Age 11, began Harvard University's Extension Program he graduated at 16.

[Life Long Learning]

Around age 11, he began Harvard University's extension program, which "ideally serves" working professionals who can attend classes both on campus and online.

16-Year-Old Set To Graduate From Kansas High School And Harvard University
December 28, 20186:35 PM ET

https://www.npr.org/2018/12/28/680762928...university

[ROYISAGIRL]

It's looking like I may need to start my 6 year old

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[homeschoolmom1]

As per their website, the minimum age for HES courses is 15. They must have made an exception for him.

[mysonx3]

Could also be that policies have changed.

[jsh1138]

Speaking as someone who used to spend all day teaching adult material to children, and who also took college classes while in middle school, that guy won't have grasped 1/3 of what he was "taught". Whoever allowed him to do that did him a lifelong disservice in the name of a stunt. Not to mention depriving him of friends and formative experiences and the kind of socialization he'll actually need to get through life.

You need a certain amount of mental maturity to even grasp the material. I remember a discussion we had as a class in Psychology once about the ethics of forbidding adults in a nursing home environment from having sex with each other, what would a 12 year old have to contribute to that? What would they take from it? Assuming they fully grasped it and could contribute, what then? Someone is going to have a 20 year old psychologist treat them? Not likely.

[Toastmaster]

Proud of this young man. Go Moral!!!!

[Life Long Learning]

Speaking as someone who used to spend all day teaching adult material to children, and who also took college classes while in middle school, that guy won't have grasped 1/3 of what he was "taught". Whoever allowed him to do that did him a lifelong disservice in the name of a stunt. Not to mention depriving him of friends and formative experiences and the kind of socialization he'll actually need to get through life.

You need a certain amount of mental maturity to even grasp the material. I remember a discussion we had as a class in Psychology once about the ethics of forbidding adults in a nursing home environment from having sex with each other, what would a 12 year old have to contribute to that? What would they take from it? Assuming they fully grasped it and could contribute, what then? Someone is going to have a 20 year old psychologist treat them? Not likely.

I do not agree with much of what you say.  He is young.  Harvard is NOT going to graduate him if he did not grasp the material.

Did he give up his youth (socialization).....YES.

[dfrecore]

Speaking as someone who used to spend all day teaching adult material to children, and who also took college classes while in middle school, that guy won't have grasped 1/3 of what he was "taught". Whoever allowed him to do that did him a lifelong disservice in the name of a stunt. Not to mention depriving him of friends and formative experiences and the kind of socialization he'll actually need to get through life.

You need a certain amount of mental maturity to even grasp the material. I remember a discussion we had as a class in Psychology once about the ethics of forbidding adults in a nursing home environment from having sex with each other, what would a 12 year old have to contribute to that? What would they take from it? Assuming they fully grasped it and could contribute, what then? Someone is going to have a 20 year old psychologist treat them? Not likely.

He wasn't getting a Psychology degree - he got a degree in liberal studies/government.  My children could grasp a LOT of what I taught them about government when I started teaching them that kind of thing in the 1st grade - by the time they were in 8th, they probably had a grasp better than 50% of adults if what you see on TV is any indication.

People do not necessarily need to understand every nuance in order to pass a course (as most 18yo's don't have a great grasp of much of it anyway).  And, you assume a LOT in thinking that he doesn't have friends or socialization, as many people who don't have kids don't understand.  My kids were homeschooled and this was THE argument against it - once the myth that homeschooled kids couldn't excel once they got away from their parents in college or "real life" (to the point that the SAT and ACT both stopped keeping track of homeschooling kids' scores separately from private school and public school because they made both groups look terrible).  There have been numerous studies that show that homeschooled kids are AS socialized if not more so than their public school counterparts.  I say all of this only to show that there is no possible way to say that you know for a fact that this kid (who wasn't even homeschooled) couldn't have friends since you know exactly zero about him.

Some kids need more challenge in their schoolwork than high school can provide.  In that case, it's perfectly acceptable to start taking college courses.  The local CC here not only caters to high school kids by providing classes on certain campuses (like Calc III or Computer Science), they also have some classes during the summer that are for high school students only.  The also send flyers to the local HS's listing lots of courses that have material/discussions that are age-appropriate for high school students - including economics, US government, US History, Art Appreciation, History of Cinema, etc.

My point is not that college is for ALL students - but that plenty of HS students take college classes ALL THE TIME.  I know dozens personally.  None of them are geniuses, and still keep up with the college-level material.

And then, once you're talking about a kid who's a genius - well, I don't need to tell you that he is probably grasping plenty of the material that is taught, as well as keeping up with not only the high-school-level coursework he may be doing, as well as his college coursework at the exact same time.  I think he's got this.

BTW - I'm guessing you didn't read the article and see that not only is he a genius, but he took his classes online until his junior year, and managed to do both high school and college at the same time.

[mysonx3]

I second the opinions of dfrecore and Life Long Learning, especially regarding socialization. Saying that kids who don't go to school with kids their age don't have friends is simply factually incorrect, any way you slice it. I split time between being public schooled and homeschooled, and every one of the friends I stay in touch with is from the "homeschooled" times. Kids learn to socialize in the real world much better by actually socializing in the real world than by being put into an age-controlled environment.

And you can't possibly know what the kid can or can't grasp. There is a normal expectation for what kids can grasp at what age, but there are many exceptions. For example, when I was in 2nd grade my dad was doing his student teaching to teach high school history. As an experiment, my parents had me do the assignments from his 12th grade U.S. History class and graded them on the same rubric. I was one of only 2 or 3 students to get an A in the class.

[dfrecore]

I second the opinions of dfrecore and Life Long Learning, especially regarding socialization. Saying that kids who don't go to school with kids their age don't have friends is simply factually incorrect, any way you slice it. I split time between being public schooled and homeschooled, and every one of the friends I stay in touch with is from the "homeschooled" times. Kids learn to socialize in the real world much better by actually socializing in the real world than by being put into an age-controlled environment.

And you can't possibly know what the kid can or can't grasp. There is a normal expectation for what kids can grasp at what age, but there are many exceptions. For example, when I was in 2nd grade my dad was doing his student teaching to teach high school history. As an experiment, my parents had me do the assignments from his 12th grade U.S. History class and graded them on the same rubric. I was one of only 2 or 3 students to get an A in the class.

And let's not forget, this kid DID go to school with kids his own age.  He was enrolled in high school and spent 8 hours a day there.