{"id":26357,"date":"2026-03-03T17:05:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T17:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=26357"},"modified":"2026-03-03T17:05:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T17:05:14","slug":"this-10-year-old-in-california-taught-herself-to-read-now-shes-just-enrolled-in-a-college-class-while-still-in-elementary-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=26357","title":{"rendered":"This 10-year-old in California taught herself to read\u2014now she’s just enrolled in a college class while still in elementary school"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ten-year-old Honey Cooper spends part of the day learning about fractions and the solar system as a fourth grader at Kimbark Elementary School\u2014and the rest of it as a dual-enrolled student at San Bernardino Valley College, taking a college-level art class.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is very, very, very brilliant,\u201d Kimbark Elementary School Principal Brittany Zuniga told local TV station KTLA<\/em>. \u201cShe is dedicated. She is passionate. She loves learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

The youngest of five, Cooper taught herself how to read early on and quickly became a stand-out student at her school. She does math at a seventh-grade level and reads on par with high school seniors, according to her mother. Cooper has also already begun narrowing her career prospects, eyeing a future as a surgeon, artist, or fashion designer.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest differences between her two classes, she said, is size\u201433 students in elementary school versus just 12 in college\u2014but she\u2019s found a rhythm that keeps her grounded.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really is a lot, but if you really balance it, it can go really smoothly,\u201d Cooper said to KTLA<\/em>.<\/p>\n

According to her mother, Honey\u2019s home life is relatively typical\u2014with one exception. While she struggles to keep her room clean, she steers clear of screens, preferring physical books instead. That puts her squarely at odds with her peers: children aged 8 to 18 in the U.S. now spend an average seven-and-a-half hours a day watching or using screens, according to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the beautiful things that I think that this entire story really demonstrates is that when you raise the bar for students, they will reach it,\u201d Zuniga added. \u201cAnd they will even blow your mind and exceed it.\u201d<\/p>\n

If she stays on the traditional timeline, Cooper will graduate high school in 2034 and college in 2038.<\/p>\n

Reading is on the decline\u2014even as it remains the top habit among the highly successful<\/h2>\n

Cooper\u2019s preference for books over YouTube already places her in a shrinking minority.<\/p>\n

Last year, two in five Americans did not read a single book, and reading for pleasure has plummeted about 40% over the past two decades. Yet many of the world\u2019s most successful people credit reading as central to their curiosity, critical thinking, and leadership. A JPMorgan survey released last year of more than 100 billionaires found that reading ranked as the top habit elite achieves have in common.<\/p>\n

Billionaire venture capitalist Marc Andreessen is one example. He spends two to three hours a day immersed in audiobooks (he switched over from physical books after he discovered AirPods). He typically rotates between history, biography, and material in new subject areas like artificial intelligence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf nothing else is going on. I\u2019m always listening to something,\u201d Andreessen said.<\/p>\n

Add it up, and Andreessen logs nearly a full 24-hour day of learning every week\u2014shaping the way he invests, builds, and thinks.<\/p>\n

Alison Taylor, a professor of business and society at NYU\u2019s Stern School of Business said being deeply well-read is becoming something of a luxury good\u2014rare, valuable, and impossible to fake.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving intellectual credibility, being well read and so on is definitely one thing money can\u2019t buy, so the ultimate status symbol,\u201d she previously told Fortune<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Gen Z and Gen Alpha are falling behind their parents\u2014and technology may be to blame<\/h2>\n

A 10-year-old taking college courses has always been an outlier\u2014but Cooper\u2019s story lands at a fraught moment for American education. Mounting evidence suggests Gen Z and Gen Z Alpha are falling behind their parents, with many students performing below pre-pandemic levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One in three eighth graders scored \u201cbelow basic\u201d in reading on last year\u2019s National Assessment of Educational Progress report\u2014the largest share in the exam\u2019s three-decade history. Among fourth graders, 40% landed at that bottom level, the worst showing in 20 years. Math scores have followed a similar downward trajectory.<\/p>\n

For years, edtech was positioned as the solution, with school districts across the country rolling out laptops and tablets to students. But according to neuroscientist and former teacher Jared Cooney Horvath, the approach may have backfired.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a debate about rejecting technology,\u201d Horvath said in testimony in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation earlier this year. \u201cIt is a question of aligning educational tools with how human learning actually works. Evidence indicates that indiscriminate digital expansion has weakened learning environments rather than strengthened them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Artificial intelligence adds another layer of uncertainty. While its use is growing among students and educators alike, it\u2019s uncertain whether there are proper guardrails for learning.<\/p>\n

A recent Brookings report found that the qualitative risks of AI\u2014including cognitive atrophy, \u201cartificial intimacy,\u201d and the erosion of relational trust\u2014currently overshadow the technology\u2019s potential benefits in education.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#10yearold #California #taught #readnow #shes #enrolled #college #class #elementary #school<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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