Beginning to Homeschool Our Gifted Kids Part 2
The decision to pull Trevor out of public school and then beginning to homeschool him was really tough. It was a complete paradigm shift for two teachers who were actively involved in their respective teacher’s unions and had been staunch advocates for public education {at the time}. You can read part one of this story to catch up if you’re new here.
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Once he asked me about homeschooling – he’d heard about it from television and books, and my then first grader thought it would be the best educational option for him – I started reading everything I could.
Blogs, books, and magazines… I read a lot.
I found a lot of information that led me to believe that homeschooling was the smart way to go for Trevor. But, I still searched for loopholes. I didn’t really want to homeschool. I didn’t want it to be the right answer. Selfishly, I had just gotten my freelance career off the ground, had published a few books, and wanted to keep growing and publishing.
I kept coming back to a statement I’d made a long time before this when someone asked me how my classes were going towards my master’s in gifted. I’d said that what I loved most about it was that the theories that are embedded in gifted education are really best practice for everyone – meet the kids where they are, figure out their interests, and use those interests to spur them forward so they’re learning every single day.
If individualized instruction is best practice education, especially for gifted kids, and I was able to provide that for my gifted son, I realized that I’d be doing him a disservice if I didn’t find a way for him to receive what he needed.
And he needed me.
That was November. His last day of public school was in late January.
Why the delay?
See, I was still nervous about the whole homeschooling thing. I’d spent the last 10 years of my life teaching in the public school system, and at that time I was working from home writing curriculum for large textbook companies like McGraw-Hill and National Geographic School Publishing.
I needed time to get ready, and figured that a few more months wouldn’t make too much of a difference at this point.
Between Thanksgiving and Trevor’s January parent-teacher conference, I went back to all of the blogs I’d read and took note of all of their curriculum choices. I ordered Mystery of History, Galloping the Globe, and decided to have him finish his school’s math workbook and read whatever interested him for the rest of the year.
So, Brian and I went into Trevor’s parent-teacher conference in January to talk to his teacher and explain that we would be homeschooling him from that point on. We cleaned out his desk, thanked his teacher, and began a new chapter in our family’s lives, shocking friends and family alike.
We didn’t know anyone else that homeschooled, so we felt alone and nervous, and heard, “you’re crazy,” from quite a few people. We pressed on, though, and decided to work on enjoying one another again.
And then re-evaluate at the end of the year…
How about you? What was the reaction from family, friends, and co-workers when you decided to homeschool? Did you know other homeschoolers? We’re you on your own? Did your kids start off in another type of schooling situation and then come home? Or have you always homeschooled? Let’s start a conversation – leave a comment below.
For more information on Gifted Kids, Check Out:
