Allowing Homeschoolers to Be Average

As an African American, I was raised to believe that I had to be twice as good at anything I touched to compete. I am not saying that my parents were right about drumming that into my head, but that is how I was raised. As a homeschooling parent, I also felt that my kids would have to be twice as good to compete. Fortunately I realized before it was too late, that putting that kind of pressure on a child is completely unreasonable.

I attended a homeschool graduation this weekend. I can say I was pretty comfortably acquainted with a good number of the kids. Several scholarships were mentioned in the graduation ceremony, in academics and in theater and one young lady is joining a dance company. Whole some may have been weak in one area or another, everyone was exceptional in his or her way.

I believe that is how it should be. In addition to that, I believe that every child is gifted in some way, be it in a specific art discipline, or in an academic subject. Some kids are gifted across a variety of subjects. I also believe that no child, gifted or not should have to excel in every subject. We have to allow them to be mediocre in those areas where they are not gifted.

There is no sin in being mediocre or average. We are all wired differently and there will always be areas where we are less than spectacular. It is unfair to ask my musically gifted child to also be a math whiz, and a gifted linguist, and science whiz, and a history buff. Putting pressure on her to excel in all of these areas would surely mean she would have less time and energy to spend on her God-Given talent. So while I do expect her to do her best in all things, her best may not be A's in every subject. She may end up doing C level work in in history and Language Arts. That has to be OK.

As homeschoolers we often fret over getting the child the best portfolio as possible, in order to convince a college to accept our academically gifted child. What we fail to realize is that colleges aren't necessarily looking perfect students across the board. They are looking for students who are very strong in one area or another. According to CollegeBoard.com, "Colleges are not necessarily interested in students who do everything. "We're looking for a commitment to and a passion for an activity outside of the academic setting '" we're looking for depth rather than breadth". Remember this when guiding and instructing your homeschoolers. Allow them to be average in some areas so they can be exceptional in others.