Book Review: Educating Your Gifted Child

Today I finished reading Educating your Gifted Child: How One Public School Teacher Embraced Homeschooling, and I have to be totally honest… I loved it. As a public school teacher, as an advocate for gifted children it resonated with me. Sometimes as parents you have to take your child’s education into your own hands, and forge your own path. This book is inspiring, motivating, and one that filled with advise, and resources.

One passage late into the book,in particular hit me:

You may look at these children and see that their family lives are hopeless. You may feel that, as hard as you try, these kids may never utilize the education you work so hard to deliver to them. But you know what? These kids, education or not, will grow up to being voting citizens in our society. When they have the opportunity to vote and change my world, your world, our world, we will need them to vote intelligently. We need them to be productive members of society, or our society will not stand. That is why their education is important. (pg. 73)

If you have read anything on this blog, you know that advocating for children is what drives me. After reading this book, and visiting her website (Crushing Tall Poppies) I got a clearer picture of why a family would delve into homeschooling. The education your child gets is one of the most important aspects of their life. They will carry “the good, the bad, and the ungly” educational memories with themselves for their lifetime. Making sure you get that right is important. For some families public education works. For others public education isn’t doing enough to meet the needs of the family, and the children they are servicing. Each family has to make that choice.

What I like about this book is the fact Celi, discusses her life in the classroom, as a parent whose child’s needs aren’t being met, and finally their awesome journey into homeschooling. Each section she shares the ups and downs. The only conclusion that worked for her and her family was homeschooling. Her story isn’t that much different from many other people across the country advocating for their gifted children. I would count her story as a successful one. I hope that after reading this book you also will count your story as a success story.

In her book Celi, go into detail about places to go to get resources, ideas to where to go in your location to help you and your family be better prepared for homeschooling. I strongly recommend your read this book and take many of her suggestions if you are interested in taking your family “off the rollercoaster”, and onto a path that will make sense, and fit your family’s needs then this book is the perfect resource.