Homeschooling Gifted Students

If you have a gifted student, you should tailor your homeschooling approach to meet their unique needs. Read on to learn all about homeschooling gifted students.

 Homeschooling Gifted Students

The Needs of Gifted Students

Just because gifted students learn quickly and easily does not mean you should provide minimal educational support.

In fact, gifted students require special consideration because of their particular needs.

Swifter Pace

Gifted students often move faster through material than their peers.

If you hold them to the pace of the curriculum, they may lose interest in their schoolwork.

Deeper Level

Gifted students can cover the same material as their peers, but you must ask questions requiring higher-order thinking.

Self-Directed Learning

Gifted students often have passions and interests that motivate them to dig deeper and reach their potential.

If they aren’t excited about a topic, they may disengage.

It is vital to provide opportunities for self-directed learning.

Social Support

Gifted students may have a hard time fitting in with their peers.

They may have different interests or communication styles.

You need to support them in connecting with others so they don’t feel isolated.

Emotional Support

Gifted students often excel academically, which leads to high expectations.

These expectations (from self and others) can overwhelm the student and make them feel anxious.

Gifted students are often perfectionists who fear failure and are reluctant to try new things.

Homeschooling Gifted Students

This article contains affiliate links to things that you might like.

Ways to Help Gifted Students

If you are homeschooling gifted students, put these tips into practice.

Throw Out the Grade Designations

Okay, this might be overstating a little.

However, the fact remains that gifted students typically fall outside traditional, age-related grade designations.

Furthermore, they may excel at one area (like math or reading) but perform on average or below average in other subjects.

As a homeschooler, you can move at your child’s pace of learning.

That’s an asset for a gifted student.

Don’t buy a grade-level “curriculum in a box.”

Free yourself to use subject curricula at various grade levels.

If needed, cover more than one level per year.

While you don’t want to overwhelm or overburden your child, you do need to provide enough challenge to keep him interested in learning.

Allow for Self-Directed Learning

Gifted students may thrive with an educational model that allows for self-directed learning, such as Montessori, Charlotte Mason, or Unschooling.

By giving your gifted student a choice in her education, she may be more engaged.

Even if you don’t use one of those homeschooling approaches, you can still provide opportunities for your gifted student to pursue their interests.

Assign open-ended projects or writing assignments.

For example, if you are studying ancient Egypt in history, allow your student to pick a research project that excites them.

If their passion is math, they may choose pyramid construction or Egyptian astronomy.

If they light up for science, they might study the scarab beetle’s life cycle or the preservation process of mummies.

Is your child a book lover? If they enjoy reading and writing, they might read various Egyptian myths and then craft their own.

By giving your child some autonomy, they will be more engaged learners who rise to their potential.

Homeschooling Gifted Students

Provide Outlets and Scaffolding for Social Interaction

Gifted students may have trouble making friends with their peers, but they often interact more easily with adults.

This does not mean that they do not need friends their own age. They do. They may not know how.

You may need to teach them social skills explicitly.

Go through books with your child. Here are some suggestions:

You can role-play scenarios with your child to help him practice peer social interaction.

You can also look into an in-person or online class that teaches social skills.

Be aware that your child may retreat and seek isolation as a defense mechanism (to avoid further rejection).

This is not a workable solution. Everyone needs a friend or two.

Try finding groups that center around his passions, whether that is gardening, gaming, or creative writing.

Emotional Support

Gifted students are often perfectionists who struggle with fear of failure and related anxiety.

Ensure you are not piling on weighty expectations that pressure your student to the point of stress.

Encourage your student to try new things. Praise effort, not results.

Show her that failure is part of the learning process.

It should be acceptable and commendable to fail sometimes because it means you are stepping out of your comfort zone.

Encourage your child to pursue some interests that are “just for them” and not for any grade or resume.

You want your home to be a safe environment where your student feels accepted.

They need to know, again and again, that your love isn’t tied to achievement.

Homeschooling Gifted Students

Higher-Order Thinking Questions for Gifted Students

Homeschooling gifted students requires encouraging your child to engage in higher-order thinking.

You can ask questions about any topic you study.

These questions fall into broad categories. They are often called the Five Common Topics (and date back to Aristotle).

They are a tool used in classical education, but you can use them regardless of your educational approach.

Definition

  • What is ___?
  • How would you explain ____?
  • What is the definition of _____?
  • To what group does _____ belong?
  • What are the parts of _____?
  • What are the attributes of _____?
  • What is a metaphor for ____?

Comparison (and Contrast)

  • How is ____ similar to _____?
  • How is ____ different from ______?
  • Is _____ better/worse than _____?
  • Is ______ more/less than _____?

Relationship (Cause and Effect)

  • What happened before _____?
  • What happened after _____?
  • What are the causes/effects of _____?
  • What would happen if _____?
Homeschooling Gifted Students

Circumstance

  • What else is happening at the same time?
  • What else is happening in the same place?
  • Is it possible/impossible to ____?
  • Is ______ probable/sure to happen?
  • Do we know for sure that _____?

Testimony (What Others Say)

  • Who are the experts on this topic?
  • Where can we find information on this topic?
  • What do eyewitnesses say?
  • Does [person, source] have any biases?
  • What laws (natural or human-invented) apply here?
  • Are there statistics to back up _____?
  • Do examples from the past support the idea?

By using these higher-order thinking questions with your gifted student, you can plumb the depths of any topic and encourage them to think deeply.

Homeschooling Gifted Students

As a homeschool parent, you can tailor your educational approach to your gifted child.

With a few alterations and adaptations, you can provide the type of school experience to let your child soar.

You May Also Like:

Share with your friends!

You May Also Like...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.