A Closer Look at Homeschooling for PG and 2e Families – Part 1: Getting Started with Homeschooling

Part 1 of the Davidson Institute series, “A Closer Look at Homeschooling for PG and 2e Families”

• Part 1: Getting Started with Homeschooling
• Part 2: What Homeschooling Can Look Like for Your Child’s Future
• Part 3: What Homeschooling Looks Like Day to Day and How to Get Started
• Part 4: What Happens When Things Feel Hard and How to Move Forward

A Closer Look at Homeschooling for PG and 2e Families

If you’re thinking about homeschooling (or looking for anything outside of a typical school), you aren’t alone. Even before the Covid-19 Pandemic, about a third of our Davidson Young Scholars were doing some sort of homeschooling at any one time. There’s a reason for this: The traditional school system is not designed with neurodivergent students in mind.

Does that mean that typical schools never work for profoundly gifted (PG) or twice-exceptional (2e) students? No. There are gifted students finding success in every conceivable educational setting: typical public schools, private schools, interest-based magnet schools, schools with gifted programs—both public and private, online schools, and, as we mentioned, homeschooling. Families in typical schools often do, though, spend a lot of time, energy, and money advocating for changes within the school and enriching their child’s education outside of school.

One of the benefits of homeschooling is getting to take that time, energy, and money your family spends trying to make the system work for you and putting it towards something that is built to meet your needs. Many families homeschool because it allows their students to pursue subjects at a speed and level that’s appropriate for their learning profile. It allows them to pursue talents not typically supported by schools and to engage with interests outside of core academics. It gives more time and space to focus on emotional well-being, on supporting additional exceptionalities, and on spending quality time with family members and strengthening relationships. And, sometimes you just need a break from the school system!

But, if you’re thinking about homeschooling, you’re also probably worrying about homeschooling. You’re also not alone in that. And, we’ve got good news: There are thousands of families who have been on this journey before. Homeschooling a PG/2e child may seem like uncharted territory. But it’s not. The history of homeschooling in the United States is nuanced, but, even after the pandemic, the movement has continued to grow.

Let’s talk through some common questions parents have about homeschooling:

• If we homeschool, how will my child socialize and make friends?
• If we homeschool, will I (the parent) by my child’s primary teacher?
• If we homeschool, does it need to be full-time or can we take advantage of some of the resources at school?
• If we homeschool, will my child be prepared for college?
• If we homeschool, will we be homeschooling forever?
• How will we track progress and make transcripts?
• If we homeschool, will we need to focus on academics from 8:00am-3:00pm Monday through Friday for 180 days of the year?
• If we homeschool, how will we determine where to start and which curriculums to use?
• If we homeschool, do I need to have everything figured out for Day 1?
• If my child is already unmotivated, disengaged, and underachieving, how will homeschooling be any different? If we homeschool, will that solve every issue my child has experienced in school?
• If we homeschool, how would we do it legally?

If we homeschool, how will my child socialize and make friends? 

Homeschooling is not alone-schooling; there are many ways that homeschoolers can connect with others and build a supportive community for themselves.

Schools are the default hub of socialization for children in our society currently. However, that doesn’t mean that they are the best hub for every child. Is your child having a rich social experience where they are learning to express themselves fully and authentically? Are they learning how to contribute positively to a community that in turn supports them? Do they have a variety of strong role models that not only talk-the-talk but walk-the-walk? Socialization surely happens at school, but, sometimes, it’s not net positive.

With homeschooling, you have the time, space, and flexibility to cultivate the social landscape you wish your student to engage in. While we can’t magic people into existence, we can pursue interest-based communities. We can strengthen immediate and extended family relationships. We can focus on creating a strong sense of self.

Try This: Begin taking stock of your child’s current social landscape. Who is your child currently connected with? What is the quality of those relationships? What do you wish it looked like? 

If we homeschool, will I (the parent) by my child’s primary teacher? 

No, not if you don’t want to be. Or, yes, if you want to be.

Most homeschoolers in the Davidson Young Scholars community practice eclectic homeschooling. This means that they don’t do homeschooling one way all day in all subjects. They take different approaches and stitch something together in a way that works for the family as a whole. This might mean that they take an online math class, have a private tutor for writing and piano, and attend a homeschool co-op for Spanish and art lessons twice a week (which are followed by a communal lunch and playing at the park adjacent to the community center the co-op uses). The child is really interested in history, so the family has connected with their local historical society; the student is designing a historical walking tour of town for the organization. And, one of their parents is also working through the free Big History curriculum with them—not that this parent is a historian, but rather being a sort of an experienced student alongside their child. They also Zoom with their grandpa once a week for their historical fiction book club. The other parent is available in the mornings, and they are leveraging their student’s passion in history to explore science (not a subject that they have shown much interest in yet) by watching and discussing one episode of CrashCourse’s History of Science each morning over breakfast. The student also is part of a community baseball league, a rock-climbing gym, and a scout troop.

Many parents are intimidated by the idea of being the sole source of education for their children, but many homeschoolers develop a large community of support. Thus, many parents pick and choose what they want to teach their children. That’s a benefit of homeschooling: flexibility. And, remember, you’ve been teaching your child for years!

Reflect On This: As we said above, you were your child’s first and most important teacher. Take a minute to reflect on one of your core values. How have you modeled and taught your child that value?  

For example, let’s say that one of your core values is curiosity; you want your child to engage with the world with a sense of openness, to approach new experiences with wonder, and to appreciate the awe of both the small and big things in life. How might you have taught your child that? Perhaps you’ve taken them stargazing and discussed how light travels and how we might be seeing “dead” stars so that they could feel that awesomeness of space. Perhaps you’ve imparted your love of puns so that they now too find joy in the intricacies of language. Perhaps you’ve cooked together and learned about family recipes so that they feel more empowered to talk about (and taste!) different foods.  

Challenge yourself. Think of at least 12 experiences or examples you have of modeling, teaching, or showing your child this value. Think of at least 6 times that your child has demonstrated that value.  

Instilling a value in a child is a very complex and deep form of teaching. There are many, many valid reasons that you may not want to teach your child all the things you want them to learn (there are only 24 hours in a day), but you are already a good, powerful force in their education. 

If we homeschool, does it need to be full-time or can we take advantage of some of the resources at school?  

Depending on your state’s policy, you may be able to access your public school’s classes, sport program, extracurriculars, and/or special education services. There may also be specialized homeschool programs and resource centers in your area.

This is often called hybrid-schooling, where you homeschool for some subjects and attend a brick-and-mortar school for others. In some areas, this may be an option for your family.

Research This: Click on your state on the Coalition for Responsible Home Education’s homeschool law map. On your state’s page, check out the “Services Available to Homeschooled Students” section. 

Resource: The Davidson Institute offers Guides for Homeschooling Gifted Children, which break down the key components of homeschooling and provide practical tips to support a successful experience.

In part 2, we will discuss what homeschooling can do for your child’s future.

Build community through the Davidson Young Scholars Program.

Many families in our Davidson Young Scholars program homeschool. Through the services we offer, you have the chance to learn from and connect with families who have found success in this educational setting.

Permission Statement

This article is provided as a service of the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to supporting profoundly gifted young people 18 and under. To learn more about the Davidson Institute’s programs, please visit www.DavidsonGifted.org.