How ‘Hackschooling’ Can Help Your 2e Child

When I was in the third grade my parents were worried. Unlike my normally progressing peers, I was still spelling two out of every three words I wrote incorrectly, happier looking at the pictures of comics than even trying to read the simplest of children’s books. Like many parents at the time, mine opted to have me tested for learning disabilities. After spending a week in the cramped office of an education specialist, I was told I had a genius-level IQ, so school must be pretty easy for me, and I was promptly spit back into a mainstream class with a sheet of paper telling me everything was going to work out fine. I was lucky to be attending a private school in San Francisco at the time, and was provided the tutoring I needed to become a proficient writer. But throughout my educational career, I continuously struggled to find classes that I excelled in. In parent-teacher conferences, I was described as sarcastic, even sadistic, even in single-digit ages. Always the misfit, I bounced from program to program for a few more years before I relocated to Durango, Colorado, where I settled very nicely into the newest designation I had been assigned: twice-exceptional. In a school specifically catering to my needs, I excelled, but very quickly my academic and social needs exceeded what the school could provide. By sixth grade, my short-lived satisfaction with my education had ended, and I found myself sitting in a project-based learning charter school, saying how much I loved Lewis Carroll’s use of allegory, while wondering if I should actually read Alice in Wonderland. By eighth grade, I almost failed out because of poor attendance, but had the highest GPA in the class. Kids like me often struggle with balancing their gifts and learning differences, which can result in a suboptimal schooling experience. Through years of experimentation and dozens of different schooling experiences, I’ve found that for me and many students like me, the optimal education comes from a blend of multiple educational models, commonly referred to as “hackschooling.” I’ve found that some models work better than others, as well as discovered a few tips and tricks for the beginner hackschooler, trying to find their perfect mixture.

Project-Based Learning

I attended a project-based charter school for most of my middle school years. While I credit this institution with providing me opportunities to hone my existing skills, new skills went largely undeveloped. By the time I reached eighth grade, many of my passions were already emergent, so it was extremely easy for me to find one way or another to apply them to school projects. This was incredibly gratifying to me as a student; however, I also think that it often provided me with a cop out, falling back into comfortable subject matter instead of branching out and trying new skills. If your child is still figuring out their passions, I would strongly recommend a project-based model. But for many twice-exceptional children, working in teams can be especially grueling, which is definitely something to consider.

Autodidactism

I’ve been on and off self-taught, mostly for math, since the third grade. I would honestly classify it as one of the most enjoyable periods of my life, as it allowed me to completely pursue my passions and maintain my education. It also provided the added bonuses of learning how to effectively plan out my learning and gaining a better understanding of how I personally learn. Even though I’ve been self-taught for a large portion of my education, I still at times find it difficult to stay consistent and on task. So if you are considering helping your child build autodidactic skills, I would strongly recommend starting them young, and slowly allowing them to take control over their education. In my experience, being self-taught generally only works for one or two subjects, as even now I find it difficult to evenly pursue more than three separate subjects on my own.

Online Schools

Similar to being self-taught, I found online schooling to be convenient, especially when working on a project or aggressively pursuing one field of study. However, much like self-teaching, I found that it is incredibly easy to slack off in an online school, as I developed the mindframe that the teacher was the one who was supposed to keep me on track. I’ve found that online school is a bit of a mermaid: half human, half fish, but not very good at either. It claims to offer freedom from a traditional environment; however, it lacks the communication or flexibility needed to capitalize on that freedom. With that being said, I often found myself purposefully taking subjects online that I enjoy least. While this may seem counterintuitive — I should be taking classes that I have difficulty attending in a more structured environment — I’ve found online schooling to offer a break from the monotony of an otherwise unbreakable classroom environment. While some kids, especially those with difficulty focusing, may need a more traditional environment, as long as your child has the right skills and motivations, I would recommend online school as a way of supplementing less interesting or demanding classes.

Magnet Schools

One of the more interesting schools I’ve attended is an international boarding school for climbers. Without getting lost in the details, it was a highly specialized boarding school that catered specifically to rock climbers. Obviously an opportunity like this isn’t available to everyone; however, new magnet schools like The Climbing Academy are popping up each year. [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]By the time I reached eighth grade, many of my passions were already emergent, so it was extremely easy for me to find one way or another to apply them to school projects. This was incredibly gratifying to me as a student; however, I also think that it often provided me with a cop out, falling back into comfortable subject matter instead of branching out and trying new skills.[/perfectpullquote] If presented with the opportunity to attend one of these schools, I highly recommend it, as it taught me skills that might have otherwise taken me years to master. But from my experience, finding the right magnet school can be relatively hit or miss. For me, and many other kids, it was one of the most exceptional and inspiring opportunities of my life, but for others it can feel suffocating or overwhelming, often depending on the child’s level of commitment to their passions and level of independence. By attending The Climbing Academy, I was able to pursue and develop my passion for photography. Being able to spend my days outdoors allowed me to fully flesh out my photography portfolio to a point I would never had been able to achieve in any other educational environment.

College

College may not appear to be a viable place for a struggling student, but for me and many other asynchronous development kids, it can be a godsend. Nothing is worse than feeling like you are being held back simply because you struggle in one or two areas, and taking concurrent enrollment classes at the local college can drastically improve one’s high school experience. Personally, once I exceeded my school’s curriculum, I took concurrent enrollment classes at the local college for computer science. Not only were these my favorite times of the day, but they made me feel like I was actually taking steps toward building a career for myself, which can be especially important when it feels like the only thing that matters in your life is the SAT and midterms. I would definitely recommend taking only one or two college classes at a time as a high school student, as they can bring increased expectations. Additionally, for twice-exceptional kids it can be difficult to let go of the idea that classes will be “easy” or that “as long as you do your work you don’t have to go to class.”

Twice-Exceptional Education

As a twice-exceptional student, I excelled at a school specifically geared toward twice-exceptional students. Liberty Elementary is a small school specifically focused on meeting the education needs of gifted, dyslexic, and twice-exceptional kids. The classes were small and each student received one-on-one tutoring that allowed them to work on areas of struggle. Classes were created based on skill level, not age. While Liberty was one of a few select schools across the country with a twice-exceptional teaching model, many public and private schools also offer programs meant to help twice-exceptional students function within the system. While many of these programs can’t even begin to compare to the real thing, they can still help to even the abilities of kids with asynchronous development.