Four-year-old Sikh girl joins Mensa club of high IQ kids
What's the story
A four-year-old British Sikh girl has become one of the youngest in the UK to be accepted into the elite Mensa membership club of children with a high intelligence quotient (IQ).
Dayaal Kaur, who lives with her family in Birmingham, displayed exceptional learning abilities from very early on and had mastered the entire English alphabet by the time she was just 14 months old.
Result
Kaur is part of the highly advanced category in UK
Kaur expressed an enthusiasm to appear for the Mensa test, conducted online from home due to the coronavirus lockdown, and achieved an IQ score of 145, which put her in the top one percent of the UK's population, i.e., in the very gifted or highly advanced category.
"We are delighted to welcome Dayaal to Mensa," said John Stevenage, British Mensa's Chief Executive.
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Mensa will support Kaur through its numerous opportunities
"Kaur is now part of the community of about 2,000 junior and teen members. Her family can make use of the supportive parents' network and we hope Dayaal makes many lifelong friends and experiences through many learning and network opportunities that Mensa offers," Stevenage said.
Further details
The road to the honor was not easy
The recognition didn't come easy. Kaur's family struggled to convince local experts that she needed access to the gifted intelligence program within the education system.
Her father, Sarbjit Singh, himself a teacher as a Health, Well-being and Pastoral Lead, persisted to prove that his daughter indeed was gifted. "Now there is official documentation that proves that she is way beyond her level," Singh said.
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There's need for debate about how we cultivate youth: Singh
"As parents, it is natural to consider one's child special, but now there is actual proof that she is one in a million. It is important to provide the right kind of support and education to our youth to not lose high achievers," Singh said.
Assessment
Kaur's maturity may accelerate her beyond her peer group: Expert
Kaur, who dreams of becoming an astronaut and have a stable full of horses, took the test just before her fourth birthday in October last year. Her parents explained what the online process would entail and she readily agreed.
In her assessment, expert Lyn Kendall recommended that Kaur's ability and maturity may accelerate her beyond her peer group in a classroom setting.
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Kaur is a second-generation British-Indian whose father is from Birmingham
"I am so glad we persisted because otherwise, Dayaal would have been lost in the system and got frustrated when she didn't feel like she was being challenged enough to learn new things constantly," Singh said, whose family traces its roots back to Hoshiarpur, Punjab.
Future plans
Kaur can't wait to return to nursery post-lockdown
Meanwhile, Kaur has been celebrating her big achievement with her father, one-year-old sister Kalyaan, and solicitor mother Rajvinder Kaur as she has worked out that she is a genius now.
As with most people, the COVID-19 lockdown has been tough for Kaur too. She had to curb her sociable side but can't wait to return to the nursery and play with her friends again.