Vol VI, No 5 - May 14, 2024

Spring has Sprung! I'm writing this on Mother's Day. My kids are outside playing on one of those old-school, plastic splash pads that are inexpensive and made for toddlers. It seems like my kids would be too big and too old for this, but they are squealing with joy. Right now, it is the greatest invention ever! Okay, there are also some water balloons involved, which could be the reason they are still hooked.

So often as parents of G/2e kids we fall into the trap of thinking, my child is "X" years old and therefore should be doing "A, B, C" things along with their same-age peers. We've made this same mistake so many times, but we still need reminders. Big kids can play on little kids' splash pads and have a great time. Junior-high aged kids may be bored out of their minds at school and ready for college-level academics. Upper-elementary kids may read at high-school levels, but still struggle to tie their shoes. The list goes on....

While splash pads may be lighthearted and fun, keeping a profoundly gifted child in an academic environment that does not ignite their spark for learning can lead to boredom, frustration, and even depression. Mental health and well-being concerns are significant within the gifted population due to the asynchronous development of gifted people and the frequent mismatch between their abilities and their environments.

In this issue, Lin Lim, President of SENG, which stands for Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted, and GHF Board Member, shares with us her journey as an Asian American homeschooling parent. Lin and her family forged their own path, one not well-understood in her native culture, in order to honor the mental health and well-being of her children. Lin is also one of our featured authors this month for her children's book, Using Picture Books to Help Little Ones Learn About Themselves.

In this time of budding flowers, swimming pool openings, and backyard water play, we recognize that May is also Mental Health Awareness month. It is a good reminder to check-in with ourselves about whether we are doing all we can to support the mental health and well-being of our children and ourselves as we navigate the off-the-beaten path of raising gifted and twice-exceptional children.

-- Marna

Marna Walthall Wohlfeld is a mom of four, a former non-profit director and journalist, and now a doctoral student at Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education. She has deschooled, unschooled, and homeschooled various kids at various stages. She loves learning about and championing kids' unique brains and learning styles. She hopes to use her graduate degree to support parents and caregivers of twice-exceptional children as they move through the journey of parenting their wonderfully complex kids. She also hopes to advocate for 2e students by creating greater understanding about the need for strength-based approaches and support for vulnerable nervous systems in education and life. Marna is a trained SENG facilitator. She has presented at NAGC and WCGTC and has written for 2e News.

REfrain from making any other plans Friday evening to Sunday morning, June 7-9, because it's your time to REframe, REcenter and REflect with us at the 4th annual Gifted Home Education - Come As You Are virtual conference! Just a few folks popping in to hang out with us include Dr. Dan Peters (Summit Center), Paula Prober (Your Rainforest Mind), Dr. Austina DeBonte (Smart is Not Easy), and Sam Young (Young Scholars Academy), doing things the GHF way with plenty of discussion, interaction and community. Full line-up and session info coming soon. Click here to see the tentative schedule and RSVP: https://forum.ghflearners.org/events

Busting the Homeschooling Myth: An Asian American Experience

by Lin Lim, Ph.D.

“Homeschooling” is an alien word and concept, full of mystery and speculation for many of us who have grown up in traditional Asian culture. I spent my younger years in Singapore and did not move to the U.S. until I was in college. When my husband and I had children, we had no desire or inclination to homeschool EVER. However, I KNEW instinctively that my younger son would not fit into the public school system when he was less than two years old. On the other hand, I felt that our oldest child, our daughter, would be fine academically within the public school system. Later, they were both identified as gifted (fourth grade) and my son as twice-exceptional (second grade). 

Within a year after it was revealed that my son was twice-exceptional, I mentally committed to journeying into homeschooling as a “last resort,” anticipating that we might need to do this within a few years. In preparation, I joined all the secular gifted homeschooling groups, including GHF and Facebook groups, and even attended homeschool conventions to better understand this concept of “HOMESCHOOLING.” It was an eye-opening experience to see and experience this broad umbrella term called “homeschooling.” I was filled with admiration for others fully engaged in it and hoped that we would have a good place for my son if we decided to travel on this path.

Fast forward seven years to our present time with two teenagers… we ended up homeschooling our oldest daughter for one year in eighth grade whilst we never embarked on homeschooling for our son. Recall that our son was the impetus and reason for joining the various homeschooling communities! Why did we homeschool for just one year with our daughter? We chose an interest-based approach that year and I had the great fortune to witness glimpses of rarely seen and beautiful parts of our daughter’s psyche – her joyous learning and engagement. Through our positive homeschool experiences including the opportunity to try out different teaching methods, we were able make the decision, which was not even within our pre-homeschool radar, to radically accelerate her and allow her to skip high school.

Our unexpected homeschooling experience opened new paths for us to consider. If we had not identified homeschooling as an option for our son, it would never have crossed our minds to consider homeschooling for our daughter as she is the child who could be a good academic fit within our existing public school system. However, our daughter was not thriving from a mental wellness perspective; she did not have the spark in her learning. She did not have to engage much at all to perform well at public school. 

What happened with homeschooling and our younger son? Interestingly, he has yet to experience a full school calendar year of homeschooling! We have changed schools every two years as we have balanced mental, physical, and environmental changes. That said, we DID homeschool my son since young. Our homeschooling “year” was compacted into summers and focused on experiential, curiosity-based explorations and, in our opinion, the most meaningful learning. We had the great fortune to visit Normandy during the 75th anniversary of D-day, tour the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps, attend an astrophysics conference, and visit numerous US national parks. 

The month of May typically signals the end of the school year for many. When I think of May, mental health, and the start of our homeschooling for our son, my mind fills with joy and the reminder of the critical role mental wellness plays in our lives, including in our educational journey.¹ For this month, I invite you to consider ways to build mental health and wellness skills and habits as you navigate homeschooling.  

Additionally, I invite you to consider that all gifted families are also homeschoolers; if you engage in enriching activities for your child outside of school, you are also engaging in homeschooling! Though I grew up in a culture in which many people did not understand “homeschooling” and viewed it with skepticism, my family has discovered that “homeschooling” is a marvelous way to bring joyous learning and engagement to our gifted and 2e children while also supporting their mental health and well-being. 

1. Wiedermann, C. J., Barbieri, V., Plagg, B., Marino, P., Piccoliori, G., & Engl, A. (2023). Fortifying the Foundations: A Comprehensive Approach to Enhancing Mental Health Support in Educational Policies Amidst Crisis. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 11(10), 1423. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11101423

Lin currently serves as a board director on our GHF board and in the position of immediate president of SENG, a non-profit supporting the emotional needs of the gifted. She is also the Dean of non-degree programs at Bridges Graduate School, holding a doctorate in human development psychology. Her commitment to positive, strength-based whole-person educational approaches stems from her experiences parenting gifted children. She has published resources across diverse topics and age ranges. Lin’s passion lies in promoting human dignity and ensuring lifelong wellbeing across life transitions. She actively volunteers with gifted non-profits and explores interdisciplinary systems thinking in the realms of education and human development. linkedin.com/in/linlimgoh

Sponsor the 4th Annual GHF Conference

GHF’s 4th Annual Gifted Home Education Conference is set for June 7-9, 2024, and promises to be the best yet!

In exchange for your support of the conference, you will receive:

Click-through logo with sponsorship quote on the:

• GHF landing & conference event webpage
• GHF Forum main feed

Conference promotional announcements to our 7000-contact mailing list

Mention of thanks to your organization each day during the conference

Posts in the GHF Forum, Instagram & Facebook to announce and thank you for your sponsorship

We have 8 sponsor slots open at $250 each, and will review them on a first-come, first-served basis, so click on through to the form right away!

https://www.ghflearners.org/advertise-with-ghf

GHF Press Featured Title

Parents today lead busy lives and it’s difficult to “get it all done.” Gayle and Lin have created a guide encouraging parents to strengthen their connection with their youngsters using shared reading time. This book provides a selection of carefully curated picture books that can be used by parents to address important issues with their children, such as worry, perfectionism, and managing “big feelings.” Gayle and Lin also provide expert advice to gently guide parent-child conversations using simple, science-backed methods, including ways to help your child develop empathy, self-regulation, and self-acceptance. All of this is artfully accomplished as the authors share both research-based strategies and their own parenting experiences to bring out the very best in children using a strength-based approach.

Purchase Using Picture Books to Help Little Ones Learn About Themselves here.