Hello
there! If you are new here, we invite you to subscribe by RSS
feed or by
email. On Facebook? We would
love for you to join
us.
I was speaking to a mother with struggling learners. She mentioned how I wouldn’t understand because my children are gifted. I disagree. It was HARD to have gifted children. Sleepless nights. Some tears. A huge struggle trying to find appropriate curriculum. I had to find something that would be challenging but not overwhelming, but at the same time it had to be age-appropriate. It was a huge struggle.
Most of my products are geared toward junior high and high school. However, I have one class that is appropriate regardless of age: Gifted Education at Home. I often consult with parents of gifted children that need extra encouragement and support. This week I received a note from one of those parents. Candy’s daughter is graduating this month, at the age of 13.
Greetings!
Hi Lee,
I’ve been meaning to email you for a while, but am just now getting around to it. I wanted to take a minute to email you and thank you. Because of our
wisdom and support, Courtney is graduating this year! She’s 13, and a full time college student with College Plus.
You were the first to encourage us NOT to change the way we homeschooled when Courtney reached high school level (and her stint in the spotlight). You are the one that gave us the knowledge and support of our high school options. After being shut down by the school district this year for Running Start Dual Enrollment at Community College (due to Courtney’s age) it was again you that helped get us back on track and find College Plus.
Anytime I meet a new homeschooling mom, I tell them to go to your website first. THANK YOU for all your passion and dedication. You truly deserve all the success you have and much more.
Thanks to your support and knowledge, Courtney has been 100% homeschooled. We’re actually glad we didn’t take part in Running Start now . It has been a great source of pride that we have taken this journey 100% together, and on our own terms. So THANK YOU!!
Instead of using the old “Toys R Us” strategy of looking through catalogs o brain-dead products, consider getting gifts that feed the flames of your child’s special interests, and gifts that make high school easier for you AND for your children!
Last month I had a webinar called “Giving Gifts that Pay for College.” We were able to record that webinar, and we would love for you to have this class for free!
Grab the handout first, and then watch the class and learn how you can get money for college simply by giving your family members what they truly want for Christmas! The handout provides:
1. Articles about specialization
2. Gifts that encourage specialization
3. Gifts that encourage specialization
4. Gifts that fuel a love of learning
5. Gifts that help parents cope
6. Gifts for Home-Based Businesses
7. Gifts that help parents homeschool high school
8. Gifts that teach about scholarships
9. Gifts that teach about homeschooling college
Learn how specialization is something you can invest in, and 8 gift categories that can help defer college costs!
Today is your last chance to enter our blog contest to win The HomeScholar Comprehensive Record Solution for FREE! Here’s how it works.
We want to hear about your hopes and dreams for your high school student. I want to know what you truly believe about their future, and then….I want you to tell me how creating a beautiful comprehensive record for your child will help them achieve their potential.
To enter the contest, please answer the question:
“How will creating an BEAUTIFUL comprehensive record with the help of the homescholar help my child realize their potential?”
Short and sweet is fine! Your responses should be about 100 words or less and should be written from the heart.
The contest will run on the blog from now until 6 PM today, Friday, November 26th. Matt and I will judge the entries and announce the winner on Saturday. Our only rule is please, “No Sob Stories!” We all know these are tough times, but we want your responses to remain positive and hopeful, to encourage others.
Blessings,
Lee
I will be judging these entries tomorrow morning…after my morning cup
of coffee!
If you are longing for a good conference about junior high and high school issues, I have great news! Did you know that is what my Gold Care Club is all about? When I go to conventions and support groups, my husband films me speaking. He puts all of those speeches on the Gold Care Club website. There are 5 classes running constantly online, and those classes change every month. There is also a live webinar and a recorded webinar each month. All these classes are excellent for people who are beginning to think about high school, and also for parents that are desperately trying to finish things up before their student graduates in just a few months!
If you are longing for a conference, why don’t you join now? The 5 classes that are currently online are:
Quick Start: Keys to High School Success
Beginner: Preparing to Homeschool High School – Hour 4
Intermediate: Find the Perfect College
Advanced: College Scholarships for High School Credit
Encouragement: 10 Strategies for Homeschool Success
Live Webinar: Giving Gifts that Pay for College!
Recorded Webinar: College Application Essays – a Primer for Parents
There are other benefits as well, but if what you need are classes, this might just fit the bill!
By the way, I am having a Gold Care Club webinar this Tuesday, 11/16 at 4PM Pacific Time. The topic is “Giving Gifts that Pay for College.” These webinars are normally just for my Gold Care Club members, but I decided to open this month’s webinar to everyone. Please feel free to invite your friends to this presentation. I will also be answering your high school questions at the end.
I have an article that spells out the nine keys to a successful junior year. If you have a junior, you might enjoy it!
But if your highly gifted student is facing junior year, advanced in math, and you’re almost certain they might qualify for the National Merit Scholarship, then I think my advice on testing would be a little more specific.
Please ONLY read this advice if you already feel like your child is a strong candidate for the National Merit Scholarship because they consistently score in the 98th percentile or higher on standardized tests. The advice I’m giving here requires a lot of testing, and too much testing for a regular student can cause burn-out and frustration, and may even cause worse test scores in the long run as their frustration builds. But when your child is ahead on math, there are certain timing issues about those tests that can affect success.
Register for the PSAT in September. From the beginning of school until October, study for the PSAT using a book designed for the PSAT so the math problems are at the simpler level seen on the PSAT
Once the PSAT is behind you, begin to study for the SAT, using a book designed for the SAT so the math is at the level of that test. Take the SAT in January or March.
Once the SAT is behind you, then begin to study for the ACT, using a prep book designed for that test. Take the ACT in April or May.
That strategy will allow you enough time to re-take the SAT or ACT while still a junior. If you aren’t happy with your scores, you’ll still have time to take a replacement SAT or ACT test in June
For parents in this position, it can significantly increase your chance of scholarship if you work hard on your course descriptions. You may also want to purchase my book “Setting the Records Straight.”
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!
Do you enjoy these daily doses of high school homeschool wisdom? Sign up to get them delivered viaemailorreader! While you’re at it, please stop by and vote for me for Best Business Blog! Thanks!
Filed under: 
Christianbook.com Curriculum Page
