I haven't met any dedicated kids who voluntarily self study

[Anonymous]

My kid will spend time studying and push himself to learn new things like guitar or a niche area of economics for a club competition. He is working on some video competition now and researching the topic he chose. I know a kid who self-taught an eastern language and tested out of it in HS to get to the next level.

It happens.

[Anonymous]

My kid is learning coding and a language that is not offered at their school. Has always read a lot of books. Not really in to YouTube or video games

[Anonymous]

Mine don’t, though my son does all his assigned work very diligently.

I find it a little sad, as I was super into my subject in my late teens and did a lot if reading around it, which got me into a great university.

But you can’t force this kind of interest on kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do they exist?

I'm almost 50 and I haven't met any kids in high school who are so dedicated, they voluntarily get books and self study to get a deeper dive into some subjects. Never! The only kids who sort of do it are being pushed by their parents.

My kid's peers just like my peers at this age are and were primarily interested in socialization and other fun things - video games, music, art, fashion, pop culture, makeup, etc.

Do those kids even exist? Is that not a figment of imagination?

Sure they do. Maybe the public school system beat a love of learning out of most kids? At my kids’ privates, the kids all have some interest. One girl is really into bees. Another has a haiku journal. Books can be limited though. It’s easier to explore online.

[Anonymous]

My 25 yo DS1 was like this. He's now getting a PhD philosophy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 25 yo DS1 was like this. He's now getting a PhD philosophy.

I now feel compelled to add that he attended public schools. FFS.

[Anonymous]

I have three teenagers.

One goes above and beyond on school work, on her own initiative but doesn’t do anything on subjects she isn’t taking in school.

One spends a lot of time on subjects that catch her interest regardless of if they are connected to schoolwork.

One does none of this.

[Anonymous]

My kid does but would never admit it at school.

Even in the higher level classes at their school, this is considered unusual

We'll try for a good fit for college

[Anonymous]

My 15 year old does duolingo for her second language. It helped her skip a year. But I have to push her to read books. My 12 year old reads literature voraciously.

[Anonymous]

Mine just finished his first philosophy class in college and said he wishes he could major in it. He asked for a few philosophy books for Christmas (I’m looking for them at the library first since they aren’t cheap).

He’s always found topics to learn more about. Last year was Photoshop and photography. When he was a kid, it was tornadoes, insects, and different historical time periods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine just finished his first philosophy class in college and said he wishes he could major in it. He asked for a few philosophy books for Christmas (I’m looking for them at the library first since they aren’t cheap).

He’s always found topics to learn more about. Last year was Photoshop and photography. When he was a kid, it was tornadoes, insects, and different historical time periods.

Check out thrift books! That’s where I get lots of coding books for my kid

[Anonymous]

I’ve met many kids like this who homeschool.

[Anonymous]

I don't know if this counts, but...

When my 14 year old is holed up in his room on his computer with the door closed, he's usually playing chess online or watching videos about improving his chess game. I've barged in enough times to know. .

[Anonymous]

What do you expect? They're kids, and yes it's important that they try their best and get a good education, but so is childhood and having fun. You only have one incredibly short childhood, it can't be all work

[Anonymous]

One does. At least every ounce of work/reading a teacher recommends. Going deeper on their own, on random subjects, probably no. What really impressed me, in middle school with a poor math teacher, DC began the routine of staying a chapter ahead. Taught themself so what the teacher went over in class was just review.