We homeschool our sixteen-year-old daughter. She has been ready for college intellectually and academically for several years. We decided to wait so that she starts with her friends and typical high school class in 2017. It’s difficult to know how to handle a child with a genius IQ. We have attempted to keep her childhood as normal as possible. I continue to look for ways to challenge her and help her develop the gifts God gave her.
I’m not certain we made the right decision to wait for college. I can’t imagine two more years of home study, but I also can’t imagine her a part of the social milieu of college either. She would excel academically, but I fear she would be isolated socially. I started college early and to this day my parents would be shocked if they knew what I encountered the very first week. I don’t want that for her, so I readily admit part of the decision to wait on college was fear-based. Her younger sisters are also homeschooled and extremely intelligent. We haven’t wanted to break up their shared childhood by having their big sister head off to college.
I think you are making the right decision. When I was a child, there was no advanced placement programs, and homeschooling didn’t exist. The only option was to skip a grade. I was skipped two grades. I was miserable and clueless my entire public school career, being two years younger and socially immature compared to the other children in my classes. I couldn’t tell when the others were making fun of me, which was often.