It doesn't matter one whit what the boy could "be great at". A young man looking out toward the horizon and plotting the course of his life should be seeking inspiration, not proficiency. (And if he's not even looking, then he should just be booted out into the big mean world and none of the rest of what I'm about to say matters.)

I just came back from having a beer with a good friend, and one thing I said stuck out -- all of the respondents to this post are working with incomplete information -- they don't know my step-son as I have come to know him over the last six or so years. In point of fact, even *I'm* working with incomplete information -- I don't know what the best answer is for this future, all I can do is make a really good educated guess.

If at the age of 18 he lacks responsibility enough to ask questions when he doesn't understand something, or lacks perseverence enough to stay with a task until it's done, babying him will do far more harm than good.

Again, if you knew my step-son, you might re-consider your answer. I'm trying to teach him to explore all possible angles, to try lots of different approaches. That's not specifically about solving algebra, calculus or eevn programming problems .. it's about problem solving in general. He's bright, very bright, but he's not street-smart. Sometimes you have to make a decision with less than perfect information, because you just about never have perfect information. One of my measures of succes in life is how you react when things start to go bad. Is there a panic, or is there a reassesment of possibilities, followed by decisive action?

Thanks for your feedback.