Enriching Home Learning Environment of Gifted Children: A Comparison between those who did Grade Skipping and their Counterparts

The current study explored the difference between "home learning environments" (HLE) of gifted children who did grade skipping from grade 2 to 4 and those who did not. Home learning environment, an important predictor of children's educational attainment and social development, was analyzed through its two components: parental involvement in children's learning activities at home and parental engagement in local communities along with their children. The hypothesis was that parents of the experimental group (those who did grade skipping) provide a richer HLE compared to their counterparts. The data came from an ongoing longitudinal study which followed three groups of children from grade 2 to grade 4: a) the experimental group, b) the first control group who were classmates of the experimental group in grade 2 but went to grade 3 in the normal pace, c) the second control group who are the current classmates of the experimental group in grade 4 but are one year older. The findings rejected the hypothesis and showed that the differences between the three groups were not statistically significant. Although this requires further data to explain, it indicates that parents of all three groups do well in providing a rich HLE, no matter how gifted their children are, or it implies that parents of the experimental group did below the expected level, just similar to other two groups.