SAN ANTONIO- There is an expectation attached with the word genius. Those who have an exceptional brain power haven't figured out how to outsmart it.
"Some days I feel like my brain is going to explode because it's too full of stuff," said Jenna Singleton.
Jenna is a uniquely gifted child genius. Her family doesn't like to talk numbers but her IQ is reportedly 166. The daughter of a two computer programmers, she loves dragons, reading and computers.
"My parents had me IQ tested when I was four because they were afraid I was autistic," said Jenna.
Allison Singleton said before Jenna was two the child recognized the alphabet when no one had schooled her on the letters. By the time her daughter's IQ was tested, the four-year-old was reading books to her class.
"She was so hyper focused on things at a very young age. She was diligent about lining them up in categories and alphabetical," says Singleton. "She was really intense."
Candice Goetsch knew her daughter was different too. At 18 months, Iris Hernandez was stringing together sentences with a command unexpected for a child of her age.
"We'd have experiences in the grocery stores where people would kinda chuckle when they'd hear her talking to me," said Goetsch.
Iris became a wolfish reader. Her mother said at five-years-old, her daughter breezed through the Little House on the Prairie Series. Goetsch, an educator, decided to home school her daughter. The girl's IQ was tested when she was 7.
"My IQ is 144," said Iris.
Iris is a free-spirited genius who loves Shakespeare, swimming and horseback riding.
When Iris met Jenna
Iris and Jenna are from San Antonio. Their brain power brought them together in the most unlikely way. The two met on the set of Lifetime television's Child Genius: Battle of the Brightest. The 12-year-olds were picked to compete against 10 brainiacs from across the country in season two of the show.
Goetsch says the name of the show turned her off initially. She decided to allow her daughter to participate because Iris is so open to new experiences.
Singleton says her family signed on because the renowned international high IQ society called Mensa was associated with the show.
"I really don't like the title child genius because when people think of genius they think more of the smart people and possibly some aristocrats from history that knew everything," says Jenna. "Kinda like Einstein."
The Singletons says their experience on the reality competition was not what they expected. Jenna melted down prior to a memory competition. The contestants had to remember an entire deck of cards. Some competitors got 40. There was a perfect 52. Iris recalled 11.
Jenna did not overcome the pressure of the competition to even try. The gifted child says she felt the weight of pleasing her parents too.
"My IQ is so high that they think that I should be able to more," she says. "Often times I can't do that so I feel pressured by them."
Her mother says they thwart competition in their household. According to her, their family attempts to highlight each other's strengths. The show, she says, displayed the opposite.
The first episode showed her snapping up another parent's study suggestion as she tutored Jenna after telling her husband to get out of the way. Singleton says the intensity was consuming.
"We were like--well, who knows the capital of Croatia?!!! Who knows what the flag is?!!!" she said.
Iris, however, lasted a few more episodes. Her experience was more relaxed. Neither girl won the competition.
Back to life, Back to reality
Back in San Antonio, the two families started to bond over the joys and challenges of raising a gifted child.
"Sometimes I wish I was I just average...like not gifted," Iris says. "But most times I think it's an advantage and I like it."
Long past home schooling, Iris skipped the fifth and seventh grades. It makes her nearly two years younger than most of the students in her class. Next year, Iris will become a freshman in high school. It's exciting and frightening for her mother.
"I have found with every facet of education for these kids," she says. " The decisions have to be made on a case by case basis."
Iris continues to eat the know of books. She can read as man as 50 a month possible more if time permits. Two books a day easily she says.
Jenna who also skipped a grade likes reading too. But isn't excited about her reading list at school. Books like The Hunger Games is the equivalent of junk food in her curriculum.
"Nothing that exciting," she says. "We finished reading Fahrenheit 451. Before the we read the Count of Monte Cristo and 2000 Leagues Under the Sea."
Her parents say they are challenged with getting teachers who "get" the student in front of them. Like most specialized learners being unchallenged or misunderstood in the classroom has its fallout. For Jenna, it's having the school's highest grades in literature while struggling in other classes.
"Jenna's fidgeting in class or she's eating pencils," says Singleton. "I have to explain what that means in the kinesthetic mind and the asynchronous development."
Respectively, it means lectures drive the girl nuts. She requires active learning. Jenna has what is described as uneven intellect, physical and emotional development.
The genius question
Goetsch says all of this can be exhausting for parents. The mother of two says mistakes will be made along the way. She thanks educators for being open to ideas.
"You don't have to an IQ to be really smart," says Iris.
The parents are contemplating about life's most challenging question for their gifted girls: Who are they? What will they stand for?
They realize no genius has figured that out.