RAISING REMARKABLE: The NYTimes takes a long look at the idiosyncrasies behind raising child prodigies--especially those with the musical bug. Author Andrew Solomon (Cornell lecturer in psychiatry) examines what "normalcy" means for gifted children and their parents who, in the absence of any guidelines, come up with different ways to nurture such inexplicable talents. "There is no federal mandate for gifted education," he warns, noting that these students can easily slip through the cracks in a "hostile or indifferent educational system." He quotes Bard College president Leon Botstein: "If Beethoven were sent to nursery school today, they would medicate him, and he would be a postal clerk."
