In elementary school we had a school newspaper. Each year, two kids were selected per grade level to be the newspaper journalists- in 5th grade, I got my chance!
The first assignment was to interview our homeroom teachers. We were given a list of questions to ask: Favorite food? Favorite color? Where were you born? We were supposed to turn in the answers at the end of the week. I interviewed Mrs. Moore. It was interesting to learn about her outside of the classroom; I discovered the warm and kind human behind what I had previously mistaken for a stern “teacher” persona. She had adult kids and a beloved dog- I even met her husband. I turned in that first assignment.
Later that week I was pulled out of class and sent to the principal’s office where the school newspaper coordinator was waiting for me. While other kids had turned in a small amount of information like a checklist of responses, I had written a humorous and descriptive newspaper column. I wrote it from the perspective of a detective who was sharing all the info from an undercover investigation. Playfully, it read like a teacher exposé and I was “cracking the case.” This was one of those moments, thirty-five years ago, where a kind adult took time to truly see me and speak affirmation that seeped into my bones. She was thrilled with what I had written. It was completely different than what the rest of the journalists had turned in. She proposed that we toss out school assignments altogether. The other kids would continue to do that. I would run “The 5th Grade Grapevine.” She told me I could write whatever I wanted to be published in each edition of the newspaper that year. I wrote, I illustrated. It was a cool experience.
The teacher essentially created a curriculum compacting opportunity for me. The assignments had been simple and I was working well beyond that, and I enjoyed writing. So, she cut what wasn’t needed and just set me loose to write something else. Curriculum compacting isn’t just putting additional work on top of a regular assignment. An essential step is eliminating redundant or unnecessary work and replacing it with different work based on the child’s interests, ideas, passions and abilities.
The National Association for Gifted Children gives a strong description of the strengths and validity of curriculum compacting. Historically, gifted kids respond really well to this kind of acceleration. With some training, willing teachers can implement it in classrooms. It’s a gateway of access to appropriate, differentiated learning. Research demonstrates no negative impact on standardized testing scores, and in fact to the contrary, students can flourish. A bonus, at this point we have decades of research on this. (See the NAGC link to back up these statements.)
If you’d like more information, the book, The Schoolwide Enrichment Model: A How-to Guide for Talent Development, by Joseph S. Renzulli Ed.D and Sally M. Reis Ed.D is helpful.
In traditional school systems, one of my twice exceptional children got terribly bogged down. He was piled with redundant work that wasn’t meeting his need for challenge, but extension learning was expected to happen after successful completion of all the busy work. Compound that with a child whose undiagnosed learning differences presented needs that weren’t being met, and we were in an educational perfect storm. We eventually found our rhythm and “right fit” through homeschooling. But I want to emphasize that appropriate acceleration can happen in the classroom. There are teachers that see our children and want to help them thrive. You just might need to help advocate for curriculum compacting to be part of how that happens.
With homeschooling, it’s easy to think that you have to check every little box with a curriculum to be certain you’ve covered the subject. But, dragging high-ability and gifted kids through busy work they already have mastered has its consequences. “Too often, our brightest students spend time relearning material they already know, which can lead to frustration, boredom and, ultimately, underachievement. Curriculum compacting can also help to reverse underachievement when the compacted regular curriculum is replaced with self-selected work in a high-intense area, making schoolwork more enjoyable” (Renzulli and Reis 251).
Going back to the topic of 2e children like my son, I want to point out that I’m being purposeful in my use of the word, gifted. Not all gifted children are high achievers, especially when their needs are not being met. We can’t expect them to achieve to prove their need for appropriate differentiation. One of the causes of underachievement is the redundant work in the first place. If we keep “high achieving” as the singular gauge by which we determine all access to differentiated learning, we’re boxing out kids and leaving unmet needs. High achievement is one pathway to identifying a need for differentiation, but other signs of gifted and 2e should come into account as well. Otherwise, kids like mine get left behind. All children need to learn and be challenged in order to thrive.
All of this takes thought, intentionality and care. It also requires collaboration with the learner. It’s not one-and-done. As a homeschooling teacher and as a violin and viola instructor, this is something I carefully navigate ongoing. Our goal is to find the “just right” amount of challenge for students. It’s a daily calibration. Give yourself grace as we can always recalibrate if we discover the challenge level we’ve set is too difficult or too easy.
We got this!
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