Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

What if my child is highly gifted? Can I homeschool? This week on Home School Heartbeat, Michael Farris talks with Kathi Kearney about how parents can be better prepared to homeschool their gifted children.

Mike Smith:


Joining me this week is Kathi Kearney, a teacher who specializes in instructing highly gifted children. Kathi has spent many years helping homeschoolers develop programs for gifted kids. Thank you for being with us, Kathi.


Kathi Kearney:


It's great to be here, Mike.


Mike:


Kathi, what do educators mean when they call a child "highly gifted?"


Kathi:


Well, they often mean a child who has a very high IQ score, indicating a child who is well rounded in a number of areas dealing with cognitive ability. However, a child can also be highly gifted and have one particular special talent in a specific academic area or also in an arts area.


Mike:


Well, are there ways that parents can recognize when their child is highly gifted?


Kathi:


Absolutely. You often see it in very young children even. They may pick up academic skills very early without much teaching, like a child who practically teaches himself to read when they're two or three years old. You also see children who are able to ask very insightful, almost abstract, types of questions or who are able to do abstract thinking at a very early age.


Mike:


Thank you, Kathi. And please join us next time when Kathi will talk more about how we can determine whether we have a gifted child. And until next time, I'm Mike Smith.