If you have gifted kids, especially highly or exceptionally gifted kids, you probably at some point have considered whether you would be better off homeschooling them. Instead of dealing with endless meetings with teachers, principals, gifted education coordinators, counsellors etc etc in a desperate attempt to get appropriate curriculum for your children.
If you factor in your child's mental health issues, like depression, anxiety and stress, you may wonder on a daily basis if there is a better way. Aren't gifted children supposed to be, you know, a "gift"? Some days it doesn't feel like it!
I always imagined homeschooling would be something we could do "if things got really bad". It was a last resort option. Schools are where we send our kids to be educated, right? They are supposed to cater for "individual learning needs". They provide your child with "socialisation". Well, what if they don't? What if your child is so far from the "norm", that realistically, it is impossible to provide what they need educationally and socially? When your 10 year old child has the cognitive function of an 18 year old, how on earth is the school supposed to cater for that?
And so, when crunch time came last year, we had gradually come around to the idea that maybe homeschooling could solve a lot of our issues. Being the scientific researcher I am, the house became full of books on homeschooling (to add to the generous supply of gifted resources) and the computer became full of homeschooling bookmarks.
It still felt very "scary" making that decision, but deep down it felt right. This year we would undertake the path less taken. We would be those hippy, alternative types. We would be homeschoolers!
If you are homeschooling, how did you come to that decision? Was it after a bad school experience? What it that nagging feeling that there is a better way? Have you always been "brave" and known you were going to homeschool?
I hope all is well with the kids - I'm glad they are getting what they need with this home schooling. I remember when I was their age and I was still in primary school (when these options weren't as freely available as what they are now); so now I think these things are a godsend for those who don't get as much out of the school system as they should be getting.
ReplyDeletecheers,
Night Owl
Thanks Night Owl. Yes, I think there are a lot more options out there now. This blog might help someone else think of another way.
ReplyDeleteHello Ingi. Just found your blog. I have been homeschooling my son for almost a year. We had a terrible time at school when my son started Prep (Qld). As he could already read he spent most of the day playing with matchbox cars in the corner. He didn't fit the 'norm' and the teacher didn't know what to do with him. He was then 'journeyed' (as the school called it...) up two grades where he was academically challenged but was tormented by the older kids in his class. It was hard to take the 'leap' into homeschooling however it is the best thing I have ever done. Yes, I definitely had a nagging feeling that there was a better way and I think I found it… April :)
ReplyDeleteHi April! Glad you found me! I had a look at your (very cute, neat) blog too. I think it's a better way to work and the kids get so much out of it. I'll be looking forward to your posts too :-)
ReplyDeleteI wanted so badly to HS my daughter since she was 4 but I was afraid...afraid I would mess up, do something wrong, not be able to do it.
ReplyDeleteShe went to K and 1st grade and did great..although she was very bored. She was in Gifted and Talented Programs which met for 45 minutes a WEEK! She started 2nd grade and I pulled her out the 2nd week. Just went up there and did it.
We have never looked back and she is in the 5th grade this year. I love homeschooling..some days I want to pull my hair out, but I love it. Just found your blog..already added "Who Killed Cock Robin" to my Amazon cart and ready to read more. ;)
Hi Karen - glad you found the blog! And it sounds like a good thing you found homeschooling too.
ReplyDeleteI love those gifted pullout programs (not!). Are the kids only gifted for 45min a week? What happens to them the rest of the time?
I have thought about it too since DS was in about 1st grade, but it always seemed an 'out there' idea. But we are loving it - it is so flexible and lets us move at our level.
Hope you continue to enjoy the blog.