Michelle Tanner

07/27/2026

Help! It’s E’s 18th birthday on Saturday! What do we get for an 18 year old that doesn’t need dorm stuff?

We got the Lord of the Rings Moleskine notebooks. We love Moleskine paper around here! What else do we get???

https://amzn.to/4yKIxA7

07/24/2026

Can a 9 year old go to college? What are some pathways tow get college credits atalyoung age?

With direct enrollment, dual enrollment, and college classes, there’s pathways to meet these kiddos where they academically.

07/21/2026

What’s it look like homeschooling a gifted kid... let me know your gifted education and grade skipping questions!

With homeschooling, E often spent just 2 hours on core academics. Then, we got to do things like museums, field trips, job shadowing, mentorships, college classes, hands-on projects, and travel. We pick and choose curriculum and follow passions. Homeschooling isn’t the only way to radically accelerate, but it’s one of the easiest ways to meet a gifted kid’s needs. (To be clear…! Not the only way to racially accelerate, but one of the easiest.) Homeschooling isn’t as scary as we might think! Yes, you can do it!

So much we could talk about on the topic!

07/17/2026

If an 11 year old graduates from college, do they miss out on their childhood?

No! Of course not!

They are still kids. We didn’t take that away by accommodating his education to meet his needs. Social interaction came a variety of places with age similar peoplen and older/younger people. He had so much fun being a kid!

07/14/2026

No, geniuses and students with high IQs don’t get handed full rides to college. Maybe some do, but there are a lot of factors and decisions that go into scholarships.

My son graduated college at 11 with an A.S. in Math, earned his B.S. in Physics with a Math minor at 13, completed his master’s in Physics at 15, and is on track to earn his Ph.D. in Physics at 18.

Stay for the end…!

06/30/2026

What is it like for a 9 year old college student on campus? Do we go to his classes with him? Nope!

06/29/2026

A quick heads up…

Someone has copied my TikTok videos and reposted them on a page that is not mine. Unfortunately, Facebook hasn’t removed it yet.

If you have a moment, I’d really appreciate it if you could report the page.

https://www.facebook.com/share/18nEyjpjv6/?mibextid=wwXIfr

A few years ago, I created short videos about our journey. I intentionally kept those videos off this page because I wanted this space to focus on research, articles, news and longer discussions.

Since those videos are already being shared here by someone else, I’ve decided it’s time to start posting my original videos on this page too. Over the coming weeks, you’ll still see the articles, Substack posts, and news you’ve come to expect, but I’ll also be sharing many of those earlier videos because I think they’re still helpful to gifted families today.

If there’s a topic or question about giftedness, profoundly gifted children, acceleration, early college or parenting you’d like me to cover, leave it in the comments. I’d love to answer it in a future post.

The image below takes you to the fake account. Thank you for reporting!

michelletanner_mn

06/14/2026

Yes, Virginia, Giftedness is Real!

Link in bio!

The New Yorker

06/14/2026

Yes, Virginia (Katie), Giftedness is Real.

My thoughts on Katie Arnold-Ratliff's The Mirage of the Gifted Child article from a longtime gifted advocate and parent.

Thoughts on Katie Arnold-Ratliff's The Mirage of the Gifted Child article from a longtime gifted advocate and parent

04/19/2026

I don’t understand it, but he does.

I’ve said from the beginning that we’re not pushing, we’re being pulled.

He’s been able to follow his passion as far as he wants, at his own pace, and in his own way. That’s also turned into him teaching and reaching others, helping students understand concepts that most adults don’t even touch. Something he’s wanted to do from the very start.

We need to reframe and push back against what we’ve been told learning is “supposed” to look like. The structure, the pacing, the idea that everyone should move through the same things in the same way, in a system that wasn’t built for kids but for administrators… it just doesn’t fit every kid. Or most kids, for that matter.

Letting go of that has probably been one of the more important parts of this journey. Learning to trust the pull, and remembering you can always pivot. But the rewards are endless.