thing, but feeling okay about being different is something else.”

Supportive parents are the heroes of the book, and Solow and Rhodes get to the parents’ stories straightaway. It takes a special kind of mother and father to move a thirteen-year-old daughter onto a college campus. Words describing home life with these parents include “peace,” “trust,” and “seriousness.” Over and over the parents talk about how they want their daughters to pursue their dreams and interests. Comparing these students to a study of 81 class valedictorians in Illinois, Solow and Rhodes observe that there are important differences between parents who want their children to succeed and parents who want their children to grow. Identifying those parents and the support they have given, and likely will give, is crucial in making radical acceleration work.

And what happens twenty years or so later? These students have remarkably unremarkable lives. To be sure, most of them continue as students (eight Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Fine Arts degree holders, and one in progress; one lawyer; one Ph.D. and one in progress; one M.D. in progress). But they don’t speak of isolation and feeling different, even when they are different. One young woman entered law school at eighteen and surprised her classmates when everyone went to a bar and she couldn’t order a drink. She was confident, they were respectful, and the evening rolled on. Other alumnae describe the nuts and bolts of everyday life: putting a bed in an office because of fibromyalgia; struggling to come out to a father; juggling her desire to build a woodworking business and her promise to finish her parents’ kitchen remodeling. These details are small, sometimes humorous, and very reassuring. Being denied normalcy in their mid-teens, these women are having typical, mostly stable and happy, ordinary adult lives.

Two clear advantages of radical acceleration for women emerge. First, they have more time to complete their educations and build careers before they start families. For a number of women, there is a new dimension to balancing career and family development. The challenge for some women, especially working in professions which require lengthy educations and apprenticeships, is finding the point at which to divide a career between working long hours and working with flexibility once professional credentials are in place. Radical acceleration adds years to early career building. Second, being younger at graduation means the women have “extra time as a bonus, not as a launching pad for another round of running ahead.” It struck me that these bonus years can be transferred years. Skipping over high school moves years that can be destructive and esteem-busting into post-college years better lived because the whole self is more formed. Social development is a lifelong affair.

College at 13’s shortcoming is that these are successful entrants and graduates of radical acceleration. Rhodes’s and Solow’s fourteen PEG alumnae are among twenty handpicked by Mary Baldwin’s administration. Did everyone’s story go so well? What about the students who dropped out of PEG, or struggled with their youthfulness after graduation? And are all successes Mary Baldwin graduations? Several years ago I worked with a young woman who attended PEG for one year, “because I needed a break from high school.” Feeling better about herself, she was ready to return to high school.

Solow and Rhodes do us all a favor by shining light on a subject that can arouse passions without understanding. We talk often about supporting the whole gifted child. What exactly does radical acceleration offer the whole gifted adult? Not every gifted child is a good candidate for radical acceleration. Not every gifted child is a good candidate for high school. College at 13 contributes to understanding the differences.

Kate Duey is a private college counselor serving gifted students. She has worked with students who are age-mates with their graduating high school class, home schooled students, community college students, and students seeking accelerated or early college entrance. Kate is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School. She has a Certificate in College Counseling from UCLA. She also has three incredible daughters.

Kate will be speaking about college selection and admissions for gifted students at ÓĹĂŰĘÓƵ’s next parent meeting on March 30th. Register for this free event here (the event has since ended).

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Several years ago, as I was looking for content to share on ÓĹĂŰĘÓƵ’s social networks one day, I stumbled across a . I found myself captivated by everything she was saying. She discussed introverts in an extraverted world, and I felt like she was speaking directly to me. I knew that a higher percentage of gifted kids are introverted than is the case for the general population, and it made me think about how many of our kids – and their parents – would feel the same sense of relief, self-understanding, and self-acceptance that I felt after hearing what Susan Cain had to say in that talk.

From that moment, I knew I needed to learn more about introversion, and most of the articles I casually came across on the subject referenced Cain’s book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. Upon reading that book, I realized why: Cain discusses introversion in relatable, understandable ways that bring value to a wide variety of audiences.

I continue to find myself thinking about and referencing Quiet, even though years have passed since I read the book, so I wanted to share its value with those of you who have not had the pleasure of reading it yet.

What Is In the Book

Quiet explores many aspects of introversion and extroversion from scientific, historic, cultural and social standpoints. Cain discusses:

• Both introversion and extroversion, explaining that one is not better than the other, but rather different.
• The difference between introversion and shyness, helping to dispel the myth that all introverts are shy.
• Famous introverts and how they harnessed their “power” as introverts to become successful.
• The science and history behind introversion.
• Other traits associated with introversion.
• The cultural context of how introversion and extroversion are viewed.
• How we deal with these traits.
• To what these traits translate.

The book is not trying to prove that introverts are better. Instead, it discusses that introversion is valuable – that introverts and extroverts each bring important dynamics that are valuable together – but that right now introverts are being squelched, so she is speaking up for them.

Why I Recommend It, Even for Extroverts

I highly recommend this book to introverts as well as extroverts who love and/or work with introverts. This book is a great one for parents of gifted children who are introverts, which is a great many of you. It is also good for teachers, who are charged with shaping young minds in an environment most often suited for extroverts.

Cain is extremely informative about the science and history behind her arguments while still keeping the tone of the book fairly conversational most of the time. Cain references a great deal of academic research that helps lend credibility to her perspective but often relies on stories to truly illustrate her points. I know she’s credible because she proves she’s done her research, and I understand her points easily because she makes them human and relatable. This is a difficult balance to strike, but Cain does it extremely well.

Additionally, you can put as little or as much thought into this book as you want. You can simply read what Cain writes and get a fairly good understanding of introversion. If you want to learn more, Cain references many studies throughout the book that you can explore. You might also use the book as a jumping off point for a great deal of inner reflection, which is what I did a great deal; I thought quite a bit about how I do or don’t fit into the picture Cain paints of introverts, resulting in a lot of underlining and notes in the margins.

The book is primarily written for introverts – to empower them to be themselves, to help them learn about themselves, and to teach them how introversion, a trait not traditionally embraced in our culture, can be used positively in many situations. However, as Cain points out, we do live in a society with an “Extrovert Ideal”. Clearly understanding the difference between introverts and extroverts as well as knowing what introverts can bring to the table is useful for everyone, regardless of where you fall on the introvert-extrovert spectrum. The book also addresses introvert-extrovert relationships, which makes the book valuable for those extroverts who have close relationships with introverts, including significant others, parents, children, and close friends.

It is so important for us to teach our kids that they should be themselves, but our culture values extroversion so highly that it is difficult for our introverts to understand the value of this trait. Let’s understand introversion and extroversion better so we can help our children embrace who they are and the strengths they bring to the table.

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COUNTING BY 7s
By Holly Goldberg Sloan
Dial Books for Young Readers

Reviewed by Seth Freeman, Writer/Producer and ÓĹĂŰĘÓƵ Board Member

Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old girl who sees the world in multiples of 7, patterns involving 7, subsets of 7. 7 is her favorite number.

She can learn a new language, even one as difficult as Vietnamese, in a couple of months. She will get a perfect score on pretty much any SAT-type of test that she takes, and she will finish the test in a fraction of the time allotted.

She is neither arrogant nor falsely modest about her abilities. Her facility is simply a fact of the universe, something she studies, like the growth of plants, human disease conditions, and human behavior in general. Willow also happens to be a very caring person, keenly observant and slyly funny, and it is a pleasure to share her company on every page of Counting by 7s, Holly Goldberg Sloan’s smart, engaging, and deeply moving new novel.

But Willow is also someone who has experienced more misfortune in her short life than any kid or even adult should ever have to endure. With the help of a small group of off-beat, yet well-drawn and believable, characters, Willow not only survives, she thrives, and somehow, as she meets the challenges of adversity, she manages to elevate the lives of almost everybody with whom she comes in contact.

Counting by 7s is a wonderful book, entertaining and thoughtful enough to gain a wide readership beyond its target audience of young adults. The adventures of its appealing central character will make it a novel of special interest to anyone who knows or who has experienced the life of a gifted young person.

Is there a book or resource that you love? Please share with us by commenting below or by emailing ÓĹĂŰĘÓƵgifted@educationaladvancement.org. We’d love your input for our next recommendation!

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Kate Duey is a private college counselor serving gifted students. She has worked with students on traditional schooling paths, home schooled students, community college students and students seeking accelerated or early college entrance. Kate is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School. She has a Certificate in College Counseling from UCLA.

Razel Solow, Ph.D., and Celeste Rhodes, Ph.D., turn the chief criticism of early college entrance–that early entrance inhibits healthy social development–on its head in (Great Potential Press, 2012). Their book is centered on a longitudinal study of fourteen women who entered Mary Baldwin College’s Program for the Exceptionally Gifted (PEG) between the ages of 13 and 16. Dr. Rhodes, who had been the Assistant, Associate and Executive Director of PEG, began the study supported by a grant from the Malone Family Foundation. When poor health precluded her from continuing her work, Dr. Rhodes invited Dr. Solow to finish the project. Dr. Solow is the former Director, Center for Gifted Studies and Education, at Hunter College.

Rhodes and Solow’s case study materials stretch from birth into well-formed adult lives. Pseudonymously presented, the PEG graduates share their lives’ stories in detail. The reasons they entered PEG offer important insights into the life of a gifted girl in middle school. Many scholarly publications on the development of gifted children precede College at 13, but Rhodes and Solow stay away from normed studies. Instead, they stay with their subjects’ voices and let these fourteen women describe the world of giftedness. The women share stories of being isolated, confused, humiliated and slapped. The authors spare nothing.

Grounded in this detail, Solow and Rhodes make the case that socialization and social development ought not to be confused. Socialization, the art of joining a group, can be impossible if the group is fundamentally hostile. The middle school years, when students turn away from their families and toward their peers, present a painful choice: give up your passions, conform and be included; or not. Beyond fellow students, the girls’ teachers are a mixed bag, some supportive and some clearly annoyed. The consequences of socialization denied include social development inhibited. Echoing her fellow PEGs, Julia says, “Not caring about what everyone thinks is one thing, but feeling okay about being different is something else.”

Supportive parents are the heroes of the book, and Solow and Rhodes get to the parents’ stories straightaway. It takes a special kind of mother and father to move a thirteen-year-old daughter onto a college campus. Words describing home life with these parents include “peace,” “trust” and “seriousness”. Over and over, the parents talk about how they want their daughters to pursue the daughters’ dreams and interests. Comparing these students to a study of 81 class valedictorians in Illinois, Solow and Rhodes observe that there are important differences between parents who want their children to succeed and parents who want their children to grow. Identifying those parents, and the support they have given and likely will give, is crucial in making radical acceleration work.

And what happens twenty years or so later? These students have remarkably unremarkable lives. To be sure, most of them continue as students (eight MA/MS/MFA degree holders, and one in progress; one lawyer; one Ph.D. and one in progress; one MD in progress). But they don’t speak of isolation and feeling different, even when they are different. One young woman entered law school at eighteen and surprised her classmates when everyone went to a bar and she couldn’t order a drink. She was confident, they were respectful and the evening rolled on. Other alumnae describe the nuts and bolts of everyday life: putting a bed in an office because of fibromyalgia; struggling to come out to a father; and coping, simultaneously, with her desire to build a woodworking business and her promise to finish her parents’ kitchen remodeling. These details are small, sometimes humorous and very reassuring. Being denied normalcy in their mid-teens, these women are having mostly stable and mostly happy ordinary adult lives.

Two clear advantages of radical acceleration for women emerge. First, they have more time to complete their educations and build careers before they start families. The challenge for many women, especially working in professions which require lengthy educations and apprenticeships, is the point at which to divide a career between working flat out and working with flexibility once professional credentials are in place. Second, being younger at graduation means the women have “extra time as a bonus, not as a launching pad for another round of running ahead.” It struck me that these are not really bonus years, but transferred years. Skipping over high school moves years that can be destructive and esteem-busting into years better lived because the whole self is better formed. Social development is a lifelong affair.

College at 13’s shortcoming is that these are successful entrants and graduates of radical acceleration. Rhodes and Solow’s fourteen PEG alumnae are among twenty handpicked by Mary Baldwin’s administration. Did everyone’s story go so well? What about the students who dropped out of PEG or struggled with their youthfulness after graduation?

Solow and Rhodes do us all a favor by shining light on a subject that can arouse passions without understanding. We talk often about supporting the whole gifted child. What exactly does radical acceleration offer the whole gifted adult? Not every gifted child is a good candidate for radical acceleration. Not every gifted child is a good candidate for high school. College at 13 contributes to understanding the differences.

Have you read College at 13? Please let us know what you thought in the comment section below!

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