GIFTED HOMESCHOOLING
In 2005 in Minnesota 17,334 students were homeschooled
– 1.9% of all school age children.
See
http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/issinfo/yearenrl.htm
and
http://education.state.mn.us/mde/static/009585.pdf
Families homeschool for two main reasons.
-
To give a stronger education than schools can
provide – in pace, depth, and breadth.
-
To give an education rich in religious values.
Gifted homeschooling responds to the first reason
(though the two motivations can co-exist.)
An indication of the number of the gifted
homeschoolers comes from the Davidson
Institute for Talent Development.
“About half the families we work with choose this
option [homeschooling] at some point during their
child’s kindergarten-to-twelfth-grade schooling
experience.”
Jan & Bob Davidson, Genius Denied: How to Stop
Wasting our Brightest Young Minds, p. 91, New
York, Simon & Schuster, 2004.
Gifted homeschooling
is most often reached indirectly. Most
families with bright kids start them in regular
schools and begin searching for options when they
find their child’s needs unmet. (See discussion of
risks of
ignoring bright students.)
Parents then
typically seek a gifted magnet program or
private school. When improvement is not
sufficient they come to homeschooling.
GLC
assists gifted homeschooling and
partial-homeschooling
families as well as those augmenting the rigor of
regular school.
See web links for further homeshooling
resources. |
