by Shari McMinn
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things (Philippians 4:8 ESV).
Many of you are planning for your family’s new homeschool year to start this month or next. Today, I want you to take a step back from the details of curriculum choices, teaching methodologies, and scheduling intricacies to consider the future outcome of your day-to-day choices and year-to-year goals.
When I think back on the 28 years of homeschooling my large family, with several unique learners, I tend to remember the “good” times and cherish the photos and memories of those wonderful days and nights. To my dismay — at our family get-togethers — my now-adult children often recollect the “bad” times and review them over and over again in exacting detail! Of course, this is meant to elicit laughter, but it also pinches my soul a bit.
Certainly, there were some really hard struggles homeschooling nine of my 11 children through high school, but the good things far outweighed the bad, and my children agree with me on that summation! In reality, I was a sinner raising sinners, yet God took all the messes of our lives and made something beautiful from them. I once compared my family to a piece of woven fabric that had a multitude of broken, knotted thread repairs hidden on the unseen backside. Yet, somehow, by God’s graciousness to me and my children, the visible frontside outcome was absolutely lovely!
I want to encourage you that God is weaving a unique tapestry that is your family, and you should concentrate on the beauty of its finished work, not the messy backside you might live with every day as you raise your children.
A Hopeful Vision for Unique Learners
Although you may see the flaws in your own life and those of your homeschooled unique learner(s), I urge you to envision the resplendence that can be the outcome of their life. This should be your focus and hope as you plan for and live out this school year and every one to come. 
Now that all of my children are adults, I see the commendable excellence with which most of them are establishing their future within God’s plan for their lives. A few are still working on creating a faith-filled tapestry of God’s story in their lives, so I pray for their struggles to be turned into testimonies of His goodness, in His timing.
My children who had learning struggles during their homeschool years — a few were labeled by professionals as “special needs” — are also highly gifted. These “twice exceptional” learners could problem-solve how to win chess 10 moves ahead, calculate quickly in their head complicated math problems, or had a knack for memorizing knowledge linked to music. They were beyond creative problem solvers when working hands-on with their own complex school-related assignments or personal time hobby-craft inventions. However, they struggled with character issues — as all humans do — and needed lots of instruction for managing their emotions, social skills, and completing work on time.
Guiding Highly Gifted Students Through Their Struggles
I realized with those children in particular, executive function strategies must be taught, retaught, and routinely reviewed, over and over again and again. Behind the gorgeous fabric of my gifted students’ excellence in all things creative were the hidden trials of teaching them to understand:
Dressing appropriately for everyday home life or away-from-home events is required.- Decision-making based on emotions has negative consequences both short- and long-term.
- Keeping to a set schedule and setting goals helps with completing assignments and projects.
- Organizing and tidying up personal and shared spaces benefits everyone.
- Personal grooming habits for hair care, regular bathing, and dental hygiene have many benefits.
- Polite greetings with eye contact, shaking hands, and standing up for adults are expected.
- Pacing of verbal conversations back-and-forth allows for everyone’s participation.
- Interpreting body language that most humans innately understand is a helpful learned habit.
- Socially expected table manners, e.g., saying grace first, chewing mouth-closed, and passing food (to the right) are a must at home, church, restaurants, and other events where food is served.
Helping our children learn by doing the above list — toddlers through teens — takes up an incredible amount of our time as homeschool parents! Yet God has given our children to us to disciple and train them into capable adults. If we are diligent and perseverant, they (hopefully) will do His will for their lives, and will do it with excellence. Apparently, He also wants us, as parents, to grow in character — especially patience and kindness — as we serve Him in our roles of Dad and Mom to our lovely kids.
Honor and Virtue in Your Homeschool
Good character is very important for all students to attain, including our highly gifted children. It must be discussed, modeled, and taught over many years. Your twice-exceptional student might someday have a global enterprise or sit in a boardroom seat of profound significance. 
Therefore, he or she needs to be taught the Truth of God’s Word (Proverbs is a great book to study during daily family devotions) so that their natural, sinful tendencies to cheat, lie, and steal are instead, by God’s grace, turned into what is true, honorable, and pure. Without good character, their profound ability to achieve would not be judged excellent.
This year, during your family-time learning, consider a character study based on the “Fruits of the Holy Spirit” listed in Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
All of the above is primary coursework for the home-based education of unique learners. It cannot be delegated to an internet instructor, discovered at a drop-off public enrichment program, or learned in a community college dual-enrollment class. It must be directly taught by the homeschooled child’s parents — who may also need to seek for themselves, Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable … anything worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8).
Plan and Make Time for Timeless Truth
Is what I described above what you had envisioned for your upcoming homeschooling year? Is that what your unique learner needs more than English or math? Is that what you personally might be struggling with? Do you view your unique learner as a problem, or instead want to see him or her as a lovely creation of Almighty God? I wish my younger homeschool parent self would have said more often, “Yes!” in response to those questions.
Today, my older empty-nest self still needs to be seeking the Lord daily. I, too, need to read the timeless truths of Almighty God’s Word, pray, and fellowship with like-minded believers who are growing, learning, and worshipping the Lord. In this coming school year, I encourage you to prioritize consistent Bible reading for yourself, as well as weekly family church attendance. I know that it will bless you as it has me!
Dive Deeper: Additional Resources for Planning
- Discover a fun, 5-minute morning Bible devotion for your kids. Tune in to the Generations audio program “Teach Me the Faith” with Scripture memory.
- Locate a homeschool group near you for enrichment and friendship. CHEC’s Group Directory lists vetted, Christian-based homeschool groups found across the state. Check out this map!
- Reconnect with your spouse through weekly date nights. Perhaps include time to watch these excellent marriage/family podcasts with Israel and Brooke Wayne of Family Renewal.
- Search for additional support for homeschooling your unique learner. Fully updated this spring, click on the CHEC.org website and our CHEC Recommended Resources webpages.
- Seek a professional evaluator and/or tutor for your struggling learner. Each Christian professional and their associated services at this link have been well-vetted by CHEC: Professional Tutors, Evaluators, and Testers webpages.
Finally, if you did not participate this spring in our Unique Learners Poll, you can do so now at that link. So that CHEC can continue to meet the needs of our constituents, we will offer this poll as an ongoing assessment of Unique Learner needs in the homeschool community in Colorado and beyond.
My next Unique Learner blog, “Field Trips and Exciting Opportunities for ADHD and other Unique Learners,” will be posted on September 9, 2026 (the second Wednesday).
Shari McMinn, your trusted homeschooling friend
P.S. If you have a topic I should write about, please email me with your suggestion(s). This blog is for you!
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