Is the child prodigy... a prodigy?
Remember 4-year-old Marla Olmstead, who is being touted as a painting prodigy, and who has gathered a lot of international attention, and whose large abstract paintings are selling as fast as she can finish them—for as much as $24,000?
Well, it seems that 60 Minutes came a-calling and some issues and questions about this child have been raised.
In this report we find that Ellen Winner, who is a psychologist who has studied gifted children and specializes in visual arts was shown several of Marla’s works and was highly impressed, but noted that she had never seen such a young child working in an abstract manner. Her enthusiasm apparently turned to concern and suspicion when she was shown a videotape of the child painting:
"I saw no evidence that she was a child prodigy in painting. I saw a normal, charming, adorable child painting the way preschool children paint, except that she had a coach that kept her going."Marla is currently having her first West Coast gallery show. It includes the painting captured on hidden camera by 60 Minutes, which has already been sold for $9,000.
Article comments
1 - Temple Stark
Do you know what the psychologist meant when she said the girl was being coached?
By definition abstract art is in the eye of the beholder and it very well could be art that people don't mind paying $9,000 or $24,000 for.
2 - Shark
Great. I can finally stand in a gallery and say, "My four year old could do that," and not feel like an illiterate bumpkin.
3 - DrPat
Only if your four-year-old has been photographed by 60 Minutes, Shark...
4 - Angela Chen Shui
Interesting post, Lenny. I saw coverage of Maria's painting some time ago and then and just now, when reading the 60 Minutes report, felt that Maria may be channeling whilst painting, if what her parents say about no one else touching her paintings is true.
It will be interesting to see how this develops.
What I can share is an experience I had in 1984. I had gone to bed early and woke up in the wee hours of the morning.
Unable to return to sleep I got up and felt like painting. When I went out to the living room, my husband was just clearing up, having spent the intervening time painting an interesting abstract. Maybe we were playing painting tag... ;-)
I spent the next couple of hours painting in a kind of spaced out way and went back to bed, exhausted.
Later, when I looked at the piece, I could not remember how I painted it. The brushstrokes and style were different and I had never painted anything like it... still haven't. There was an order and an execution to it that I have not yet been able to replicate.
The interesting twist is that I lost my two kittens that same night to some neighbour's dogs. I don't know if I sensed their impending danger and that's why I awoke so early and couldn't get back to sleep. I don't know if that was why I was kind of spaced out in a way.
I do know that I didn't consciously hear any of the drama that may have been taking place whilst painting because if I had, I would have gone out and tried to help them. Maybe they had already died by the time I got up. Whateverrrrrrr. It was just a strange few early morning hours that I still can't quite explain.
Just felt like sharing.
5 - Dennis Chidester
I grew up in binghamton, and knew the olmstead family, i have never met marla, but i do know mark, and his mom, dad, and bros. As a charactor witness i can say that 60 min. is wrong this family is a good family that would not scam anyone. I know from now on to be more judgemental about what 60 minutes airs.
6 - Human
Child prodigies (isn't that redundant?)are usually bright children who are being abused/exploited by their parents for money and/or fame. I was close friends with one such family and knew this was true in their case. If a child is a true prodigy and the parents are not abusive, you probably don't know about them from the media.
7 - meila
7 year old prolific writer has written more than 300,000 words of stories in 14 months. www.adorasvitak.com. Her first book "Flying Fingers" is due in Oct.
8 - hongling
Raising a seven year old prolific writer.
Young novelist Christopher Paolini is proud to be home schooled, and his success has alerted more parents to the fact that ‘home schooled’ is often synonymous with ‘accelerated’ and ‘advanced’. More people now understand that the level of attention a parent can give their child cannot be replicated in a large classroom setting, and that the results of this attention is usually very evident, especially when it comes to reading and writing. My daughter Adora is another home school success story. I began teaching Adora to write when she was four; she is now seven.
Adora can type over seventy words a minute, and she recently appeared on Good Morning America to demonstrate her ability to craft structurally sophisticated and interesting adventure stories. This year we collaborated together on her first book, Flying Fingers: Master the Tools of Learning through the Joy of Writing, which includes Adora’s stories, followed by her tips on writing, and the teaching strategies and exercises I have found to be most successful.
Although Adora has a natural talent, I believe that children can generally write much better than one might think. Teaching Adora to write was a process of trial-and- error for me, and I learned a lot. I never expected Adora to advance at the rate that she did. It was amazing to see how her progress accelerated once we really began focusing on writing in a serious fashion.
I say ‘serious’, but of course my best trick was to come across as the exact opposite. Ask your child to complete a simple sentence such as ‘The house was""’. If he/she seems unable to elaborate, begin asking zany questions. Is the house made of jell-o? Can the house fly? Once kids begin to contemplate the amusing possibilities, words just tumble out. If your child gets excited and begins throwing out ideas, ask him/her to write the first idea down before moving on to the next. This of course is just one activity, but I generally follow the same principals with most educational exercises. I ask questions, I maintain a playful attitude, and I always, always make sure my children know that I am truly interested in what they have to share.
I was curious to see whether the same system of exercises and activities I used to teach Adora would have a similar affect on other children. I started a small writing workshop, and I have been consistently amazed by the progress I can see even in students who started out with a limited interest in reading and writing. It’s been great to work with so many like-minded parents, and Adora and Adrianna have been inspired by the chance to share their ideas with other kids. Most importantly, it taught me that Adora’s talent is not singular; most children will flourish as writers when you help them understand that their writing can be a source of interest, praise, and entertainment.
Writing is just another form of make-believe, and when children realize that writing is one place where the sky is the limit, they begin to turn to writing as a source of fun. Encourage writing as a playtime activity when friends visit. Tell the kids ‘You decide. It’s all up to you. How do you want your castle to be? How do you want the world to be? Write about it, make it up, keep me reading!”
Joyce Svitak is the co-author of upcoming book “Flying Fingers”"Master the tools of learning through the joy of writing. Please visit the website http://www.adorasvitak.com for more information.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
9 - hongling
'She's Only 8, And She's Written A Book!'
November 15, 2005 By John Sharify
Video : KOMO 4 NEWS
Adora Svitak has written 300 short stories, and now she's just released a new book on how to spread the joy of writing.
REDMOND - Her feet didn't even touch the floor, and yet then-7-year-old Adora Svitak was spitting out one short story after another when we met her last February.
"You just can't stop writing?" I asked her. "Probably not", she responded.
Her resume included 300 short stories.
After we did that story on KOMO 4 News, ABC's Good Morning America interviewed Adora. Peter Jennings was on the set that morning. The late ABC anchorman was just as curious about Adora and her talents, as we were.
Mr. Jennings never got to know this about her: "I just turned 8, and I just wrote my book 'Flying Fingers," Adora told 3rd graders at Redmond's Horace Mann Elementary.
One student observed: "I think it's pretty amazing that she's only 8 and she's written a book!"
Adora wrote the book to spread the joy of writing. It's a 'how to' book. The Redmond girl believes anyone can write, you just need a little inspiration.
I asked her: "What's the key to being creative?" Adora responded: "Just letting your ideas flow, not holding them back".
Adora wants to share her gift with others. That's why she's visiting the 3rd grade class at Horace Mann Elementary.
"Gift? Maybe," says Adora's mother Joyce. "But I think all children have the gift. It's how to discover and develop them."
Adora will be autographing her book 'Flying Fingers' at Third Place Books in Forest Park. It's this Sunday (Nov. 20) at 3:30.
If you want more information about the book and Adora's work
10 - bob
my prodigey kid can say the abcs, and he is 7.
11 - j harlin
Regarding the flying fingers prodigy, I doubt it. For one thing, notice that the mother is co-author of the book. For another thing, the mother is dragging this child all over to promote the child's books. I listened to this child on NPR and she seemed to be the product of being around too much adult conversation. Her poem that she read reeked of adult language. In short, while this little girl may be bright and can tap dance her fingers across a keyboard, and enjoys reading books, I do not consider any of these to be prodigy traits. What I do consider alarming is the aggressive method that this mother uses to promote her daughter as a prodigy, no different than the little girl runway models, for example. Children such as this one who are home schooled by such dictatorial parents lose their creativity because while reading is critical, having unadulterated fun (emphasis on un-adult) is more critical to well-roundedness and creativity than the number of taps one can make on a keyboard in x time.
12 - 1800LAZERFACE
I've seen the documentary and I'm sorry, but Maria Olmstead is not a prodigy; Picasso was. Let's not mistake a child who paints just as a typical child would for a prodigy. She isn't figurative, mimetic, or even slightly creating what she sees. Her work captured on film has little to zero sophisication or elaborate color schemes as the large scale pieces sold for $9000-$20,000. Her father alongside his friend, the disgruntled photo-realist, are creating this house of cards. Soon, a stiff breeze will let loose.