Gifted children are children first, and they have educational and social-emotional needs that run all over the map. Anyone who knows gifted children is familiar with the sudden shifts within a child who might be doing high school level scientific study, handwriting at a third grade level, display the wit and wisdom of a middle aged adult, and…

The author is the proud parent of The Most Complex Child on the Planet[TM]. This has been confirmed by numerous teachers, administrators, doctors, therapists, specialists, friends, family members, and random strangers on the street. She has accepted her son's complexity (mostly) and is trying to work with it instead of against it. Now she is…

The author's son has been an engineer since birth. He never asked "why" as a toddler, it was always "how's it work?" So that he wanted a STEM-based home education was no big surprise. In this article, the author considers what kind of curricula would work best for her complex kid.

Homeschooling parents worry a lot. And homeschooling parents of gifted children seem to worry even more than most. Parents who homeschool intense, smart, sensitive, and perfectionist children and teens are often themselves intense, smart, sensitive, and perfectionistic, even if they don't always think of themselves as gifted. One shouldn't be too…

As a teacher in a public school system, the author had a different perspective on the need to home school the twice-exceptional learner. She thought that schools could provide differentiation for all students and she thought that certified teachers were the only adults who should be providing instruction. Yet, she realized that there are times…

In this article, the author shares his own observations and experiences as a veteran GT coordinator in a large school district that includes several charter schools and several families who have opted for home schooling. Specifically, he recounts several occasions when parents requested a hybrid educational model that combined home schooling with…

When the author started homeschooling, she would listen jealously as other parents discussed curriculum for reading and math, two subjects that her daughter never needed any instruction in as a young child. She was eager to try out curriculum, but her visual spatial daughter was not quite ready for learning on paper. She found out that searching…

Parents who homeschool gifted children often find the daily practice of home education very different from what they had imagined. Gifted children are complex in both personality and learning styles. Parents who say that homeschooling works well for their gifted children have learned from others or discovered on their own several secrets that make…

Raising any child is challenging for parents, but raising a gifted child can be especially demanding. Parents benefit from quality information about giftedness as well as effective parenting strategies for working with very bright youngsters. Parents may wish to better motivate their gifted children, helping them to take personal responsibility…

The author's parents taught her that merely "adequate" is not sufficient. The author began homeschooling halfway through her 5th-grade year partly because of this philosophy. One reason why the author's parents chose homeschooling was because of her dedication to classical piano. The author and her parents agreed that she would probably be able to…

Today's after-school programs and sports are often year-round activities, and children are pressured to focus on one activity to the exclusion of others. Homework for students who attend highly competitive high schools can take three to five hours per night. Not only schools, but the whole culture is different. People listen to music through…

This article offers the following advice for parents of gifted students who wish to home school: have patience with the children and with yourself; practice the arts of home schooling and parenting; and persist in the face of complexity. Parents are urged to be flexible in accommodating changing learning style preferences. (Contains 2 references.)…

This article discusses home schooling for gifted children and describes the most common teaching strategies or pedagogical approaches that home schoolers have successfully used, including: classical, lifestyle of learning, schooling at home, structured/mastery learning, unit studies, unschooling, worldview, and curriculum-based. The benefits of…

During the past 10 years, the level of technology in schools has increased with tremendous speed. Accessible through that medium is a body of information that will double in 6 years and quadruple in 12. Before teachers have mastered one type of technology, school administrators are stacking old computers in workrooms or behind stage curtains. Just…

The six issues of this newsletter have the following themes: (1) home schooling, (2) promising practices, (3) parent advocacy, (4) the young gifted child, (5) "being out of sync," and (6) philosophy of giftedness. Major articles include the following: "Homeschooling for Gifted Primary Students" (Patricia Linehan); "Learning to Fly: A Home…