How do I begin?
Most families initially find it beneficial to contact other local homeschooling families and groups. These contacts are usually the best source of information about the specific steps necessary to begin homeschooling. A number of homeschooling support groups exist in every state, where parents can discuss such issues as curriculum development, management of the homeschool, and resource identification. Many of these local groups also offer weekly activities for children, including special classes, field trips, and tutorials.
Families should also research local and state laws, rules, and regulations regarding homeschooling. Unlike families of the past, in most states those who wish to teach their own children at home today must face a tangle of state laws and local policies that were non-existent in Laura Ingallsâ Dakota Territory or Andrew Wyethâs Brandywine Valley. These laws and policies vary widely from state to state and school to school. In some states, families only need to file a registration form; in other states, the requirements may be much more stringent.

How do I develop an appropriate homeschooling curriculum for a gifted child?
Developing appropriate curriculum for gifted children in a homeschool is similar in many ways to curriculum differentiation in the regular or gifted education classroom: the childâs interests, skills, and abilities should be assessed, and a program developed that provides the optimal match of appropriate content and skills to the childâs ongoing cognitive and social/emotional growth. In regular school settings, such programming is almost always limited in scope somewhat by the limitations inherent in large organizations: scheduling, personnel, budgetary concerns, and school policies.
But curriculum development for the gifted child in the homeschool differs in some ways as well. For many gifted children, homeschooling provides the first opportunity they have ever had in their lives to participate in a curriculum fully matched to their needs. There is no more waiting for the rest of the class to catch up. The child does not have to stop working on an important project when the bell rings. Convincing the school to consider acceleration is not an issue; if a fifth-grade child is ready and able to learn algebra, she can do so. Early college entrance can be incorporated into the educational program easily. Time can be provided for mentors, tutors, and the wide and unrestricted use of community resources, in a way that is just not possible in most public or private schools.
This kind of educational freedom requires families to access and evaluate existing resources; select curriculum materials and textbooks carefully; design a program based on the childâs individual needs; manage the program well; and be prepared for the fact that a gifted child may progress very rapidly through even the most well-designed curriculum!
Families can purchase curriculum materials from many regular publishers, and should also know that curricula especially designed for homeschools is available in the small but growing homeschool market. But most families of gifted children find they still need to adapt these materials for use with gifted students. The other alternative is for a family to design a curriculum especially for their child, which may or may not use traditional textbooks and curriculum materials. In all but a a handful of states this is permitted. Other homeschooling families, teachers of the gifted, and some college professors are often willing to help with curriculum development.

What about social development?
This is one of the most common concerns expressed by those who are not familiar with home education. In fact, many homeschooled children are more socially adept than their peers in regular schools, because their homeschool programs involve social experiences with people of all ages as well as chronological-age peers. Most families do this as a natural outgrowth of curriculum activities, as well as involving children in a wide variety of community experiences with age-peers, such as Scouts, 4-H, Sunday School, ballet classes, and sports activities. If the child has had difficult social experiences in a regular school due to a lack of intellectual peers and an inappropriate school program, participation in a home education program instead may actually improve social skills as the childâs self-esteem increases.
Most children in homeschooling programs adjust well to re-entry in a regular school program when the time comes. For gifted children, one additional issue involving social development and re-entry is the issue of acceleration. Families need to carefully document any acceleration that has taken place, either in particular subjects or as the result of a homeschool grade skip or Îdoubling upâ by completing two grades in one year. Grade placement upon re-entering a regular school should be determined by assessing the childâs development in all areas at the time the re-entry takes place, and appropriate provision made so that the child does not repeat work he has already mastered
For some gifted children, homeschooling may make the crucial difference in whether or not they develop their potential fully. Bloom describes extensive parent involvement in the childâs education and the use of the tutorial method, at least in the talent area, as being essential to the development of very high range potential in many fields. Kirk (1972) describes home tutoring as a viable option for highly gifted children:

ã...Many of our most outstanding men of history have not had to face the problem of adjusting to average children in school because they were tutored at home. Some of Hollingworthâs subjects were also tutored. There are other cases of successful individuals who received tutoring during their earlier years either in conjunction with formalized schooling or without it until they were ready for high school or the university...It may be that for the extremely gifted child tutoring is essential unless there is available a class of high-level gifted children with whom he can have enough in common to stimulate his social, emotional, and educational development. Another possibility is half-day placement in school for physical education, art, and some aspects of school life, and tutoring at home for the rest of the day in academic pursuits.ä
Finally, families of gifted children who choose to homeschool, and the relatives, friends, tutors, and professionals who help them, should remember that homeschooling is a unique adventure. At a time when more and more families are not able to spend much time with their children, we need to applaud and assist those families who find both the strength and the time to be their childrenâs primary teachers. It is never entirely easy, but for most homeschooling families, the rewards are great.

References

Bloom,B.S.(Ed.) (1985) Developing talent in young people. New York: Ballantine Books

Veldman, D.H. (1986) Natureâs gambit: Child prodigies and the development of human potential. New York: Basic Books.

Hollingworth, L.S. (1942). Children above 180 IQ. Yonkers-on-Hudson, N.Y.:World Book company.

Kirk, S. (1972). Educating exceptional children. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Seagoe, M. V. (1975). Terman and the gifted. Los Altos, CA: William Kaufman.

Stanley, J. (1978) Educational non-acceleration: An international tragedy. G/C/T, I (3), 2-5, 53-57, 60-63

Kathi Kearney is the founder of the Hollingworth Center for Highly Gifted Children, a resource teacher, educational consultant, and editor of Highly Gifted Children. This article is reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

Gifted Resources

Gifted Children and Homeschooling: An Annotated Bibliography compiled by: Kathi Kearney, Instructor, Talented and Gifted Education, Iowa State University
This bibliography and resource list represents much of the written record in this century about gifted children and homeshooling. the authors come from a very wide variety of educational, religious, and philosophical perspectives.

Alexander, E. (1992). Learning to fly: A homeschooling retrospective. Understanding Our Gifted, 5(1),1,11-14. Elye Alexander reflects on his six years of homeschooling from the vantage point of a Harvard senior.

Berle, A.A. (1914/1973). The school in the home. New York: Harper & Row. (Also see his 1916 book, Teaching in the home.) Berleâs two books are the first real ãhomeschooling manualsâ for the general public in this century. In the first book, he outlines a Christian philosophy of home education. The second book reviews curriculum materials. Berle raised four extremely gifted children, considered prodigies in their day, who entered college early.

Baum, R. (1986) The home schooling of Andrew Wyeth: A conversation with the artist. Gifted Children Monthly, 7(5), 1-3, 13. This interview with Andrew Wyeth gives insight into his homeschooling as an artist in his fatherâs studio, beginning at the age of 7.

Colfax, D., & Colfax, M. (1988). Homeschooling for excellence. New York: Warner Books. The Colfaxes sent three homeschooled sons to Harvard. Contains curriculum suggestions.

Feldman, D.H., & Goldsmith, L.T. (1986). Natureâs gambit. New York: Basic Books. Two of the six prodigies featured in this study were homeschooled. Some detailed information about the choices and the process is included.

Kantrowitz, B., with Rosenberg, D. (January 10, 1994). In a class of their own: For exceptionally gifted children, the best school can be the one at home. Newsweek, p. 58 This national news story reported on the growing number of exceptionally gifted children being taught at home, and explores some of the reasons why.

Kearney, K. (May/June 1984). At home in Maine: Gifted children and homeschooling. G/C/T, pp. 15 - 19. Using one family with highly gifted children as a case study, this article explores the reasons why families of the gifted choose to homeschool, and how they do it.

Kearney, K. (September/October, 1992). Homeschooling highly gifted children. Understanding Our Gifted, p. 16. This short article discusses why homeschooling often fits the unique educational needs of the highly gifted.

Kearney, K. (in press). Gifted children and homeschooling: Historical and contemporary perspectives. In K. Hegeman & S. Cline (Eds.), Gifted education in the 21st century: Issues and concerns. New York: Winslow Press. This chapter reviews the history of the homeschooling movement among families with gifted children.

Sheffer, S. (1995). A sense of self; Listening to homeschooled adolescent girls. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook. Shefferâs book looks at the lack of a ãcrisis of confidenceä in homeschooled adolescent girls, compared with other girls in more traditional school settings. Several of the girls interviewed for this study are intellectually or artistically gifted.

Tolan, S. (1985, November/December). Stuck in another dimension: The exceptionally gifted child in school. G/C/T, p. 22-26. In Tolanâs critique of contemporary schools and classrooms and their difficulties in meeting the needs of gifted students, she outlines many solid reasons a family might give for choosing homeschooling instead.

Tolan, S. (1985). A time to fly free. New York: Scribnerâs. Tolanâs novel for young people features a homeschooled boy. This book is a favorite among unschoolers at Holt Associates (Growing Without Schooling).

Wallace, N. (1983). Better than school. Burdett, NY: Larson Publications. Wallace never acknowledges that her children are gifted, but those familiar with the field will immediately recognize Ishmael and Vita as highly gifted children. Wallace removes her son from school after a disastrous early experience.

Internet Resources for Homeschooling Gifted Students

Listservs, Message Boards & E-Mail Conference Archives

- TAGMAX listserv for homeschooling and home enrichment of gifted children: http://www.access.digex.net/~king/mailist.html#max

- The Forum: Oz-Gifted: Archives of a special Australian two-week e-mail conference on homeschooling gifted children. To access the archives, go to: http://owl.qut.educ.au/common-cgi-bin/forum/OZ-GIFTED-T/archives/. Then click on ãDate.ä Scan down the list (about halfway) until you come to the message title, ãOGT -Homeschooling gifted children: Opening Message.ä Click on this opening message, and from there you will be able to access all the threads in the archive for this conference, returning from time to time to the main archive page to access a new thread.

- Precocious & Prodigious Message Board, for families with profoundly gifted children. This board has many homeschoolers and discusses many issues important to those homeschooling gifted children: http://207.244.122.48/discussion.cgi/id=9457

Websites & Electronic Magazines

- Families Learning About Giftedness (FLAG), a homeschooling/gifted website and free e-zine on homeschooling gifted children: http://members.aol.com?LrningAtHm/flagindex.html

- Lifeline to the Netâs Gifted Resources Index: http://members.aol.com/discanner/index.html

Gifted Education Organizations Supportive of Homeschooling as an Educational Option for Gifted Children:

- Hollingworth Center for Highly Gifted Children: http://www.hollingworth.org

- Gifted Development Center: http://www.gifteddevelopment.com

Curriculum, Schools and Online Courses Particularly Appropriate for Gifted Homeschoolers

- Editorâs Addition: Royal Academy. Home study courses individualized for all students including gifted (K- 12 grades) http://www.HomeEducator.com/royalacademy/ (this site)

- Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY) at Stanford University. Online distance learning courses, kindergarten through college level, for gifted students: http://www-epgy.stanford.edu/

- Pennsylvania Homeschooolers Advanced Placement Courses Online: http://www.pahomeschoolers.com/courses/

- Virtual School for the Gifted, an Australian online enrich ment program for gifted children: http://www.vsg.edu.au/

- College of William and Mary Center for Gifted Education Curriculum, designed for gifted students in conventional schools but adaptable to homeschool settings: http;//www.wm.edu/education/gifted.html

- Westbridge Academy, a satellite school for gifted homeschooled students: http://www.flash.net/~wx3o/westbridge/

- Castle Heights Press, science and engineering curriculum for gifted homeschooled students: http://flash.net/~wx3o/chp/index.htm

- KONOS curriculum, a comprehensive unit study curriculum; http://www.konos.com

- Five in a Row unit study literature-based curriculum for children; http://www.fiveinarow.com

General Homeschooling Sites of Particular Interest to Those Homeschooling Gifted Children

- Editorâs addition: Home Educator. Com, The Place For Educational Entrepreneurs: http://www.homeeducator.com A comprehensive site for all homeschoolers. Many resources, links, common sense assistance, discussion lists and more.

- Editorâs addition: Moore Foundation and Moore Academy:http:www.moorefoundation.com This site features the work and research of homeschooling experts, Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore.

- School is Dead, Learn in Freedom: A very comprehensive site of homeschooling links ÷ one of the best on the Internet:http;//learnin freedom.org

- And What About College? A site regarding homeschoolers and college entrance: http://www.concentric.net/~ctcohen/

- Holt Associates/Growing Without Schooling: philosophy:http://www.holtgws.com/

- Eclectic Homeschool Online: http://www.eho.org/ Excellent site for state resources.