Experts note that the population least likely to achieve its potential is the highly gifted. This is hardly a surprise. The public school system is best equipped to deal with the average student, and this may include slightly above or below average. But if your child is highly gifted, as much as the traditional school system can try to give her enrichment beyond what is offered to the other students, it likely won’t be enough to truly help her reach her full potential.

One of the main issues with having highly gifted children in the traditional school system is that even if they receive enrichment, they all receive enrichment on the same level, and that enrichment is again geared towards the average, so that the very advanced kids, those who are years ahead of their peers in terms of their academic ability, will simply not benefit enough, even when placed in an advanced class.

“We must be careful not to lump all gifted students together. There is a wide range of abilities and needs within the group. One size does not fit all” says the author, and we completely agree. even if the school cannot truly support a gifted child’s need, acceleration may give the answer – and if you worry about him being the youngest in his class, he may be able to start taking college classes while still in high school, or to spend most of his time in his grade classroom while being accelerated on just a couple of topics such as math.

Of course, homeschooling is a wonderful solution for highly gifted children and the only way to truly make sure your child learns at his own pace. An added bonus is that a homeschooling program such as WiloStar3D also answers the need of most gifted children for a highly creative, stimulating, visual way of learning. It’s the best way to make sure they not only go through grades at their own pace, but also enjoy learning and are never bored.

Is there anything wrong with deciding to homeschool a child – even temporarily – because she’s being bullied at school?

We thought this was a fascinating discussion on whether homeschooling as a response to bullying is a good idea.

Our key takeaways from the discussion:

1. The first step should be giving the child tools to deal with the bullies and stop the bullying. There are several ways to do that, and what’s common to all of them is that you want the child to stop acting as a victim and to radiate confidence and a “I’m not a good target” attitude.

2. However, sometimes absolutely nothing works and the bullying persists. If this is the case, moving the child to a different school is a valid option and often ends the bullying, proving that it’s not the child who was the culprit but the school or class dynamics.

3. In cases of persistent bullying, since most experts agree that sometimes the only solution is to move the child to a different school, homeschooling should be a valid option, because it’s just like moving the child into another school – it just happens that the school is at home.

We agree with this approach. We think that it’s a mistake to view the act of moving the child into a homeschooling program as “surrendering” to the bullies or as trying to hide from the problem. Just like moving into a different school, the choice to remove the child from a situation where he is bullied and to homeschool him is simply a choice to remove him from a damaging social situation that cannot be fixed and to change his environment. This is a completely legitimate choice.

Many parents are certain that they want to homeschool their child, but are worried that their child would not enjoy homeschooling. The main concerns I hear from parents are about social isolation, and about discipline. Would their child feel isolated if she doesn’t attend a physical school every day? And would their child have the discipline needed to learn in an environment that is much more independent than traditional schooling?

My own experience is that the vast majority of children love homeschooling. Sure, homeschooling takes some getting used to. It’s very different than what your child knows. But it’s better.

Homeschooled kids are not socially isolated. This is especially true for our online homeschool academy, WiloStar3D, because they get to go to a 3D school every day and interact with teachers and with peers. But in any homeschooling scenario, parents are definitely encouraged to meet with other homeschooling families, to go on outings, and to send their kids to enrichment classes. By the way, research consistently shows that grownups who were homeschooled as kids are well adjusted socially. So the social concern really is no more than just a myth.

As for the discipline aspect, homeschooling is perfect for kids who are self-motivated, independent, and want to learn. WiloStar 3D students are expected to remain current with all class assignments and to participate on a regular basis in our 3D virtual learning community, Wiloworlds. If you’re not sure about your child’s desire to learn, you will have to monitor them more closely, especially at the start – but this is true for any learning situation – students that are less motivated need more supervision. The beauty of 3D learning is that it often transforms reluctant learners into enthusiastic learners, simply becuase it is more interesting.

Photo by Picture Youth