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.
