Support
system: Ten-year-old Katrinnah (right), who gets some study help from older sister Hannah (left), plans on taking her college entrance exams next year. |
A mother who home-schools her ten children in Montgomery,
Alabama, has opened up about how six of them began their college degrees by the
age of 12.
Those of the Harding siblings who have already graduated
from college have gone on to become a doctor, an architect, a spacecraft
designer and a master's student. Another two - 12 and 14-years-old - are still
finishing up their degrees.
But despite the Hardings' incredible achievements at such
young ages, their parents - Mona Lisa and Kip - insist they are a family of
'average folks' who simply find and cultivate their children's passions early
on.
[Left] Smart family: Six of the ten Harding siblings started
college by the age of 12, thanks to their parents' home-schooling, which lets
them focus on their passions. The remaining four children are ten and under.
Hannah was the first to take her college entrance exams - at the young age of 12. 'I didn't expect to pass,' the 24-yead-old told Today.com. 'So I started crying, because I was thinking, "Now what?"'
She passed the exam and, at just 17, became Auburn
University Montgomery's youngest ever graduate, obtaining a BS in mathematics.
Hannah went on to get master's degrees in math and mechanical engineering, and she was designing spacecraft by the age of 22.
The other Harding siblings, spurred on by their parents'
encouragement and their older sister's success, were quick to follow suit.
[Left] Eldest: Hannah, now 24, was the first Harding sibling to
apply to college at the age of 12. She went on to get master's degrees in math
and mechanical engineering, and was designing spacecrafts by 22.
Seth, 12, is the latest to begin at college. At seven, he
announced that he wanted to be a military archaeologist. He is now a freshman
at Faulkner University, where he studies the Middle Ages.
Just down the hall is Seth's 14-year-old brother Keith, a college senior with a passion for music who is studying finite mathematics.
His ambitious younger sister Katrinnah, ten, plans on taking
her college exams next year.
Still, despite the exceptional talents of her brood, Mona
Lisa - who studied to become a nurse before staying at home to educate her kids
- said: 'I don't have any brilliant children. I'm not brilliant.'
The mother-of-ten also explained that her husband, who flew helicopters in the army and didn't graduate college until 25, is not brilliant either. 'We're just average folks,' she insists.
[Left] Breaking records: Heath, now 16, was the youngest student
ever to graduate from Huntingdon College at 15. He's now studying for his
master's in computer science, which he will complete before his 17th birthday.
People who know them, however, would beg to differ.
Seth's assistant professor Grover Plunkett, for instance,
said of the 12-year-old, who lives at home rather than in a dorm: 'He's got the
highest average in the class.'
But the Harding children insist they are not geniuses. Instead, they credit their achievements to home-schooling, as well as a concentrated focus on their passions, which their parents taught them to hone in on from an early age.
'By the time you get down to number five, number six, they
just think learning seems normal,' Mona Lisa said of her children.
[Left] Accelerated learning: Seth, 12, is a freshman at Faulkner
University where he studies the Middle Ages. 'He has the highest average in his
class,' said his assistant professor.
'We find out what their passions are, what they really like to study, and we accelerate them gradually.'
For Serenneh, that passion was medicine. The 22-year-old is
currently on her way to becoming a Navy doctor - which will make her one of the
youngest physicians in American history.
Younger sister Rosannah, now 20, became a fully-fledged
architect at the age of 18.
And Heath, who graduated from Huntingdon College at 15, will
have completed his master's in computer science just after his 17th birthday.
[Left] Following their passions: Rosannah (left), now 20, became a
fully fledged architect at 18. Her older sister Serennah, 22, (right) is
training to be one of the youngest physicians in American history.
'It makes you wonder,' Wesley Jimmerson, Seth's college friend, mused. 'Are they advanced, or are we just really behind?'
In fact, Mona Lisa and Kip are convinced that all children
have the capacity to learn at the rate theirs have.
The couple have written a book to illustrate their teaching
method and launched a website detailing their unique approach.
[Left] Up and coming: The younger Harding kids - ten, seven, five,
and three-years old - are also being home-schooled by their parents.
The book, called College By 12, is said to feature 'lots of
tips of how you can simplify your homeschooling', as well as 'testimonies of
how God has worked in our lives'.
College may sound like too much pressure for the pre-teens
to handle, but the Harding parents insist their kids are thriving, not
suffering.
[Left] Understanding: Their mother Mona Lisa insists her children
don't feel too much pressure to succeed. 'All [they] would have to tells us is,
"You know, this isn't fun any more," and we'd do something about
that,' she said. Work and play: Their father says they still have time to be
normal kids. 'The expectation is that you're going to have a fun day,' he said
of his children. 'Not that you're going to come home with A's'.
'All our children would have to tells us is, "You know,
this isn't fun any more,"' says Mona Lisa says. 'And we'd do something
about that.'
Indeed, the couple insists that despite their accelerated
eduction, the children have led normal lives.
'We didn't limit their experience,' said Mona Lisa. 'They're
taking college classes, but socially, they are just teenagers.'
Their remaining children are seven-year-old Mariannah,
Lorennah, five, and Thunder James, three, all of whom are being home-schooled,
too.
(Source)
Related links:
* Americans Warned: Home Schoolers Stripped of Rights
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