When school dramas seem to multiply for gifted children, many parents turn to home education as the answer. But, is it a good idea? I believe homeschooling a gifted student is a great idea for a number of reasons including the greater freedom children have to study what they love, the ability to work at an accelerated pace, and parents are able to choose a curriculum that suits their gifted children.
I hope you enjoy reading this blog post. If you want to do my course on how to homeschool, click here.
Below we will look at these 10 reasons to homeschool a gifted student:
- Students can study at an accelerated pace
- Parents can choose a curriculum they know will suit their children better
- Fewer behavioural problems
- Homeschooling curriculum has less busywork
- Homeschoolers can get their work done in a fraction of the time
- Intelligence is celebrated
- Children can learn more hands-on skills at home
- Students can investigate an entrepreneurial venture with their spare time
- Parents can start educating earlier than schools allow
- Teenagers can start college earlier than schools encourage
Let’s take a closer look at these reasons below.
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There are many general reasons to homeschool and even more reasons to homeschool a child if they have special needs, a disability, autism/Aspergers, or educational giftedness. Let’s look at the latter reasons below.
Students can study at an accelerated pace
Because gifted homeschoolers can do their schoolwork at a faster pace than school allows, gifted students can progress to more advanced material instead of waiting for the class to finish or the period to end. This means children are ultimately less frustrated as they don’t spend so much unnecessary time twiddling their thumbs.
Parents can choose a curriculum they know will suit their children better
Everyone in school is given the same curriculum. This is like making everyone wear the same size t-shirt. While this approach works for some children, it often does not work for gifted children.
Homeschooling a gifted child gives parents a huge choice of curricula. They have more options to choose something that will better fit their gifted homeschoolers.
Fewer behavioural problems
Because gifted children aren’t so bored at home as they’re not twiddling their thumbs so much (see the first point), they’re not investing their energy into disrupting other students. Instead, their brains are engaged in useful ventures.
Many gifted students also have autism. Some are introverts who find school overwhelming. In a homeschool situation, parents can teach character skills and council students who are struggling with different situations.
Homeschooling curriculum has less busywork
Another reason to homeschool gifted children is because the curriculum they study will likely have less busywork than the one given to them in schools. If the curriculum has busywork, parents can veto the busywork if they know their children know the material already.
Unfortunately, school curriculum has a bad habit of disillusioning keen learners by giving them monotonous, boring tasks which embitter them towards lifelong learning. Homeschooling a gifted child means parents can avoid this issue.
Homeschoolers can get their work done in a fraction of the time
Another reason to homeschool gifted students is because homeschoolers can get their work done quickly compared to schoolchildren. Most homeschoolers finish their work in around 2-3 hours.
This leaves plenty of time to study subjects they are passionate about. They can go down educational rabbit holes and not resurface until their curiosity is satisfied.
Intelligence is celebrated
Intelligence is not always appreciated in school. Sometimes gifted children will be teased because of their intelligence in a particular area. This might make them feel down and have negative mental health consequences. It might also make gifted students hide their talents and not seek to foster them for fear of looking different from the rest of their peers.
Sometimes schools let gifted children skip a year or two only to find that while they can complete the work satisfactorily, they aren’t yet emotionally equipped to deal with older peers.
In contrast, parents love to celebrate intelligence in their children. Parents can foster and train children to use their brains for the purpose it was created for.
Gifted children who struggle with perfectionism can satisfy this desire more easily in a homeschool situation as they aren’t limited to completing projects in a certain timeframe.
Children can learn more hands-on skills at home
A great reason to homeschool gifted students is that home education allows children to become more hands-on around the home.
When I was growing up, we spent many hours outside making vegetable patches, doing woodwork, and building things out of timber. We also learned how to clean the house efficiently, cook delicious food, and get creative in other ways. My brothers and I had a tremendous amount of fun doing this.
Students can investigate an entrepreneurial venture with their spare time
Homeschoolers have plenty of spare time compared to schoolchildren. This allows them to use their free time to start an entrepreneurial venture which they can use to make money.
Parents can start educating earlier than schools allow
Some gifted homeschoolers prosper as they can start their education earlier than schools allow. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, they can do a more complicated curriculum that will stimulate their quick brains.
Teenagers can start college earlier than schools encourage
Although college isn’t always a good choice for every child, it can give people certification and training in an area they can’t get elsewhere (i.e. medical, legal, and engineering degrees). Homeschooling a gifted child means teenagers can graduate high school early and start college or do a trade. This is because the unique home education model allows for this more than school.
Many homeschoolers start college earlier than their school peers. My brother began college two years earlier by starting with online college and then progressing to studying at a physical campus. Indeed, the Harding’s ten children mostly started college by age 12! Although not all parents want their children to start this early, this shows how different the home education model is and the flexibility it allows students.
Conclusion: Homeschooling gifted students
Is it best to homeschool a gifted child? I believe homeschooling gifted students allows them a better opportunity to use their brains to their full capacities. They can research their interests without being interrupted constantly or reprimanded for misbehaviour. This helps them foster a love of learning through interest-based study. If you’re considering homeschooling, find out how you can get started here.
