Since the 2012/13 school year, the Hector Children's Academy Tübingen has been offering around 50 courses annually for particularly gifted children. These take place outside of regular classes at Tübingen elementary schools and often in cooperation with companies.
This cooperation helps children expand and deepen their knowledge through practical learning and direct applications under the guidance of experts.
This year, elementary school students from various Tübingen schools had the opportunity to participate in the course 'From Raw Part to Finished Aluminum Dinosaur'. Over four Thursdays, the participating children constructed and produced a Tyrannosaurus Rex from aluminum.
In this course, the students were introduced to various learning areas, ranging from design and materials science to processing and the inspection of components and final assembly.
The individual aluminum components were manufactured on a DMU 50 CNC milling machine, and the learning units take place at the training center of Paul Horn GmbH.
Talent promotion is one of the pillars at Paul Horn GmbH to ensure the company's long-term success. In addition to vocational training and dual studies, the Hector Children's Academy adds another component.
The Hector Children's Academies offer, as the only nationwide support program, a specially developed program for particularly gifted and highly gifted elementary school children in addition to regular school lessons, which goes far beyond the regular curriculum. Around 23,000 elementary school children participate annually in the course offerings at 69 locations.
The focus of the course topics at the Hector Children's Academies is on STEM subjects (Mathematics, Computer Science, Natural Sciences, and Technology).
Talents and giftedness develop from a close interplay of innate abilities and environment. A large part (50 to 70 percent) of the variance in intelligence in the population is determined by genetic factors. This implies that non-inherited influences, such as support, can also positively contribute to the development and emergence of giftedness. For children with special talent and potential to achieve extraordinary performance, it is also necessary, as in music or sports, to train intellectual giftedness with a corresponding measure of perseverance and diligence. The earlier a child's giftedness is recognized, the sooner training and support can begin.
Early learning opportunities are important for the development of special talents. However, in the everyday life of elementary schools, individual support needs are not easy to implement. Therefore, an expansion of the learning offerings within the framework of enrichment is an effective support approach that the Hector Children's Academy program addresses. Enrichment means that particularly gifted and highly gifted students receive additional learning opportunities tailored specifically to their needs alongside school lessons. The development of particularly high giftedness occurs in a field-specific manner and depends on personal characteristics such as motivation and the interests of the children.
The course offerings aim to promote the interests and potentials of the children while creating intellectual and social challenges. The children should deepen their field-specific knowledge, develop new competencies, and be able to unleash their creativity. Insights from scientific studies continuously develop the program and demonstrate the effectiveness of the support. The participating children benefit from this close exchange between science and practice through a course offering optimally tailored to their needs.
Markus Horn, Managing Director of Paul Horn GmbH: 'In recent years, we have had extraordinarily positive experiences with the participating children. The young people show great interest in technology and the company. This also encourages us to continue being part of this special program.'
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