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A Word from GHF is one of the many benefits offered to Supporting Members of GHF. To learn more about the benefits of membership click here! In This
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A Word from GHF is one of the many benefits offered to Supporting Members of GHF. To learn more about the benefits of membership click here! |
Homeschooling cannot be done in isolation. The more support we find, the more successful our journey.
In this issue of A Word from GHF, we look at how to support the learning efforts of children with learning disabilities, ways the African American homeschooling community is creating its own support network, and how a parent's unique understanding can help a child soar.
GHF also needs your support! A non-profit organization, GHF needs funds and volunteers to keep offering outreach, education, and advocacy. To learn more, please go to Support GHF.
Your editor,
Sarah J. Wilson
sarahw@giftedhomeschoolers.org |
Dear GHF,
My head is about to explode. My son is gifted, very sensitive, and talks incessantly. I enrolled him in a computer summer camp. Turns out, the teacher is very strict about behavior, and my son just can’t stop talking during “work time.” I understand that his constant talking means that his brain is turned on and he is engaged, but the teacher is worried he’s distracting the other kids. I’ve explained that he doesn’t mean any harm and asked her to remind him respectfully, but she insists he’s doing it on purpose and her comments to him are pretty harsh. He really enjoys the class material, but he’s hurt by the way he is being treated. I can’t go around constantly handing out brochures explaining his disabilities. What can I do?
Dear Head Exploding,
We’re sorry you and your son are going through this. People can be very judgmental about behavior that doesn’t conform, and compassion isn’t always their first reaction. Neurological or physiological differences such as ADD, processing difficulties, autism spectrum disorders, hearing impairment, and other challenges are not always obvious, which is why we call them “invisible disabilities.”
While the teacher has a point about your son’s talking being potentially disruptive, it’s not unreasonable to ask her to simply tap his shoulder or remind him nicely that it’s work time when he forgets. It’s more effort for her, but a little patience goes a long way. As with any class, one of the teacher’s goals should be to help them practice and develop their emerging social skills.
Many people simply cannot get past the idea that “misbehaving” children are intentionally disruptive. In some circumstances, you can simply disregard what other people believe, but you can’t in this case as it’s critical to your child’s camp experience.
Here are some things you can do:
Find support. It’s easier to deal with obstacles when you know you are not the only one facing them. Other parents of children with invisible disabilities are confronted by the same frustrations. Commiseration and shared ideas can be validating, giving you the confidence and tools to speak up.
Educate the people around you. You don’t have to hand out brochures to everyone, but sometimes a well-placed article or a link in an email can be helpful. You can also find ways to casually impart bits of information into a conversation.
Don’t be afraid to speak up. Do it not because it might make a difference (although it might), but because your child needs to see you standing up for him and he needs a model of how to stand up for himself.
Finally, you could approach the program director and ask for assistance. If that isn’t effective, you and your son will have to sit down and make a decision about what to do. He can stay in the class (if he can conform to the rules and he’s allowed to continue), or he can withdraw. Neither is an ideal solution, but bringing him into the process will help him understand what has happened and why it’s not all his fault. Just think of the learning experience! |
by Joy Lawson Davis, Ed.D.
Gifted children live in every community, every city, rural areas, and in small towns all around the world. They are children of every cultural background, every ethnicity, from every income group. Many gifted children are exposed to intellectually challenging experiences on a daily basis. These students are served in accelerated programs in schools, and others in their homes with parents who understand their needs and have the courage and intellect to work with them everyday. Sadly, however, a great number of bright children and youth are not as fully engaged and their intellect is not being challenged and developed. Many who are not being challenged are in public schools where they are overlooked and thus, underserved. The vast majority of those who are overlooked and underserved are African American. Currently, Black children represent approximately 17% of the general school age population nationwide. However, the only represent 8% of those students identified and participating in gifted education programs (Ford, 2010). This tragic indicator of under-representation of Black children in gifted programs has led many African American families to begin looking at their options for educating their children.
For Black families who have not seen the public school system respond to their child’s gifts in a favorable way, one of the best options for educating their children has been independent schooling supported by private funds. An increasing number of these families, however, have found that homeschooling is an even better option. In writing my newly released book, Bright, Talented & Black: A Guide for Families of African American Gifted Learners, I conducted research to discover the varied ways that black families were coping with the lack of attention their gifted children were being provided in public schools.
It was through my research that I discovered the magnitude of homeschooling in the Black community. While the general public is aware of homeschooling among White and Asian families, little is known about this educational option being utilized by the black community. According to a report on homeschooling, just over 10 years ago, a few African Americans began a “pioneer journey” of homeschooling their own children. An estimated 15% of students being homeschooled across the nation are African American (Ray, 2009).
I first contacted the founder of the Black Home Schoolers in the fall of 2009. She was very inviting and welcomed my inquiries about their organization and the possibilities of supporting their work through my book and future collaborations. To gather more information about the families and their reasons for homeschooling, I developed a brief survey. In the survey I asked about their concerns for educating their children with high potential, their instructional practices, some personal demographic data about their level of education, the number of children they have, and the length of time they had been homeschooling. Survey respondents indicated that the practices used in homeschooling closely matched what the educational community has come to know as evidence-based practices for educating gifted children. The specific comments indicated that the homeschooling parents are engaging in individualized instruction, constructivist teaching, teaching critical thinking skills, providing opportunities for problem solving and experimenting, focused on character development, and the use of culturally relevant materials and resources. These parents are well-educated and have made the decision to do what they believe they are better equipped to do than either public or private institutions—teach their children at home.
To read the rest of Joy Lawson Davis' article, please click here. |
Hi, my name's Josh, I'm 27 years old and I'm a product of homeschooling. I work in a bookstore and have since I was 16. My main interests are reading, writing, and drawing (all while listening to music of course). As I am nearly a decade removed from my homeschool experience, I will attempt to quantify just what it is that my dad did in pulling me out of school to teach me himself, at home.
I have and always have had an insatiable, objective curiosity. My dad knew this and used it as the basis for my instruction. This drive, this desire to subsume the information around me, describe it for myself, and integrate it into my worldview is the greatest gift that he cultivated in me as he taught me. You see, he understood me like no one else. He didn't just inculcate his own worldview into me along with the math and science and literature, and call it good. Rather, he winsomely taught me to think for myself and illumined his own past, sharing his mistakes and the factors that led him to become the person I saw him to be. Oftentimes, the mechanics of the subject I was studying took a backseat to the lessons of life and the practical application of the knowledge at hand. If there was something I didn't understand, the item in question was set aside for later. Thus the present moment, whatever it held, was a teaching moment. An avid reader and writer himself, he installed reading as a cornerstone to my learning, something that to this day I still practice. My current list of intended reading is a mile long and I wouldn't have it any other way. Of course it helps to work in a bookstore, but that's beside the point. As I reflect on his methods, I am grateful beyond words to him for instinctively knowing what it took to raise me in this world. How did he do it? He just did. (The answer lay somewhere within the pages of that book you get when you become a father, apparently.) I intend to do the same when I have children. Several years ago, my brother and I bought him a little plush seahorse for Father's Day. He understood immediately.
Independence in this world can be a heady thing. Without the tools to understand yourself, in humility, it's impossible to maintain the childlike attitude that responds to the world at large with wonder and excitement. More important, however, than one's independence is the discipline needed to maintain an outlook that can take what the world throws at you and understand, intrinsically, how to look at and deal with it correctly. This is the reason why homeschooling is right. As a parent you know your child better than anyone on this earth. You know just what to put into them to see their unique gifts grow and blossom and be used as they were intended. More power to you and keep up the good work! |
July 15-17, 2011: SENG Summit
SENG
Seattle, WA
GHF Speakers
Corin Barsily Goodwin
Educational Alternatives: Gifted Homeschooling
Mika Gustavson
Developing a Gifted Specialization (for professionals)
July 21-24, 2011: CHN Expo
California Homeschool Network
Ontario, CA
GHF Speaker
Corin Barsily Goodwin
Gifted Homeschooling 101: If we're homeschooling, why does it matter if my child is gifted?
Practical Issues in Gifted Homeschooling
Aug 4-7, 2011: Adventures in Homeschooling
HomeSchool Association of California
Sacramento, CA
GHF Speaker
Mika Gustavson
Of course my kid is smart, what's the big deal? Using the term "gifted" in homeschooling
An Island of Calm in a Turbulent Sea: Caring for Yourself While Homeschooling an Intense Child
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July 2011 • Volume 2 • Issue 2
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