The Yosufs' house is unlike any other house. In the sitting room, instead of a television there is a blackboard on the wall. For two hours every day Mr Yosuf writes complex mathematical problems on the board. His daughter, Zuleika, copies them into an exercise book and solves them.
Zuleika is special. She's five years old, but, instead of watching cartoons, or playing computer games, her favorite pastimes(消遣) are solving problems and reading books. She already spends hours every day in a university library. Next year, Zuleika will become Britain's youngest "A" level student.
Not surprisingly, the Yosufs are a very clever family. Zuleika's two sisters and brother, aged 16, 14 and 12 are also good at maths and are already at university. Her father, who specializes in maths research, has taught them all. "Zuleika is very competitive," says her father, "She sees her brother and sisters working every day and she can't wait to catch up with them. I remember teaching the others maths when they were eight. Zuleika solves the same problems now, although she took up maths much earlier. We could see she was interested in numbers at a much younger age.
So what is the secret of their success? When their first child arrived, Mr Yosuf and his wife made up their minds to teach all of their children at home. They say that home teaching combined with love and understanding has helped their children to succeed. "We'll be patient and supportive, and they take pride in what they do," says Mr Yosuf. "Maybe Zuleika has a natural talent for maths, but I believe given the right surroundings, any child could do well."
One thing all child prodigies(神童) have in common is a complete love of their subject. They spend many more hours working at it than the average child, and this extra effort is reflected in their achievements. It is not necessary to be extremely talented to be a child prodigy, but you do have to have a lot of motivation.