In an era where attention spans are dwindling, one ten-year-old California student is bucking the trend by taking a college-level course while balancing her studies as a fourth grader. Reportedly, the girl is “very brilliant” and dedicated to her studies. Unlike most other Gen Alpha kids, she has developed a strong reading habit and avoids screens, which can often be a distraction for many children.
Although she is still years away from attending college full-time, her exceptional abilities set her apart from the rest of the kids, and her teachers proudly vouch for it. Not only that, she is already thinking about possible career paths to secure her future. So, let’s meet the wonder kid from California who is currently making headlines for her academic talent.
Is the fourth-grade student from California a child prodigy?
Honey Cooper is a dual-enrolled student at San Bernardino Valley College, where she takes art classes while also attending Kimbark Elementary School. There, she is doing exceptionally well, learning subjects like fractions and the solar system alongside her classmates. It’s a hectic schedule for a ten-year-old, but she manages it even though it may sound overwhelming.
“It really is a lot, but if you really balance it, it can go really smoothly,” Cooper told her local television channel.
She is not an ordinary kid by any stretch of the imagination. Cooper is currently solving math problems at a seventh-grade level, while her reading level is comparable to that of high school seniors.
“She is very, very, very brilliant,” Kimbark Elementary School Principal Brittany Zuniga told local television station KTLA, adding that the student is “passionate” and “loves learning.”
“It’s extremely rare. And so what I love about Honey doing this and starting this is she’s paving the way. She’s opening the doors for everybody else, because I think so many of us didn’t even think that this was a possibility, didn’t even think that it was something that could be done — an elementary student enrolling dually in college,” Zuniga added.
Cooper is the youngest of five children and showed her inclination toward academic excellence from a very early age. She reportedly taught herself how to read and was quickly spotted by her teachers as someone special. As for her career, she has big dreams, mulling over whether to become a surgeon, an artist, or a fashion designer. Safe to say, she has a long way ahead before making that choice.
At home, although she struggles to keep her room clean, she spends most of her time reading books. One of the biggest differences she notices between her two schools is class size. Her elementary school classroom has 33 students, while her college art class includes just 12. But that doesn’t hamper her curiosity or her will to learn.
In a way, the student is following a path similar to that of some billionaires. Reportedly, Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape, spends two to three hours each day listening to audiobooks on subjects ranging from history and biography to emerging fields like artificial intelligence.
Her reading habit places the California wonder kid in a shrinking minority. Recent studies suggest that reading is becoming less common among children, as many spend increasing amounts of time on screens.
According to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, children between the ages of 8 and 18 in the United States now spend an average of seven-and-a-half hours per day using screens.
Reading remains one of the most common habits among highly successful individuals, and it seems Honey Cooper may already be on the right path. Who knows—perhaps decades from now, she will make headlines again as an accomplished surgeon, artist, or fashion designer.
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