<p>I’m a home school parent, not really by choice but from necessity. We tried the public (and private) school systems, but they all failed at schooling my child because they could not or would not accommodate his special needs for accelerated studies. I still work (full-time but from home), as does my husband. My son isn’t profoundly gifted, but he was reading fluently at 3 and asked to take Spanish classes, again at 3.
These gifted children are different. They don’t fit a regular pattern, they have their own obsessions and the parents need to adapt to them. My son is very kind to younger children, prefers people in their 80’s and his close friends are all at least 2 years older. He started his own business at 14…skipped 2 grades in school, and takes college courses in high school. He took his first college course when he was 10. Received an “A”. They aren’t like other kids and you can’t judge the kids or the parents by any normal standard.
I always feel sorry for the parents of profoundly gifted children (thank God my kid is not!) because they simply don’t know how to meet their needs. These kids will never be “normal” by regular standards, so loving parents have to discover what “normal” is for their child.
This child’s parents seem to be “unschoolers”, a form of home schooling where the children follow their own passions. My son requested more routine, but I have seen “unschooled” children enter Harvard. You’d have to live their lives to understand why they do what they do. These kids constantly surprise their parents…they think really differently, and we might be bright but we aren’t them. It’s not our place to sit in judgment.</p>