2023

Dear Friends,

It has been an honor and a pleasure occupying the role of GHF Board President. After 4½ exciting years, I have decided that it is time that I give someone else a chance to inject new energy into the organization.

For me, the most exciting progress for GHF has been the evolution of the Mission, Vision, and Value statements. For the GHF Board of Directors, these statements are more than words on paper to be used for marketing or for checking off a box. We have used these statements as guidance for everything that we do in the organization. Board recruitment, programming, and our culture are all in line. We have no question as to why we are here, what we are doing, or for whom we are supporting.

Originally organized as the Gifted Homeschoolers Forum (GHF), we have had the opportunity to break down why families have needed this GHF. At first, we looked at what we do as only supporting the homeschool journey, but what we have found is that there is a meta step above that. We are a community of families who do not fit into the system based on the uniquenesses of giftedness. For some, that has meant accelerated learning that is self-paced and/or self-directed. For others, it is the intersectionality of multiple exceptionalities. Gifted children who were diagnosed with learning disabilities were not able to get a fair and equitable education. School systems had no idea how to support our kiddos.

The essence of GHF has been families taking charge of their children's education. Before schools had a 2e model by Susan Baum or families could supplement with the early online leaders like Online G3 and Athena's Advanced Academy, our families had to do it all on their own through homeschooling. We know that over half of our families were not planning on homeschooling their children. They did it out of necessity. This leads me to my next point, as more opportunities for our children have developed, our role has changed in the process.

"Whether they know it or not,

all families are homeschool families."

Today, we have more choices and families have the challenge to make the right decisions based on the uniqueness of each child. Our efforts as gifted homeschool families have formed a new model that we call Gifted Home Education. Whether they know it or not, all families are homeschool families. The question is whether we give up our power to the system or if we use our power as families to make strategic, proactive, and intentional, educational choices. Whatever your choices are, they are what is right for you at the moment. Making your own decisions regardless of what tools, methods, and partners you use, is Gifted Home Education.

This point of view is how and why GHF is expanding beyond supporting traditional homeschool families to also include all families who decide to use their own power to make the choices that are right for their own children. That is why you are seeing us double our efforts to include experts who support after-school and in-school decisions.

It is about time that we shared a common mission and vision with all gifted families.  

We are all Gifted Home Educators.