An article in Time magazine asks “Are We Failing Our Geniuses?” Often in school systems, children aren’t permitted to learn at their level in each subject. The are put into age-specific classes, and only provided educational material based on their age. The article says, “Many school systems are wary of grade skipping even though research shows that it usually works well both academically and socially for gifted students–and that holding them back can lead to isolation and underachievement.”
If you are homeschooling a gifted child, you aren’t alone. This long article can provide support. Homeschooling is the perfect solution for gifted children.
People think that dealing with gifted children is easy. Hah! No way! It’s amazingly stressful!
Hi Lee,
I just got a jolt when I read on your website that a rough conversion from PSAT to SAT is to add a zero to the end. So what do I do with a 14 year old who has a PSAT selection index of 201, average percentile of 97, Critical Reading score of 70, Mathematics score of 61, and Writing Skills score of 70?
~ Amazed in Auburn
To be honest, that was EXACTLY the place I found myself when son was 14. He got an 800 in reading, 790 in writing and math, with a perfect score on the essay. That was the moment I realized that I just *might* have to graduate him early. He is a senior at Seattle Pacific University now, and he’s 20 and headed to law school. Here’s a few things that will help.
How do you handle a gifted teenager? Is homeschooling them a good idea? Should you be doing something else? It’s always hard to homeschool kids, but homeschooling gifted kids can be even more stressful.
I know the challenges of homeschooling gifted children. But you can be confident that homeschooling is a great environment for ALL students, whether they are gifted or not. It’s the best academic preparation, because they can learn at their level in every subject. It’s the best social preparation because the environment is safe and supportive, with people of many ages – just like the real world! And homeschooling is the best preparation for a career, because it encourages specialization and each student’s unique gifts.
You can do this! It may be hard, but you have what it takes to succeed. We are not just “care givers” of our children. We are “love givers.” THAT will make the difference!
My experience with LD and ADHD is not first hand, but through friends and college advisers. In talking with them, I came to recognize that the core issue of the LD crowd is the same as it is for the gifted crowd:
Teaching every subject at their level all the time.
That’s how I provide guidance. I can tell you that I have spoken to many colleges who are eager to have all children, and are well prepared to accommodate, and my Gold Care Club message is all about preparing for college.
Beyond “expertise” though, much of homeschooling high school is about having support. I can be your buddy, your friend who is GLAD you’re homeschooling your child and thinks it’s a GOOD idea. I can be your second pair of eyes on your curriculum and records, and another caring parent researching issues online. In other words, sometimes it’s not about me knowing more than you, but about me going through it with you.
How about this idea. You could get the Total Transcript Solution and try Gold Care Club for free for a month and see if it works for you. Surely you’ll need a transcript anyway, and it comes with some great classes along with the Ebook. And then you can try the Gold Care, see if it meets your needs, and only stay on for the monthly fee IF it meets your needs, you know? No harm, no foul that way! Here is the link to the Total Transcript Solution so you can read more about it.
The women quoted in the article are very close friends of mine, and I know their children very, very well. Please be encouraged – these are real people.
I am now the Seattle Homeschool Examiner. You can read my homeschool articles here.
It’s very difficult to balance the academic needs of gifted children. How do you know when they should take classes outside the home?
Lee,
I have enjoyed your newsletters for over a year but have never contacted you. Now I’m needing a second opinion. My 15yo dd is academically advanced, but she does not want to graduate early. She has been offered a spot in an outstanding joint enrollment at a large public university. It sounds like a great opportunity. BUT to do this we have to turn in an accredited transcript. I feel like I’m selling my soul after all these years of independent homeschooling. Tell me – is it worth it to jump through the hoops for a good opportunity. Thanks for listening! I really don’t expect a personal response as I know you are quite sought after – I just needed to tell someone…
~ Donna in South Carolina
Dear Donna,
This is a big question, with a lot of moving parts that requires some give-and-take discussion, so I really can’t give any hard and fast rules for you. Let me just say a few things, though.
First, I so totally and completely 100% understand. My son started at the university at the age of 16.
Second, when I looked into the university level gifted programs, I was disappointed as well. For people who are marketing to gifted kids, I didn’t feel like they really understood giftedness, because they were very regimented and bureaucratic, it seemed.
Third, repeat this mantra often “teach her at her level, in every situation, all the time.” Whatever it takes to make sure that will happen, then it’s worth it. If this university won’t teach her at her level, it’s not worth it. On the other hand, if you have completely run out of information to teach her, then it may be worth the effort to get her into the program.
I do have some general help for gifted teens. I have a webpage devoted to gifted teenagers.
My Gifted Education course is one of the courses on the Gold Care Club right now. If you purchase the Gold Care Club, then you can get the Gifted Education course (plus all the other courses on there) but we can also talk every week about these issues. The Gold Care Club provides you with a 20 minute conversation with me every week, so we can talk about this complicated issue.
I really do understand! My sons….. It was hard to make all those decisions!
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Gifted education is a subject very near and dear to my heart! That is the reason why I began homeschooling in the first place. After we started, I was surprised at how many other benefits there are! If your child is bored, and you have been wanting to homeschool high school but you’re afraid, I have some suggestions.
I think you will like the gifted education CD because you will be able to hear what it was like for me to watch my children in the gifted education program in school and how I contrast that to homeschooling.
You may also want to check out my e-book on transcripts. That will answer all your transcript concerns, but it also comes with a one month free membership to the Gold Care Club. The ebook is $37, and you can find out more here. If you decide to keep your membership to the Gold Care Club, then after your first free month it is $27. To cancel, you just send me an email (easy.) The club has video and audio courses about how to homeschool, and they change every month. This month is the perfect month for you to see it because the Gifted Education course is actually on the Gold Care Club right now. Here is a list of all the classes on the Gold Care Club right now (October 13, 2009):
How to Training Courses
Quick Start: “Keys to High School Success” If you are new to the Gold Care Club, start here.
Beginner: “Preparing to Homeschool High School” third hour of a four hour course.
Intermediate: “Making a High School Transcript” is a new audio recording.
Encouragement:
Blog Talk Radio interview called “Do Not Be Afraid!”
You might also like the Preparing to Homeschool High School video, because it covers all the bases, and I made sure to address issues for people who have never homeschooled before. Here is the link to that video.
Finally, please don’t avoid homeschooling because of fear. Fear is a lousy reason – fear is something that can prevent you from hearing God. My job is to remove the fear, so that you can hear what you are supposed to do. There is nothing to fear! Just check out these statistics, to see the academic promise of homeschooling:
For more encouragement, here are some short video clips. These may help remove the fear, and remind you that you aren’t the only one who knows what it’s like to have gifted teens in a regular school.
“How do you know you can homeschool high school?”
>>>>Is it also possible to finish high school earlier than 4 years? Is this a good idea?<<<<
It’s very hard to say if it’s a “good” idea, because it varies so much family to family, child to child, college to college, and even year to year as maturity changes things! But yes, you can graduate early, or you can start high school early and then do it in four years. Or both.
I can tell you what worked for me. I waited until it was time to graduate my son. Then I arranged the previous 4 years of education and called it “high school.” He had collected some college credits at that time, so he graduated high school at 16 – and he entered the university with Junior year status.
If you find yourself in a similar situation then you should consider my e-book, “The Easy Truth About Homeschool Transcripts” for two reasons. First, it will help you with keeping records “as if” your child was in high school so that you’ll be ready for anything, no matter what the future holds. Second, it will also give you a 1 month free membership to the Gold Care Club, so you can learn more about record keeping, and what credits these classes are worth. It also gives you a free 20 minute consultation with me every week, so we can talk about this issues regularly, so you feel more confident.
High School? 5th grade? Where do you draw the line between “smart” and “put it on the high school transcript?”
I received some questions on my Facebook the other day. Some big, beefy questions! How about if I give you the “readers digest” version with some resources for more information.
>>>>My son is 10 and he is interested in studying Birds. I would like to purchase a Bird Study course from Cornell University. My daughter is 11 and would also like to study various things including Baking Science with a book typically used at a culinary school. Can I use their studies toward a high school course later on?<<<
It’s possible to use that information on a high school transcript. Instead of deciding what you’re going to do with it for their transcript, I suggest that you just save that experience with lots of record keeping. Then later, when they are ready to graduate high school, you’ll have all the information you need about that course. You’ll be able decide at that time if you want to include it on the transcript or not. I found myself in that same situation with economics when my son was that age. At first I didn’t think I would want to use it on the transcript, but later on I found out that I did want to use it. So just save the information, practice your high school record keeping with that class, but leave the “deciding” for later on.
If you think you child is ready to start some high school courses when they are the age of a typical 5th or 6th grader, then you are likely dealing with someone very gifted. In this situation, I recommend my audio course, “Gifted Education at Home.”
Distance learning means time on the computer – and kids LOVE computers! But what do you do when they love being online too much?
My daughter is taking distance learning this year so she is online a lot. I am homeschooling my 16 year old daughter with an online Gifted and Talented organization. We have a net nanny programmed but there are still plenty of sites to keep her busy doing anything but school work. Have you come across other parents who have students doing online courses (or maybe even offline), who find it hard to keep their children focused on what they are supposed to be doing? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Spring is on the way!
~ A homeschool mom
In our home, we called that behavior “falling into the abyss” <giggles!> It’s SO easy to get distracted when you’re online! So many great things to do and see! Especially with very bright young people, who may be bored with school.
When you are not using an online program, the solutions are a little more straight forward. You can eliminate all computer time until after school work is done, and you can set a timer for those times when they are allowed to be online, so their computer time is limited. It’s more difficult to do that when school *is* the computer.
Since you mention that your daughter is gifted, it might be that she is bored. I know you are using a gifted education online source, which is good. You also want to make sure that it’s not just a gifted class, but that she is in the RIGHT LEVEL for each gifted class. Try to identify if she is bored.
Spend some time talking to her as an adult. Describe your struggles with limiting your own computer time, and ask her advice about how she handles her computer time. Sometimes when a teenager expresses it themselves, they are more likely to do it. In other words, if you can make her SAY what you want her to do, then it’s more likely to be successful than if you say it to her.
You may want to ask her if this curriculum is a good fit for her. Ask her if she would prefer studying away from the computer. Although we sometimes *think* we have found the perfect choice, sometimes our kids will recognize it’s not a good fit before we do. Maybe she doesn’t like learning that way.
You can try having her do the work on a separate computer, or with paper and pencil, and then getting online only when each assignment is done. I’m not sure how it would work with your online program, but sometimes you can do the work offline, and then cut and paste (or scan and attach) work that is done when you aren’t on the internet.
The online format may be too great a temptation. Like an chocoholic in a candy store, it may just be too tempting to be efficient. Nobody can answer that question but you and your daughter.
This may simply be the downside of any online program. Like many things about parenting, I don’t think you will find “THE solution.” At best I can only give suggestions for you to try!
So look ta the overall experience, and see if it’s a good fit for your family. There are many alternative ways to homeschool if it isn’t.
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Homeschool parents can test the level of the student in each subject. The standardized tests help (Iowa Basic, CAT test, or any of the others.) Is the student at grade level? Above grade level and bored? Or below level and frustrated? Using a math placement test can help. I recommend Saxon for math placement.
Once you know what level, then you can make sure their curriculum is at their level all the time in every subject. Keeping it challenging but not overwhelming can make a huge difference in their success. It doesn’t matter what level they are – it matter that they are working at THEIR level. They can succeed if they are working on their level. If they aren’t, then they may be bored or hopelessly lost.
If your child is very bright, and yet does poorly in a school situation, you may want to check if they are truly bored in school.
If you want help with gifted children, consider my NEW audio course, “Gifted Education at Home.” This one hour long audio course is geared toward homeschooling parents with children in grades 1 – 12. What I’ve found is that these strategies work great for all students, not just the gifted ones!
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