Fostering a child’s passion is a full-time commitment

March 9, 2017
Written by:
Guest Author

piano_200X150

Fostering a child’s passion is a full-time commitment

This is a guest blog post from eAchieve Academy. FYI eAchieve Academy offers online classes for homeschool students in grades 6-12. Free to Wisconsin residents; affordable out of state rates. Challenging core and elective classes including AP and Honors level. Personalized instruction from certified teachers. Flexible schedule.

 

If you’re the parent of a gifted child, you’re forgiven for ever having thought it would be easy. It certainly seems at first glance that every parent’s dream would be to raise a bright child who didn’t struggle with academics, right?

What many people don’t realize is that traditional schooling often doesn’t work well for gifted and talented students. In recent decades there has been a huge push to raise the bar for struggling students and schools. While laudable, the unintended consequence is that gifted students are often left to fend for themselves because they’re already “proficient” or “meeting standards.” Over-burdened teachers simply don’t have the time to provide more for these students.

So as the parent of a gifted child, all that enrichment falls to you. It’s an enormous job to coordinate special classes and to shuttle your child to private lessons or even university courses. If you’re getting burnt out or aren’t sure how to get your child what she needs to achieve her full potential, online education can help.

Gifted Students Need Guidance

One of the tragic, unintended consequences of recent education reform has been that many school districts have eliminated gifted and talented education programs. This way of balancing the budget often stems from the misguided idea that gifted students are smart enough to teach themselves what they need to know. While it’s true that your child is likely a voracious reader and can memorize all sorts of information related to her passions, she still needs a mentor to guide her through more difficult material. Whether your child is a violin virtuoso, a calculus whiz or an aspiring novelist, she won’t advance her skills on her own nearly as well as she will with the help of a trained expert in the field.

If your school doesn’t offer advanced teaching, it’s up to you to go out and get it so that your child’s extraordinary talents don’t wither from neglect.

Online Education Offers Flexibility

Once your child outpaces your ability to give them extra help in a particular field of study, where do you turn? Online education can help in two ways:

Online Education Provides Enrichment

If your child is generally happy in school and enjoys the social scene there, online courses can provide the enrichment she craves in the subjects she loves. If your child is ready to skip a few grades in math or would like to learn all there is to know about Spanish or computer science, online learning is a great way to get ahead without being thrown into a classroom of much older students.

Online Education Opens up Your Schedule

On the other hand, if your child needs to take college courses or work with a special teacher during the school day to achieve her dreams, online courses will allow your child the flexibility to keep up with her peers in areas outside of her passions. For example, your budding figure skater or computer programmer can complete grade-level English and social studies requirements online without skipping practice or that incredible internship at Google.

To find out more about how online education can provide gifted students the flexibility they need for an education tailored to pursue their passions, get in touch with eAchieve today.