Is it best to homeschool a gifted child?
Is it best to homeschool a gifted child? The idea of homeschooling children has been a practice for years now. Even when we think that the term itself has not been around yet, many members of some of the most affluent families from before have been engaging in homeschooling–that is hiring private tutors for their children to learn at the comfort of their own homes. But these days, such an option for sending our kids to school to learn is not just limited to the well-off.
Families opt to do homeschooling due to several reasons ranging from parents’ personal choice, bullying experienced by their child, and many more. Due to its popularity, it is made available for anyone who is willing to venture into it. In fact, there is a growing statistics of gifted children being homeschooled versus being sent to a regular school setting.
A 2001 study by Cloud and Morse (as cited in Hood) projected that between 1998 to 2003, an increase of 29% was seen in the number of homeschooled children in America. This number is said to continue growing and it has been projected that yearly, another 11% of the increase will be seen.
Homeschooling in 2020
Fast forward to 2020, there has been a major shift to the choice of modality for accommodating the gifted children’s learning. Although it is safe to say that homeschooling is not the best option for teaching gifted children, it is still seen as one of the most effective ways of catering to the need of these children. If the success of your gifted child is in your best interest, you might as well jump into details of this practice!
Homeschool: How To Classify a Child as Gifted?
For a child to be considered gifted, a lot of factors are weighed in. They are really diverse individuals and there really is no one-size-fits-all description of what gifted children are. They are either usually naturally blessed with a very high intellectual or mental ability or they are those who show high knowledge or ability to a specific discipline or area. Leaving gifted children in a regular classroom setting may cause several issues. Their needs are different from those of “regular” kids.
Gifted and Normal Children
Here, by saying that these kids are “regular,” it is not meant in a negative way. Because gifted children appear to have a difference in their emotional responses to several situations, they are prone to be singled out and bullied by other kids at school. Their emotions could be so intense that may cause distractions in class. This is difficult because not all teachers have the capacity to respond to the emotional support needed by gifted kids. In most cases, gifted children find the lessons in a regular school boring or not appropriate to their level.
In the effort of the teacher to be mindful of them, they tend to receive a more tedious and difficult task than the rest of the class. This could be dangerous because it will not guarantee that the “needs” of the said child is met by having a more difficult task. To top it all, classroom protocols could be frustrating for gifted children. This will cause more frustration and confusion on the side of the gifted child. This is where the gaps could start to grow and cause for the impairment of the development of these children.
How can I help my gifted child at home?
The situations presented above could well be remedied when a gifted child is homeschooled. The very essence of educating and nurturing gifted children is to “meet them at their level, and help make them reach their potential.” Well, this could well be applied to all types of learners as this is the ideal practice when catering to all children. Gifted or not, all learners deserve to be given a fighting chance to excel academically and socially. Homeschooling is deemed as effective for gifted children as their needs are met and they are nurtured with level-appropriate stimulation they most need.
The very nature of homeschooling makes it more intimate and therefore, trust is easily built between the parent and the child. Communication will become more open and there will be a mutual understanding that both the learner and the parent-teacher are going the same direction, at the same speed and with the same expectations. Parent-teachers offer better support than regular teachers because the parent-teachers have a deeper level of acceptance of their children’s emotional needs and they value the many ways their child is different from the rest. Not only do they emotionally support their children, but they could also personalize a curriculum fit to their level. This will help in the children’s intellectual overall progress.
Importance of the Right Homeschooling Activities for Gifted Children
The activities and lessons could center on what particular area their child excels at while offering other topics of learning for supplementation. The learning style of the child is not sacrificed in this situation. Like homeschooling a regular child, gifted children are given the opportunity to focus on what they like and go as deeply and as excellently about it.
All homeschoolers become well adapted to all ages because of the level of exposure they have with a wide range of people. In the long run, their social skills are also honed–contrary to the belief that homeschoolers are socially awkward. This will definitely help gifted children as they could seek other people for development and improvement. They could find mentors, programs, courses, or even other gifted children they could connect with. Through these connections, they could better learn things on their own as well. Because most if not all gifted children are good with logic, debates, and reasoning, these skills receive the spotlight and are therefore developed better.
Should You Homeschool a Gifted Child or Private School
Like every decision, deciding to go “full homeschool” is not an easy decision. It will be beneficial to look at the other side of this practice. Though convenient, homeschooling could pose problems on the side of the teacher-parents and the children as well. Concerns like patience, time management, and the capability of parents to meet their children’s intellectual levels and needs continue to arise. Being a parent-teacher is not an easy job. The responsibility of teaching the gifted child solely falls on one parent who will be designated to be the teacher. We have to admit that gifted children are at a higher level when it comes to a lot of things.
To be on the same level as the child, the parent-teacher should exert more effort in learning lessons, and coming up with stimulating and effective activities for the child. If the teacher-parent fails to stimulate the child’s needs, this could cause frustration too. To fully maximize the potential of the child, careful planning, attention, and proper delegation of tasks must take place. But there is no need to worry as homeschooling gives leeway for connecting with communities and like-minded individuals. What parent-teachers lack may be compensated by the community the parent-teachers and gifted child belong to. This is a fair warning to always keep the best interest of the child when deciding to do homeschooling.
To simply put it, homeschooling gifted children allows them to focus on their strengths and they are given enough understanding and support for their varying special needs not met by regular schooling. What makes it more effective is the tailored curriculum supplemented to them. They do not have to go through things that they do not need. They could go directly to what their level asks for. In the end, it will greatly impact the success homeschooling brings to gifted children.