Child prodigy series
Introduction
This week, on our website www.learnercircle.in, we begin our child prodigy series in a bid to inspire you on a journey of infinite learning and to be your sustainable partner in early child development. Our vision is to curate online courses that will perhaps nurture the prodigious talent in children. Along this journey we hope to provide ample opportunities to enhance skill development and language development for children. It is our ultimate hope, that our courses and events will urge children to come out of their comfort zone and discover their passion.

What is a child prodigy?
A child prodigy is defined as someone under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain to the level of an adult expert. Sometimes, the term wunderkind is used as a synonym for child prodigy. (wiki)
There has been some debate on whether a child prodigy is made or born. Some experts believe that prodigious talent arises from within the child. There are other researchers who believe that the environment plays a dominant role. It’s not always true that the child prodigy may continue to be so as an adult, a lot of them fall behind due to lack of effort. Our first child prodigy of this series is a favorite: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Have you ever heard of the Mozart effect? This term arose from a small experiment done in 1993 to study the effects of Mozart’s music on the mind. The study found that listening to Mozart significantly improves spatial reasoning. This study has led to many crèches in the US and mothers all around the world to play classical music to children.
Now who is Mozart and why is his music so important?
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a popular child prodigy. He was an influential and inventive composer of the classical period. Mozart was born in the early Roman Empire and he displayed great musical skill from a very early age. By the age of 5, he was already proficient with playing the piano and the violin. He began his compositions at this age, embarked on a grand tour and even performed before European royalty. In his early years, Mozart’s only teacher was his father, but it became evident that Mozart was progressing vigorously and was keen to go beyond what he was being taught.
Mozart’s sister Nanneri recalled after his death that Mozart would often listen to her during her piano classes with their father. Mozart would pick up notes and often play it perfectly. Mozart was a versatile composer. His compositions cover a diverse range of genres including opera, solo concerto, the piano sonata, the string quartet and string quintet. In his short life span, Mozart created more than 600 compositions of almost every genre. Even today, he is considered one of the greatest classical composers of all time. Mozart continues to influence western music and is said to have had a great impact on Ludwig Van Beethoven. It is unfortunate that Mozart died early. The cause of Mozart’s death is still uncertain and researchers have suggested more than a hundred possible causes for his death. Mozart did not enjoy much popularity during his lifetime. It is in the period after his death that he experienced an ‘unprecedented wave of enthusiasm’. Many publishers competed to produce complete editions of his works.
The mind of a prodigy
Ever wondered about the mind of a child prodigy? There has always been the nature versus nurture debate. With one group of researchers believing that prodigies possess a genetic specialty, whereas the other group believing that it is due to environmental influences like family and social background.
Asperger’s Syndrome
Many scientists have researched factors that could lead to excellence. A lot of historical research has shown that people diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome are often extremely talented.
A higher IQ
Most of these children were found to have IQ scores higher than the general population – 128 compared to the average population of 100. Some children had IQs only slightly above the population average. So, it can be said that child prodigies are indeed intelligent, but not as intelligent as one would expect.
The working memory
Our working memory plays an important role in the number of tasks we do each day. Like, storing and memorizing information. It also helps us to learn new things and make logical decisions. So it is said that our intelligence is highly correlated with our working memory.
Conclusion
If you’re old and you have no chance to be a child prodigy, don’t lose hope. You still can improve your working memory through training and constantly finding ways to keep your brain active. At Learner Circle we offer a variety of online classes for children of all ages to keep them intellectually strong and cognitively alert. Our courses not only focus on early child development but are useful for older children as well. If you are a parent foraging around looking for after school classes or the perfect hobby for your child, then Learner Circle is a good place to start. To improve the working memory of the brain we offer courses that range from music, quizzing, language, coding, writing and chess.
Please do not hesitate to check out our website www.learnercircle.in to know more about our online classes.

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