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“If my son has already taken the SAT as a sophomore, can he take the PSAT to see if he qualifies for the National Merit Scholarship, and then retake the SAT, or how does that work?”

Dear Holly,

Yes!  You can take the PSAT after the SAT.  On the National Merit Scholarship Corporation website, you can read about the small details and unusual situations.

When I read this page, it seemed as though they really understood gifted kids.  You can give them the test early or graduate them early and still compete.  Check out the site and read for yourself, because it may put you at ease a bit.

My son Alex was in the same position.  Because Alex was doing so well on SAT practice exams when we practiced with his older brother, we had him take the SAT when he was 15 years old.  He ended up scoring an 800, 790 and 790 on the three exam sections, and we were STUNNED.  That was my first clue that he might need to graduate high school early!  The following year he took the PSAT.  Because he was already taking pre-calculus at that time, we made sure he reviewed the SAT Math section.  The day of the PSAT, he woke up on the wrong side of the bed, though.  He had a bad day (teens do that sometimes, you know?)  He didn’t score exceptionally well on the PSAT, and ended up being “only” a commended student.  Since the PSAT is only counts ONE TIME as the National Merit Qualifying Test, he had not opportunity to do a re-take.

If you qualify for the National Merit, there are a lot of hoops you have to jump through before you get the award.  The prize itself is relatively small, at “just” $2500 per year.  Sure it may seem like a lot, but it’s not much compared to the cost of college.  The National Merit is still worth pursuing, however.  Although the prize is small, the colleges LOVE to have National Merit Scholars.  Many colleges will award huge scholarships to National Merit Scholars.  There are also some businesses that will provide scholarship money to National Merit Scholars!  So even though the prize itself is small, the consequences can be huge.

Look at the college brochures for the schools you are looking at.  If the glossy fliers mention something like “We have 10 National Merit Scholars and 11 Commended Students” then the chances are very good that they will provide large scholarship awards for the winners.   Even though Alex was “just commended” he was still given great scholarships from every college he applied to.

In my opinion, the PSAT and National Merit Scholarship is worth the effort to pursue.  But if you don’t win the National Merit, being Commended is also a great commendation!

Learn more about Preparing Homeschoolers for college at my Dig Deeper website!

High school is a good time to let go of the idea of “teaching” everything. What’s important is that the students “learn”. Sometimes that will mean finding self-teaching curriculum and allowing them to learn without your help. But sometimes “not teaching” really means letting go!

If your child loves something, and you see that it is your child’s area of specialization, then you don’t have to have control over it. Let your child experience and enjoy learning about the thing that interests them. You don’t have to test, or have them write papers about it, or require an outline, or develop a learning plan. Let them just experience it! If they produce something, save it in your records. Perhaps they will make a short video or drawing for fun – don’t test them to see what they know about shading or plot! Just save the item, rejoice that they are learning for fun, and don’t stress about it! As they are learning for fun, think about what they used and keep track of it. It may be book titles you can save, but not always. It may be plays they went to, computer tutorials they viewed, or instruction manuals they read. You can save those ideas to include in a course description. It still doesn’t mean you have to control what they do when they are learning! You’re just writing down what they did while they were learning on their own.

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Betty writes:

I’m wondering if you can recommend any reading material for our gifted 16-year-old daughter, to help her understand herself. Studying martial arts has been one of the best self-confidence boosters for her, but I think she would really benefit from some affirming works that go into identification, characteristics, success stories, and the like.

Thanks for your wonderful website. It has helped me a lot.

Dear Betty,

I have a web page on gifted teens. On that page, I have links to many news stories about gifted kids, and links with various resources and articles. I can’t think of any books in particular for your daughter to read. I can suggest looking over the Hoagies gifted education resources. It has a “Gifted 101″ section that really helped me in the beginning, when I recognized that it was becoming a bigger issue.

Your daughter has been made this way by God. And you have been given her, with her unique gifts, because you are the best person for the job (in God’s opinion, anyway!) It’s very difficult to have gifted kids, and each one is unique. I really *know* the struggles. Remembering that you are the perfect person for the job can help!

Just a thought… my son is a huge Jane Austen fan. Does your daughter like her novels? Because Jane Austen was a highly gifted young woman, in a society where that was frowned upon. Can she read that with an eye toward giftedness?

Spread the great news about homeschooling high school! Please add The HomeScholar button to your blog or website. Get the code from the column on the right. Thanks!

When we did CLEP, I preferred using the Official Study Guide by College board as a entry-level “can we pass this” assessment. Here is the link:

I chose that book because it had a sample test from EVERY CLEP, and we were just looking for an over view assessment at that time.

I usually preferred Princeton Review study materials for everything, but in this one instance it seemed like the Official Study Guide worked better for us. Princeton Review seems to speak more in the natural tone of teenagers.

Read my latest article entitled “Rigor, Relevance and Relationships” published today on Heart of the Matter!

Janel in North Dakota met me at a homeschool convention, and we shared our worries about homeschooling profoundly gifted children. If you are dealing with a gifted child, you may want to see my web pages that are devoted to just those concerns.

I wish I would have had someone to talk to when I was in Janel’s position! It really IS difficult to know what to do with a profoundly gifted child. I do have some information and links about gifted education on my “Dig Deeper” site.

And it does help to remember that you can Homeschool College if necessary. Here is another “Dig Deeper” site on that subject.

I will be speaking on gifted education at the WHO Convention on June 13th.

You have been chosen for this task! God will provide what you need to see it through!

I remember what it feels like, and I’m here if you need me.

PS. We established an “online scrapbook” for our youngest son’s writings here. It covers some of his work since he was 12 years old.