What makes the Maverik Wonderboy lacrosse shaft a popular choice among players. How does its lightweight design impact performance on the field. Why do midfielders and defenders prefer this shaft for its durability and strength.
The Evolution of the Maverik Wonderboy Lacrosse Shaft
The Maverik Wonderboy lacrosse shaft has been a staple in the lacrosse community since its initial release in 2005. Over the years, it has undergone several iterations, with each version building upon the success of its predecessor. The 2023 model continues this tradition of excellence, offering players a perfect blend of strength, durability, and lightweight performance.
Originally designed for midfielders and defenders, the Wonderboy has gained a reputation for its exceptional strength-to-weight ratio. This unique characteristic has made it a go-to choice for players who demand both agility and power in their game.
Key Milestones in Wonderboy’s History
- 2005: Initial release of the Maverik Wonderboy
- 2012: Introduction of the 9000 series aluminium/titanium alloy
- 2023: Launch of the latest model with updated design and features
Unraveling the Technology Behind the Wonderboy
The Maverik Wonderboy 2023 lacrosse shaft incorporates cutting-edge technology to deliver optimal performance on the field. At its core lies the 9000 Series Alloy, a proprietary blend that strikes the perfect balance between weight and strength.
How does the 9000 Series Alloy contribute to the shaft’s performance? This advanced material allows Maverik to create a shaft that is incredibly lightweight without compromising on durability. As a result, players can maintain better control and execute quicker movements during intense gameplay.
Signature Series: Elevating Strength Standards
The Wonderboy shaft features Maverik’s exclusive Signature Series design, reserved only for their strongest shafts. This design philosophy ensures that the Wonderboy can withstand the rigors of high-level play, particularly in the midfield and defensive positions where physical contact is frequent and intense.
Design Features That Set the Wonderboy Apart
The Maverik Wonderboy 2023 boasts several design elements that contribute to its exceptional performance and player comfort. Understanding these features can help players make an informed decision when selecting their next lacrosse shaft.
Concave Octagonal Shape
One of the standout features of the Wonderboy is its concave octagonal shape. Why is this shape significant for players? The octagonal design provides a comfortable grip, allowing players to maintain better control of the shaft during passes, shots, and defensive maneuvers. The concave edges offer additional tactile feedback, enhancing the player’s feel for the shaft’s orientation without the need for visual confirmation.
ABE+ Technology
The 2023 model introduces the innovative ABE+ (Adjustable Butt End) technology. How does ABE+ benefit players? This redesigned adjustable butt end allows players to customize the shaft’s length and weight distribution according to their preferences. By finding the optimal position for the butt end, players can increase stability and improve their overall performance on the field.
Updated Graphics and Branding
While aesthetics may not directly impact performance, they play a role in a player’s confidence and identity on the field. The 2023 Wonderboy features updated graphics that streak up the length of the shaft, giving it a modern and dynamic appearance. The redesigned Wonderboy logo pays homage to the shaft’s legacy while embracing a contemporary look.
Performance Analysis: Weight, Strength, and Durability
When evaluating the Maverik Wonderboy 2023, it’s crucial to consider its performance across key metrics that matter most to players. Let’s break down the shaft’s capabilities in terms of weight, strength, and durability.
Weight
The Wonderboy is renowned for its lightweight design, with the 30″ attack shaft weighing approximately 6 ounces. How does this lightweight construction benefit players? It allows for quicker stick movements, faster shots, and reduced fatigue during extended periods of play. The reduced weight is particularly advantageous for midfielders who need to cover large distances across the field.
Strength
Despite its lightweight nature, the Wonderboy doesn’t compromise on strength. The Signature Series design and 9000 Series Alloy work in tandem to create a shaft that can withstand the physical demands of competitive play. This strength is especially crucial for defenders who engage in frequent stick checks and body contact.
Durability
While the Wonderboy may show signs of cosmetic wear over time, its structural integrity remains impressive. Players report varying experiences with durability, with some using the same shaft for multiple seasons. It’s important to note that durability can be influenced by playing style, position, and maintenance practices.
Comparing the Wonderboy to Other Maverik Shafts
To fully appreciate the Wonderboy’s position in Maverik’s lineup, it’s helpful to compare it to other popular shafts from the brand. How does the Wonderboy stack up against its siblings?
Wonderboy vs. Maverik Union
The Maverik Union is another popular shaft known for its durability. While both shafts offer excellent performance, the Wonderboy tends to be lighter, making it a preferred choice for players who prioritize speed and agility. The Union, on the other hand, might appeal to players who engage in more physical play and require maximum durability.
Wonderboy vs. Maverik Apollo
The Apollo is Maverik’s premium carbon fiber shaft, offering unparalleled strength and lightweight performance. While the Apollo may have a slight edge in terms of weight and stiffness, the Wonderboy remains a more budget-friendly option that doesn’t sacrifice much in terms of performance.
Player Reviews and Feedback
To get a comprehensive understanding of the Maverik Wonderboy’s performance, it’s essential to consider feedback from players who have used the shaft in real-game situations. What do players have to say about the Wonderboy?
Positive Feedback
- Exceptional lightweight feel, allowing for quick stick movements
- Impressive durability for its weight class
- Comfortable grip due to the concave octagonal shape
- Versatility across different playing positions
Areas for Improvement
- Some players report cosmetic wear occurring relatively quickly
- A few users have experienced denting in high-impact scenarios
- The lightweight nature may not suit players who prefer a heavier, more traditional feel
Maintenance and Care Tips for the Wonderboy
To maximize the lifespan and performance of your Maverik Wonderboy lacrosse shaft, proper maintenance is crucial. How can players ensure their Wonderboy remains in top condition?
Regular Cleaning
After each use, wipe down the shaft with a damp cloth to remove dirt, sweat, and grass stains. This simple practice can prevent the buildup of grime that may affect grip and aesthetics.
Inspection Routine
Regularly inspect your Wonderboy for any signs of damage, such as dents, cracks, or loose screws in the head attachment area. Addressing minor issues promptly can prevent more significant problems down the line.
Proper Storage
Store your Wonderboy in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight when not in use. Avoid leaving it in extreme temperatures, such as in a hot car, as this can potentially affect the shaft’s structural integrity.
Grip Maintenance
If you use grip tape on your Wonderboy, replace it regularly to maintain optimal control. When removing old tape, be cautious not to damage the shaft’s surface or logo.
Is the Maverik Wonderboy Right for You?
Choosing the right lacrosse shaft is a personal decision that depends on various factors. How can you determine if the Maverik Wonderboy is the ideal choice for your playing style and position?
Ideal for Midfielders and Defenders
The Wonderboy’s lightweight design and durability make it particularly well-suited for midfielders who need to cover large distances and defenders who engage in frequent physical play. Its balance of agility and strength caters to the demands of these positions.
Great for Players Prioritizing Speed
If your playing style emphasizes quick movements, rapid direction changes, and fast shots, the Wonderboy’s lightweight nature can complement your game effectively.
Suitable for Various Skill Levels
From beginners to advanced players, the Wonderboy offers a versatile performance that can adapt to different skill levels. Its forgiving nature makes it accessible to newcomers, while its high-performance capabilities satisfy the demands of experienced players.
Budget-Conscious Option
For players seeking a high-quality shaft without breaking the bank, the Wonderboy presents an attractive option. It offers premium features and performance at a more accessible price point compared to some top-tier carbon fiber alternatives.
In conclusion, the Maverik Wonderboy 2023 lacrosse shaft continues to uphold its reputation as a lightweight powerhouse in the lacrosse equipment market. Its blend of advanced materials, thoughtful design features, and balanced performance make it a versatile choice for players across various positions and skill levels. While it may not be the absolute lightest or strongest shaft available, its combination of attributes creates a compelling package that has stood the test of time in the competitive world of lacrosse equipment.
Maverik Wonderboy 2023 Lacrosse Attack Shaft
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- Description
The Maverik Wonder Boy Lacrosse Shaft has a new look but is back better then ever. This shaft has been a long time favorite of midfielders and defenders for it’s amazing light weight durability. The Wonder Boy shaft has a new design for reduced weight and optimizing the shafts strength to weight ratio. Maverik’s Signature Series shape featured in the Wonderboy is reserved for only the strongest shafts they make. While remaining lightweight, the new Wonder Boy shaft has the strength it needs for battles in the midfield and backline. Updated graphics streaks up the length of the shaft and an all new ABE+ gives the Wonder Boy added stability at the bottom.
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Maverik Wonderboy 30″ Attack Lacrosse Shaft Review
Brand:
Maverik
Position:
Attack
Grade:
Men’s
Shaft Composition:
Alloy
Shaft Length:
30″
Warranty:
6 months
Overall:
Strength:
Weight:
Is it a retro 1980’s arcade game? Is it a take on Roy Hobb’s bat? No, it’s the Maverik Wonderboy 2012 edition! This shaft was first release in the fall of 2005 and brings together a great combination of strength, durability and lightness. To this day it continues to deliver.
Sorry Maverik for the gags about the name. I think we partly built this website just to poke fun at this name. Haven’t you seen the movie? Don’t you know he breaks the bat?
Material & Weight
The shaft is made of 9000 series aluminium/titanium alloy which reportedly makes or a lightweight shaft. Unfortunately we weren’t able to find out any information about this alloy series. The weight of the 30″ shaft is around 6oz.
Shape
The shaft has a concave octagonal shape to it. These are great if you love the feel of the shafts edge.
Grip
The raised “Wonderboy” logo does provide an amount of grip. It’s more the different textures of the areas with and without the logo that provide the grip. But do note that the logo may peel off slightly if you do tape this shaft. Outside of the logo’d area, the grip is as you would expect from other metal shafts.
General Wear and Tear
Before we go into this in great detail, we have to mention that this shaft has been designed as a lightweight titanium/aluminium alloy shaft. That being said, it’s not the strongest shaft going around but that’s not Maverik’s intent.
You will start to see aesthetic signs of wear and tear within a short while. You’ll also probably get a couple of scratches and the paint will chip, but these are only superficial. Over time you may get some dings and dents but this depends on how aggressive you are as a player.
Reports range from it not lasting a season to people still using the first one they bought. We only mention this to highlight that there’s no pattern of this shaft being weak or prone to breaking.
Summary
This shaft is light, which is what Maverik are aiming for, but it’s not the strongest shaft going around. If you’re not the most aggressive player and are after an affordable shaft, the Wonderboy would be perfect.
For those who do expect a lot out their shaft and will give it a good workout, we’d suggest looking at the higher rated shafts in terms of strength. For those of you looking to take peoples arms off or cross check, this is not the shaft for you.
The fate of child prodigies: what happens to genius children?
People once thought that as they grow up, geeks lose their gifts and become socially awkward people who fail in adulthood. However, studies in the 1940s and 1950s showed that having an above average IQ in gifted children also leads to “above average” success as they grow into adults. We have prepared an abridged translation of an article in
The Saturday Evening Post , dedicated to the study of the eminent psychologist Lewis Terman, in which he studied the life and growing up of 1500 gifted children for 30 years.
So-called child prodigies are children under the age of 10 who already at such an early age demonstrate the skills of an experienced adult. Typically, their developed intelligence manifests itself in areas that are characterized by the presence of narrow set parameters and repetitions, such as mathematics, science, music and chess. Every (or almost every) parent wants to believe that their child is a genius, but only a small percentage of children – between 6 and 10% – are smart enough to be classified as “gifted”. True geeks are even rarer: only one child in 5 million is such.
Parents look forward to their offspring showing signs of brilliant ability, because they believe that high intelligence shown in childhood means a promising future. However, until recently, parents were worried at the same time: is their child too smart? After all, it’s one thing to be gifted, and another to be a genius: for a long time it was believed that, growing up, geeks turn into sickly, socially awkward adults who usually fail in life and career.
Probably, this myth about geeks was born back in the distant 1700s, simultaneously with the emergence of the idea of universal equality. Believing that all boys (girls were not the subject of research at the time) were born equal and enjoyed equal opportunities in life, people were not happy with the fact that some children were still born with much higher intelligence than others. Thus began the myth that geeks were doomed to adulthood in obscurity and ill health, and he was still alive at 1950s when Dr. Lewis Terman published the results of his 30-year study of 1,500 geeks. Drawing his conclusions, Terman wrote that not only did geeks not turn into sickly, lonely losers, but they tended to become well-adjusted, healthy, and highly successful adults. His findings have led many to call Terman highly “undemocratic.”
Terman played for geeks. He promoted the idea of IQ testing among all American schoolchildren, so that those few who developed early beyond their years could be detected and properly educated. He believed that geeks should be the leaders of the future. […]
But it’s probably unfair to place such high expectations on high-IQ children, at least because researchers now know that adult success requires more than just being born smart. According to Malcolm Gladwell, a successful adult genius is the product of habits and personality. And if precocious children do not show “curiosity, perseverance and determination,” they may never realize the full potential of their intellect.
The last quality, by the way, is especially important for musical prodigies: they must have a frantic desire to cope with the performance of a piece of music. It is this trait of character that allows them to practice 6, 7, 8 hours a day, seven days a week. And in fact, determination may be a stronger determinant of future success than IQ.
This is what happens to child prodigies
Many people feel genuine sympathy for the “precocity” of someone else’s child. According to them, the typical precocious child is one who learns Greek at 4, calculus at 6, nuclear physics at 8, graduates from Harvard at 12, and at 30 turns into a bum, who can hardly find a job as a dishwasher.
A small army of specialists conducted a study to determine once and for all whether geeks really step over their genius, leaving it in the past, or still retain their mental superiority into adulthood. These specialists – interviewers, statisticians, doctors and psychologists – studied about 1,500 geeks . .. and found out what happens to them next: how they grow up, what kind of work they get, how they arrange their personal lives. The study actually began 30 years before the results were released and has been hailed as one of the most exciting and significant studies in psychology, providing data that could ultimately lead to radical change in public education. And at the same time, many age-old beliefs that are dear to the hearts of parents, doctors, teachers and the public as a whole have been shaken.
Researchers debunked one of the most cherished superstitions when they discovered that there was little truth in the notion that precocious children are pitiful creatures, too serious, stooped, clumsy, tense and neurotic.
“It would be good for our ego to believe that all this is true, ,” one of the researchers said, “ but this idea is completely wrong.”
Moreover, scientists have reported that precocious children are not usually small fiends: most of them do not have behavioral problems. And they also found that a child who learns Greek at age 4 and calculus at age 6 does not become a jerk by age 30. Most likely, he will become an executive vice president, earn a nice round sum and marry the most beautiful girl in town. These and similar results have caused surprise, disappointment, and considerable annoyance to some people, and researchers have been scolded for destroying many popular and so comforting misconceptions. Ironically, they were also condemned in some circles for their “subversive” and “undemocratic” ideas.
The man behind the IQ test
For the leader of these scientists, Dr. Lewis Terman of Stanford University, such accusations were standard payment for debunking myths. He first caused controversy when he proved that he could learn more about a child’s intelligence with appropriate mental tests than a teacher can learn in a year or some parents in 10 years. He then upset some teachers by stating that too many teachers do not recognize exceptionally brilliant students. He caused outrage when he reported that the mental age of the average American adult was 15 years old. He aroused anger when he denied that any child could become a genius through intense mental gymnastics during the first four or five years of life, and also when he refuted the widely held belief that many (if not most) of the world’s great geniuses were fools in childhood. .
“It is true that Charles Darwin was rated as an intellectual failure by his teacher, ,” Terman said. — And, quite likely, because young Darwin was addicted to carrying insects and small animals in his pockets, this habit invariably disturbed the peace in the classroom. There is evidence that seems to show that mentally gifted children are most likely to grow up to be world leaders in areas such as politics, science, education, business, and the arts.” That is why, according to Terman, such children deserve special attention in public schools and should have special classes, special training and special educational advantages. To some educators, such proposals seemed heresy, so they called Terman the No. 1 enemy of democracy. […]
In the distant 50s, when the results of the study came out, Terman was 75 years old. At an age when most people are content with retirement and rest or too exhausted to do anything else, he continued to work 30 to 40 hours a week. His work guaranteed Terman the title of one of the preeminent psychologists of the 20th century, the greatest proponent of intelligence testing and the person who largely popularized—though not invented—the term “intelligence quotient,” or IQ. […]
The undemocratic idea of special education for gifted children is not new. “For many centuries, ,” said Terman, “, child prodigies have been treated with a mixture of admiration, awe, and hope. Their parents were envied, because the child is likely to become the protégé of a prince or king.”
Then the number of geeks plummeted—this decline occurred in the 18th century with the rise of Western democracy and the popularization of the idea that all human beings are born equal—not physically, but mentally. It was then that the idea became widespread—in which a large part of the population apparently still believes—that all men are born with equal natural intelligence and that with the right education, any boy can become wise, wealthy, and even president.
[…] When Terman was preparing material for his first lectures at Stanford, he was intrigued by mental tests developed in France by Dr. Alfred Binet. Similar tests introduced in the United States a few years earlier were still attacked and ridiculed. Terman didn’t find anything funny about them, but he saw where they could be improved, expanded, and made more useful. In 1916, he and his Stanford collaborators introduced the first of several test editions, the Stanford-Binet test, which is now probably the best known and most widely used mental test in the world. Terman’s book on the study, Measuring Intelligence, has been translated into nearly two dozen languages, including Egyptian, Syriac, and Afrikaans, and has long since surpassed half a million in sales.
Stanford-Binet tests and others like them were created to determine the mental age of a child. On their basis, it is easy to derive “intelligence quotient”, or IQ, a term coined by William Stern, one of the first researchers in the field of individual differences. To calculate IQ, after measuring a child’s mental age, simply divide the mental age by the child’s chronological age and multiply the answer by 100.
0 to 110. The weakest children score 70 or less, while older or gifted children typically score 130 or more. the study of gifted children at Stanford, discussed above. “We proposed, ,” Terman said, “, to analyze a quarter of a million schoolchildren, identify about a thousand children with the highest IQ and study them – find their characteristic physical, mental and personal qualities and see what kind of adults they become.”
[…] When the selection of gifted children was initiated, trained field researchers went to class teachers in hundreds of elementary schools in California and obtained from them the names of the brightest and youngest students in each class. Research candidates were given standard mental tests, and those with an IQ of 140 or more were the first gifted children selected for the experiment. […] In the end, there were about 1,500 subjects (857 boys, 671 girls) aged 3 to 18, who accounted for 1% or even less of the total number of students. Their IQ ranged from 140 to 200, with the highest score being a 7-year-old girl with a mental age of 14.
These 1500 boys and girls soon became known as “termites”. For some time they were also called “the geniuses of Terman”, although the professor himself categorically opposed this name. To this day, none of these children has become a rival to Einstein or Leonardo da Vinci, yet the group has become world famous for the way they violated sacred traditions and notions of genius. […]
The typical gifted child was the child of parents with an upper secondary education who also had a similar upper average income. As a rule, the father of such a child was a professional – a doctor, lawyer, professor or businessman. His home library had an average of 328 books. He quickly learned to read at the age of 5 or 6. By the age of 10, he had skipped one grade, starting above his age group, and rigorous tests showed that he had already mastered the school curriculum two or three grades beyond the one he was enrolled in. At home, the typical “termite” read more good books than most children his age, but was not a bookworm. He played and knew the rules of more games than his average classmates, was equally successful in sports, and enthusiastically collected bugs, coins, Indian arrowheads, and matchbox covers.
He was emotionally stable, insatiably curious and grasped everything on the fly. He had an outstanding memory, a large vocabulary, and was unusually interested in such things as ratios of numbers, atlases, and encyclopedias. He was more reliable, less likely to be tempted to cheat, and less likely to boast or exaggerate his knowledge. His tendency to show off his knowledge was determined by several methods – for example, he was asked to indicate whether he had read books such as Dickens’ David Copperfield, Alger’s The Inventor Boy, Henty’s Runaway with the Circus, and Mark Twain’s Tales of a Tramp. Many children with an average IQ reported having read two or more books; a typical “termite” admitted that he did not read any – or only the first. The other three books never existed.
Researchers have emphasized that gifted children vary widely across all personality characteristics and family backgrounds. For example, although the average “termite” came from an above-average income family, some came from very wealthy families, and others were brought up in families that barely had enough money to live on. One boy, who grew up in poverty, went to school at 17 – in a relatively short time he became a composer with a good reputation, the author of three books and dozens of articles on music theory, and then, in another three years, he wrote a book on melody, composed 60 orchestral pieces and learned two foreign languages. […]
Terman and his associates urged termite parents to raise their children as normal as possible. “Don’t put your child in a position that practically forces him to play the role of a child prodigy, ,” they said. – Don’t make him flaunt himself. Let him communicate normally in games and other social activities with other children who are not too distant in age. […] Provide him with activities and provide him with every opportunity for normal social development. Share information when needed and help your child help himself. Encourage his hobby. Offer the best books and provide them in large quantities. But remember that books aren’t everything.”
[…] As the years went by, parents continued to invite field researchers to their homes, answer their questions, and fill out the questionnaires that were periodically sent to them. Terman promised to keep the identity and exact IQ of his “termites” a secret, a promise he continued to keep unchanged, although some of the children or their parents themselves revealed their identity. He also kept secret the intimate details that many of the test subjects began to reveal to him.
[…] When the report of decades of work was finally published, it brought encouraging news to parents of gifted children. The typical precocious child did not become stupid and commit suicide. A successful, healthy young “termite” has grown into a successful, healthy, well-adjusted, versatile, happily married adult with a good job and a good income, many friends, a position in society, and a decent track record.
Compared to average men and women of the same age, the gifted group as a whole had a lower overall mortality rate. Divorce rates and insanity rates were similar to the national average, but they were less likely to suffer from alcoholism and commit far fewer offenses. Approximately 88% of termites went on to college and 68% graduated with almost half with honors. It is surprising, however, that those who remained dropped out of college themselves: the investigation showed that these students were lazy, bored, unwilling to follow the instructions of professors, or spent too much time specializing or earning a living.
“It has become clear that high IQ is important, but not everything,” noted one observer. They have achieved brilliant success as lawyers, college professors, engineers, doctors, chemists, authors, journalists, artists, and architects. The average income of working termites was about 70% higher than that of the average male of the same age. About 85% of gifted men and gifted women are married; when the researchers tested their spouses, they found that in most cases each “termite” associated life with someone who also had a high IQ. In 10 cases, one “termite” married another. “In these 10 cases,” the professor said, “usually the man was the first to tell his wife that he was a termite. Women were more likely to play it safe, hiding their intelligence.”
[…] Finally, as the researchers found out, “termites” had a significant impact on their country. Nearly 400 people in the group have published more than 100 books or monographs and 1500 technical, scientific or popular articles. The group has more than 100 patents, as well as numerous scientific and medical discoveries. One termite, who earned a master’s degree in classical literature at age 20, went into business and at age 27 was chief investment analyst for a $40 million education fund. The other, aged 32, was research coordinator for a $10 million air navigation laboratory. One woman has become a successful professional actress, professional dancer, illustrator of anatomy and physiology textbooks, writer, and figure skating champion by the age of 30. Another was the director of one of the largest atomic research laboratories in the world.
Some “termites” are in trouble. […] Four men were sent to prison (three as juvenile offenders and one as an adult offender) for crimes ranging from petty theft to forgery. […] Among the women, only two were reported to have encountered the police: one was arrested for vagrancy and sent to prison, the other, a professional prostitute, was arrested several times but did not end up in prison. […]
The researchers concluded that, on average, the gifted group “takes on much more responsibility and leadership than the general public or even college graduates in general. ” Another study, conducted a little later, provided additional evidence to support this conclusion and, most importantly, indicated that termite children also have high IQs.
For these and other researches, and for making Stanford’s psychology department one of the best in the country, Terman was awarded what is probably two of the highest honors in his field—a presidency of the American Psychological Association and a membership in the American “scientific senate,” the National Academy of Sciences. Sciences. With such awards, the average person could sit down and rest for the rest of their lives…but Terman used his discoveries as a tool in his toughest battle of all—his determined attempt to ensure that mentally superior children receive the same degree of specialized training. education that teachers provide to children with mental disabilities. […]
Can a child prodigy grow up to be an ordinary successful adult?
In this article we will talk about gifted children. It used to be considered that child prodigies achieve practically nothing in adulthood, and all their brilliant data does not “sprout” into anything. However, in the middle of the last century, scientists conducted a large-scale study, the results of which refute this conventional wisdom! It is on the data of this study that we will be based.
Who are geeks?
They are considered to be children under the age of ten, but at such a young age they already have unique abilities that not every adult has. These can be gifted mathematicians, physicists, chess players, or musicians, poets, and so on.
As practice shows, one child out of five million is born a child prodigy. On the one hand, many parents want to believe that their child is a genius. However, there are those who are seriously concerned about the giftedness of the child, since it is believed that unusual abilities can negatively affect the psyche of such children in the future.
It is worth noting that a high level of IQ does not always guarantee a child’s giftedness. Indeed, in order to succeed in adulthood, it is necessary to have a number of other qualities: determination, perseverance and curiosity.
What happens to brilliant children
About 1,500 geeks took part in the research, and this is what scientists managed to find out: these children are not at all tense, mentally unstable, too serious, pathetic and incapable of anything other than learning. Moreover, many of them do not have any deviations in behavior – the children are calm, balanced and obedient.
Scientists have also found that by the age of 25-30 geeks grow into literate people who have received a good education and earn good money in high positions.
Peculiarities of teaching gifted children
Historically, for many centuries such children have always been treated with trepidation and high hopes were placed on them. However, about three hundred years ago, the number of child prodigies dropped sharply. Interestingly, it was at that time that the idea that from birth all people are equal became popular: if not physically, then mentally, for sure. And only at the beginning of the 20th century, Dr. Lewis Terman began to conduct various mental tests, the results of which surprised him greatly. Then the scientist, together with his colleagues, developed a test for measuring intelligence, with which it was possible to determine the so-called mental age of the child. And after that, mathematically, you can easily determine the level of his intelligence.
What is the IQ of geeks?
It is believed that especially gifted children have an IQ of 130 points and above, sometimes reaching 200. For comparison: the IQ of an average child under 10 years old is from 90 to 110 points, and the weakest children gain 70 points and even less.
Before starting the first large-scale study to identify geeks, Terman and his team tested 250,000 schoolchildren. Of these, those whose intelligence level was more than 140 points were selected. Only 1,500 such children were counted, and there were almost 200 more boys than girls.
Today, none of these children has become a modern Einstein or Leonardo da Vinci, but their genius is beyond doubt.
Portrait of a typical child genius
The study made it possible to draw a general portrait of a typical child prodigy and even his family.
- Usually the parents of such children had at least a secondary education, were narrow specialists in some field (doctors, lawyers, etc.) and read a lot of books.
- Their gifted children already knew how to read by the age of 5 and often went to school immediately a grade higher, since by that time they knew the school curriculum for 2-3 years in advance.
- Such children read much more than their peers.
- In addition, geeks often took part in sports sections, and many of them collected various items.
- As for the character, the brilliant children were quite emotionally stable, curious and with a well-developed memory. They rarely boasted of their superiority among their peers, but it is obvious that they could not help noticing this superiority.
Peculiarities of education of child prodigies
Terman advised parents of gifted children to bring up their children in the most standard way possible, without exaggerating their abilities in any way. The main thing is to encourage the hobby of geeks and give them the opportunity for full-fledged learning. And, of course, such children should be given as much as possible to read various literature.
Results of a global study
Decades later, Terman has obtained and processed the results that his prodigies have achieved in adulthood.
It turned out that not one of the 1,500 people was dumber, contrary to the expectations of many, and did not become. On the contrary: the children grew up into successful, smart, versatile and wealthy young people with a lot of friends. In addition, these young people were perfectly adapted to adult life and often enjoyed respect in their environment. Many of the study participants went to college and graduated with honors, but there were also those who dropped out and started earning a living early.
Surprisingly, former child prodigies have a lower mortality rate than men and women their age!
High IQ is not a panacea
The scientist’s research confirmed the opinion that high intelligence does not guarantee a bright future. You still need to not be lazy, develop and really want to achieve something later.
Although, of course, about 80% of child prodigies justified their child status of a gifted child: almost every one of them became either the head of a department or an entire enterprise. In the “worst case” – a professional in his field, whom many knew and whose opinion they listened to. Brilliant engineers, chemists, doctors, biologists, lawyers, artists – all these are former child prodigies. Many of them wrote and published their articles, monographs and dissertations, made numerous discoveries in their fields.