4 year old Diver?

[Walter]

IQs are not fixed for life, although generally they stay within a range, neither jumping or dropping more than a certain number of points (10 - 20?). There are cases of IQs fluctuating more than that, but it's pretty rare.

In that case, does saying a kid has an IQ higher than an adult have any meaning other than "eventually this kid will be smarter than this adult"?

Not really. A 10 year old with a mental age of 15 and an IQ of 150 is a great deal smarter than a 20 year old with a mental age of 20 (higher than the child's) and an IQ of 100. The 10 year old has had half the life experience and therefore does not know or understand many things that are simple for the 20 year old, but give both of them something new for them both and pretty difficult and the 10 year old will learn it a great deal faster and understand it more completely than the 20 year old. The IQ isn't adjusted for age, the test is designed for the age. IQ tests are also only valid within a particular culture. We also need to remember that there are different types of intelligence.

 

[meierdierck]

Why not get him started into snorkeling / freediving? Never too early to start that and a lot cheaper Once he's old enough he would have a very high water comfort level and a lot of basic skills that would make openwater a much easier transition!

best thing we ever did was get our kids started early, snorkling & skiing, do it before they learn about fear and pain....i believe it carries into all aspects of their lives later,

 

[DennisW]

The age thing for learning to SCUBA has been debated on the board several times. And I have said the following at least once before. When my children were young, the age was 12 before they could get a JR cert. They both learned to dive and I not only limited their depth to 40 ft but the number of dive trips per year to just one.

Why? Because I did not want my children to be the guinea pigs in the eventual study for the long term physiological effects of SCUBA Diving on children. One example: We know that until a person reaches the age of 18 to 20, thier bones are still developing. We also know that nitrogen under pressure will get into soft bone tissue. Children have lots of soft bone tissue. What does nitrogen do to growing bones? Nobody the heck knows what it does, but I contend that it can't be good. So, I chose to be conservative. Hard to believe, but I am very conservative when it comes to the long term health of my family.

 

[Coldwater_Canuck]

Not really. A 10 year old with a mental age of 15 and an IQ of 150 is a great deal smarter than a 20 year old with a mental age of 20 (higher than the child's) and an IQ of 100. The 10 year old has had half the life experience and therefore does not know or understand many things that are simple for the 20 year old, but give both of them something new for them both and pretty difficult and the 10 year old will learn it a great deal faster and understand it more completely than the 20 year old. The IQ isn't adjusted for age, the test is designed for the age. IQ tests are also only valid within a particular culture. We also need to remember that there are different types of intelligence.

Well it depends on "smarter". What I was referring to was absolute smarts, meaning right now, at this point in time, age irrelevant. Compare two people, but you are blind to their age, in other words. You sound like you're referring to "smart for their age", which it sounds like what IQ is.

The reason I bring up the distinction was the original argument about kids having higher IQs than adults. Granted, I don't think it's particularly relevant to this thread in the first place, but even if we assume it is ... turns out i was incorrect about IQs and the statement was true. However, if IQ is based on age, then the original argument wasnt particularly relevant. Because in comparing diving right now you'd need to look at intelligence at this time which it doesn't sound like IQ does since it incorporates age into the discussion. In other words, it's comparing apples and oranges .
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By the way, I just wanted to point out in no way am I judging anyone else on here or trying to say how you should raise your kids. Simply an online discussion. Kind of like if were were arguing that the legal driving age should be raised to 18: in no way would this argument be saying parents are irresponsible for letting their kids drive at 16. And some of the pictures are definitely cute.

 

[Walter]

Well it depends on "smarter". What I was referring to was absolute smarts, meaning right now, at this point in time, age irrelevant. Compare two people, but you are blind to their age, in other words. You sound like you're referring to "smart for their age", which it sounds like what IQ is.

Nope. It's not age dependent. It's about ability to learn, ability to figure things out and the ability to come up with new, useful ways of thinking about things. You're thinking of aquired knowledge. That's sometimes, but not always related to intelligence.

A child with an IQ of 150 will out think an adult with an IQ of 100, regardless of the age of either of them. The adult may do better in specific areas if he has knowledge about that area that the child lacks, but he'd also do better than an adult with a 150 IQ if the smarter adult lacked that knowledge.

 

[dirtydon]

my grandson is 4.5 year old. i hook my regs up on a pony tank and we go treasure hunting in his pool (2.5 feet deep) he is also snorkin (his words) in the same pool. still would not take him in any deeper water. lots of fun with him. he lives with me with his mom.we look at the diving vids on the comp all the time.when i went on the blackbeard boat,he told me to take my dive knife incase a shark came attacked so i could cut his eyes and get away!!?? were do they come up with this?

 

[Paladin]

Hmm. I was eight when I started snorkeling and eleven when I started SCUBA diving. We were using two hose regulators back then without BCs, octos, computers or any of the modern conveniences. I don't consider myself as anything special. I was just determined to be a SCUBA diver. My youngest son is now ten and has been snorkeling with me. He'll be eleven in September and wants to get his Junior C card for his birthday. Why would that scare anybody?

Jacques Cousteau strapped an aqualung on Jean Michel Cousteau's back and tossed him into the Med when he was seven. Of course, the kid had been snorkeling for years.