Miguel “Miko” Secillano, son of Imee and Philip Secillano, is a five-year old math prodigy; but when he’s not solving math problems, he’s just like any other fun-loving boy.
Gifted Kid
His dad Philip said that Miko’s undergone an intelligence test in mid-November 2014 and the result showed that he was “gifted”. They send the test results over to MENSA, an international organization of people with high IQ, to apply for membership. Members of MENSA have intelligence test scores above 98%.
In such an early age of 5, Miko has manage to learn the following:
- Memorized all the atomic numbers and symbols of 118 elements of the Periodic Table.
- Recite Countries and their capitals
- Algebra (Polynomials)
- Arithmetics
- Geometry (Solving Volumes)
- Recite poems from well known authors
- Basic electronic circuits (Series and Parallel Combination)
- And a lot more!
Here’s a video of Miko solving the Total Resistance and Current on a Parallel Circuit:
His daddy said “I get a lot of messages from parents and professors all over the world,” Philip said. “A Mathematics professor in Brazil said he is ‘a prodigy, a fantastic promise.'”
Miko’s favorite breakfast is yogurt and he thinks that it’s the food that makes him smart. Philip said it’s probably genetics: both mom and dad got good grades in high school Math.
A Psychology professor from University of the Philippines Cebu, Dr Flora Generalao, agrees with Philip. Miko’s ability in Math can be a product of heredity or genetic mutation.
Dr. Flora also said: “At the age of 4, the human brain is supposed to understand mostly concrete ideas, that is why most children learn better with pictures.”
“Geometry problems are abstract ideas, usually understood in the teenage years when the frontal lobe is more developed.” Generalao added.
Regular Kid
Miko is like any other fun-loving kid. When he’s not busy at his whiteboard, he’s doing some karate class and swimming with his friends.
To show how Miko is such an inspiring kid, in which his parents are very proud of, here’s a little conversation his dad posted on facebook.
“While it is important to nurture a gifted child’s skills”, Dr Generalao said, “the parents have to make sure that they develop the child’s socio-emotional skills too.”
“The child should be exposed with friends and have some playtime,” Generalao added. “Playtime is when he learns how to empathize, follow rules, be competitive or admit defeat.”
Currently
Miguel “Miko” Secillano is now practicing Soroban, an ancient calculation tool and a technique called Anzan to execute mental calculations fast.
You can catch him in his dad’s youtube channel: Philip John Secillano
There is no doubt this kid will be a somebody someday. Here at powerpinoys we will support filipino who are making-a-difference not just in the Philippines but all around the world. Mabuhay ang mga talentong pinoy!