Part 4 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
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?
Homeschooling is not a magic cure-all. However, it does grant you time and space to heal.
Time and space are key. It helps us to understand what might be getting in a child’s way because, as Dr. Ross Greene says, “Kids do well if they can.” If they aren’t motivated, engaged, and growing, then there’s probably an unmet need, a lagging skill, or an obstacle that has been worked through. Underachieving doesn’t feel good; as Dr. Jim Delisle shares with us, “No one wants to be an underachiever.” Dr. Marc Brackett, among others, reminds us that feelings are information. We act on that information, the story we’ve built in our heads about what those feelings are, where they are coming from, and what we need to do next. Those actions, our behavior, is communication. If a student is unmotivated, disengaged, and underachieving, what is the story that they are telling themselves? What can we learn by listening to their behavior?
Homeschooling won’t give you all the answers, but it may give you and your child the space to unravel what is going on and forge a different path forward.
If we homeschool, how would we do it legally?
Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, and, no matter how you want homeschooling to look for your child, you can figure out how to do that in your state.
Research This: Search “[your state] homeschool association” and “homeschool [your state] department of education” on the internet. Most state homeschool associations have resources for getting started, and your state’s department of education will likely have any paperwork that you need to fill out.
Concluding Thoughts
Homeschooling can seem overwhelming and daunting at first. But, at its core, homeschooling is just living a curious and enriching life and acknowledging all the things you already do in a new way (and perhaps adding a thing or two as you would like).
Do your kids regularly read during the week? Free reading is an integral part to most language arts curriculums. Do you have a trampoline in the backyard that your kids jump on after school or do they take martial arts classes? That can be P.E. Do you wish your kids learned how to do their own laundry? That’s life skills or home economics. Do you have an outdoor thermometer? Add a few instruments (such as a barometer, a wind vane, and a rain gauge), and you have a mini weather station. Check out a few books from the library on weather, visit a local science or discovery museum, and ask your child to track the weather in your area over a season via a journal or chart. That’s a full science unit.
Of course, there’s probably lots of other things that you want your child to learn, but there are so many ways to learn: online classes, community workshops, advanced tutors, individual projects, summer programs, and much more. In homeschooling, you don’t need to be an expert in every subject or know about every resource. Your job is helping your kid learn about how to learn and encouraging them as they try new things, navigate hard things, and find what sparks their interest.
Next Steps and Additional Resources
Even if you haven’t taken the plunge yet, consider joining the Gifted Homeschoolers Forum. They host free parent discussion groups, an annual virtual gifted home education conference, short “mini-cons” quarterly, a self-paced homeschooling parent course, and more! In 2024, they also started a virtual homeschool co-op.
One long time go-to resource for families looking to make this decision is From School to Homeschool: Should You Homeschool Your Gifted Child? by Suki Wessling. A few more contemporary books include:
- The Homeschool Advantage: A Child-Focused Approach to Raising Lifelong Learners by Colleen Kessler
- A Different Way to Learn: Neurodiversity and Self-Directed Learning by Naomi Fisher
- Think Differently About Learning: A Homeschool Where Children and Parents Thrive by Angela Sizer and Maren Goerss
Check out our comparison charts of online programs that many Young Scholar homeschoolers participate in:
- “Online Math Program Comparison”
- “Online Language Arts Program Comparison”
- “Online Science Program Comparison”
- “Online Music, Theater, Visual Arts and Creative Writing Comparison”
- “Online Foreign Language Program Comparison”
- “Online Social Science/Humanities Program Comparison”
- “Online Coding Program Comparison”
- “Social Engagement, General Enrichment, and Executive Function Support Program Comparison”
Also, remember that there are so many free resources out there—both in your local community (you might start with your local library or community center) and online (here are just two examples of the long lists of resources that organizations have crowdsourced: One Community’s Free Education Resources list and Common Sense Media’s Free Online Events and Activities for Kids at Home list).
The Davidson Young Scholars Program provides a range of family services tailored to meet the needs of Profoundly Gifted Youth and their families. Through personalized support and an online community of profoundly gifted families, the Davidson Young Scholars Program is here to guide and support families along the profoundly gifted journey.
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