Q
Do you support unschooling for gifted children? If so, are there some studies or successes to back up your view?
A
I know of families who have successfully unschooled gifted children. Several of these children were homeschooled because the schools were unable to meet their needs. Others learned at home all of their lives. I really couldn't imagine any other course of learning for these children. One little boy was doing pre-college math when he was eight (for fun!), but didn't learn to read until he was almost ten. Within a year he was out of the children's reading area and into the Young Adult section. Can you imagine using a traditional curriculum with a child like that? Fortunately, his parents encouraged independent learning, read to him every day, and patiently allowed him to work at his own pace.
I don't know of any studies supporting unschooling how could one quantify this type of information? There are just too many variables. For an in-depth discussion of unschooling gifted children, I suggest you read Gifted Education Comes Home: A Case for Self-Directed Homeschooling by Lisa Rivero. Rivero shares success stories and outlines a plan to help gifted children achieve academic success.