Unschooling the Gifted Child

While it may sound easy enough to unschool a gifted child, it really isn't as easy as it sounds. There are some important differences here since a gifted child's personality and learning differences tend to lead to some special needs. Of course, this doesn't mean that unschooling can't be the best learning environment for a gifted child; it just means that you need to understand and acknowledge their special needs.

The Gifted Child Is Precocious

The gifted child tends to learn faster than the normal child. This doesn't mean that all of them learn things early. However, it does mean that parents will face a challenge whenever it comes to helping their child learn what they want in an age-appropriate manner.

The Gifted Child Is Self-Propelled

Young children are curious about the world they live in until this curiosity is hindered and threatened by the structure and boundaries that are placed upon them by a classroom education. It is within these classrooms that children are constantly told what they should be interested in, which is something that a gifted child will fight against even more than a "regular" child does. Fortunately, unschooling parents can find ways to encourage and guide their children without being so controlling. This is because, as parents you begin to know your child's strengths and weaknesses and can then cater to them.

The Gifted Child Is Highly Creative

While all children are creative, gifted children have the ability to create new things, think in new ways and create new pathways. This is because they are constantly creating. However, these same children tend to score lower on standardized tests because they are drawn to more unusual answers, where they find new possibilities, instead of the one that is "correct." This is something that is celebrated in unschooling though because there is no need to fit into a mold or "live up" to certain expectations.

The Gifted Child Is Over Excitable

Gifted children are over excitable. They like to talk and play fast, have heightened senses, are drawn to intellectual activities and are quite empathetic. These things really impact how a child interacts with their world and it will oftentimes make it more difficult for them to make friends. While this is something that these children must understand, it is still a part of them that can be celebrated via unschooling.