Homeschooling Helps You Discover the Gifts of the Gifted Child
Tuesday, April 18th, 2006By Mimi Rothschild
Do you believe that your children are gifted? If so, and you plan to homeschool, don’t make the false assumption that the experience will be easy. Just because your homeschooler is gifted, it doesn’t mean that the tasks of homeschooling them won’t be a challenging endeavor. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth: homeschooling the gifted can be even more challenging than homeschooling the child of average intelligence. Why? The reason for challenges varies and will depend on the homeschooler and their unique gifts.
If your homeschooler is gifted, they may possess a unique learning style. You, as the homeschooling parent, will be required to identify that learning technique and then to harness it in a way that is appropriate. Once you have determined how your gifted child learns, you will better be able to teach them in a homeschool setting, but it may take quite a bit of time to identify how the homeschooler learns best.
You will also need to create a curriculum that will keep your gifted homeschoolers interested in learning. This task can be difficult. The homeschooler may grow bored quickly and you will need to monitor their accomplishments closely so that you can remain ahead of the game. If the homeschooler masters material quickly, be ready to move on to the next lesson. You will probably have to work twice as hard to keep gifted homeschoolers engaged in any lessons you are teaching them.
When you are teaching your gifted homeschooler, you will also need to bear in mind that just because the child is gifted in certain areas, it does not mean they will not encounter difficulties in others. In other words, you will need to learn not to expect too much from your gifted homeschooler, no matter how gifted they are. Be patient with the homeschooler if you find they are struggling with certain material while they have no trouble mastering other material. In truth, the word gifted does not mean that the child is gifted in everything they do, it simply means that they may have a number of gifts that, when utilized correctly, will increase and improve their intellectual abilities. In the end, as long as you don’t mistake a singular gift to be an indication of 100 percent giftedness, you will be on the right track when it comes to homeschooling your gifted children.