What Happens When You Put Bright Young Minds in the Right Room? A Peek Into Week 1 of our Gifted Summer Program

“I learned that formulas aren’t like just about remembering and using them in just boring ways. It’s about experience experimenting with different combinations of numbers, and having fun.”

– a sentiment shared by Aanya, age 13, on Day 1 of Algebranauts.

One week into our Summer Program, something extraordinary is already unfolding.

We’ve seen students from across India and the UAE explore black holes and budgets, decode the logic of beehives, and re-imagine the universe. But what makes these classrooms come alive isn’t just the content—it’s the conversations.

These aren’t your typical online classes.

🚀 In Astrophysics, They Questioned the Very Fabric of Time and Space

When students learned about the immense scales of the universe and the time it takes for light to travel, the profound questions came flying in. One student, Aryan, asked a question that brought the whole class to a halt:

“Like many of the stars, are… many light years away. Right? So whatever we see would have happened those many light years [ago]… So how do we know… in what state they are right now, whether they’re still there or they’ve already died off?” 

Our mentor Dr. Sukanya Sinha guided them through this, explaining how looking at distant stars is looking back in time. The conversation then delved into how we measure these vast distances. The students learned about the parallax method—using Earth’s orbit as a baseline to measure the shift of a nearby star against the backdrop of more distant ones. This led to another brilliant question from Vaikunt:

“We know that both Earth and Venus are traveling around the sun very fast, so how can we account for that?”

It’s moments like these—where students connect concepts and challenge the very foundation of what they know—that define our program. Their curiosity is the engine of our classroom.

💰 In Financial Literacy, They Debated the Merits of Credit Cards vs. Cash

Yes, really.

The “Beyond the Piggy Bank” class explored real-world financial decisions. When our mentor Meeta Kabra introduced the concepts of loans and interest, it sparked a lively debate about how we use money. One student, Aditya, argued that credit cards feel safer because “it’s not your own money… Your money is not at risk” , while another countered that cash is king because “nobody can scam you”.

This led to a deeper conversation about risk, convenience, and the banking system. When discussing loans, a student, Rajvi, had a breakthrough realization:

“So in like in turn, what I realized was that loans are basically a scam.”

This comment, born from seeing how interest accumulates, was the perfect launchpad for the Meeta to discuss why and when loans can be powerful tools, especially for businesses that can earn more from the loan than the interest they pay. It was a moment where a simple concept suddenly clicked, revealing the complex systems that underpin our economy.

🧮 In Algebranauts, They Found the Fibonacci Sequence in a Bee’s Family Tree

One class began not with numbers, but with a story about the ancestry of a male bee. The students were given two simple rules: a male bee is born from a single female bee, and a female bee is born from a male and a female.

They were then asked: How many ancestors does a male bee have in each generation?

As they drew out the family tree, a pattern began to emerge.

• 1st Generation: 1 (the bee itself)
• 2nd Generation: 1 ancestor
• 3rd Generation: 2 ancestors
• 4th Generation: 3 ancestors
• 5th Generation: 5 ancestors
• 6th Generation: 8 ancestors

“The total… is the sum of the last 2 generations combined,” a student, Siddhant, pointed out. Another student, Aanya, immediately identified it: “The Fibonacci sequence!”.

By exploring a simple story from nature, they had uncovered one of math’s most famous patterns. In that moment, they weren’t just learning math—they were becoming mathematicians.

What Makes These Moments Possible?

Small groups.

Big ideas.

Mentors who listen.

And students who are finally in a room where they don’t have to hold back.

Many of our students are the kind who ask “too many” questions in school. The kind who read ahead. The kind who get frustrated when the pace is too slow—or too fast. At Gifted World, they don’t have to shrink their curiosity to fit the room. The room expands for them.

One Week In. Many More to Go.

From decoding compound interest to imagining the history of a star, the Summer Program is already offering students something rare: Challenge. Voice. Belonging.

And we’ve only just begun.

If you’re a parent reading this—thank you for trusting us. There’s more magic to come. If you are an educator who knows students who can benefit from this, get in touch with us!

See more about our Gifted Summer Program on www.giftedworld.org/summer-program