Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy FIRST POSTING -- HOMESCHOOLING and YOUNG SCHOLARS?

I have just registered (having just returned from a weekend at the California Association for the Gifted conference where I heard about this website). I read through some postings and noticed references to the Young Scholars Program and homeschooling moms. Both were intriguing. Could someone fill me in on details?

I am considering homeschooling my son (7 years old) for a trial year next year. His school has taken many steps to try to accomodate him and he is generally happy there (but mostly with recess!), but he still is not challenged much. His primary challenge is learning test taking skills, rather than learning the content.

Here's the link for YSP http://www.ditdservices.org/Articles.aspx?ArticleID=24&NavID=0_0

YSP has a email list for homeschoolers. Interestingly enough, they are welcoming of Moms like me who send their children to public school and do "additional educational experiences" in the context of the parent-child relationship. I guess you could say my child is "dual-enrolled" but that is a bit much since sometimes we don't do anything for weeks at a time, and other times we spend all our free time persuing something educational. As a friend of mine pointed out, I'm quite serious about taking 100% responsibility for my child's education, and to her, that is the essence of homeschooling. That's about all I know about homeschooling.

Homeschooling can be a challenge. You might want to start with reading some books. The Well Trained Mind is one often recommended, although I haven't read it.

There are different approaches to homeschooling - ranging from traditional approaches that use curricula similar to school to unschooling that just learns as life presents the chance. Classic, unit studies, eclectic are some others.

There are also distance learning programs such as K12 that many use. K12 is cool in that they use the computer and allow kids to work at their pace and level in different subjects.

We did homeschool for a few months and enjoyed the series 'What your Nth grader should know'. There is a 'core curricullum' built around those books that might be interesting, but we quit homeschooling before we got there.

Mostly, we felt that while we would do a better job of meeting academic needs, the social needs are being better met at school. As long as school keeps our son from being too terribly bored, we are coasting for now. Although I am concerned about the long term.

Make sure you have some plans for adequate social interaction and physical exercise. Also some alone time as family relationships can be strained by too much togetherness. If there is a local homeschoolers group, that can be a great source for support.

Hope this helps,
Mary

Thanks so much for your responses.

I am definitely weighing the pros and cons (I've been considering homeschooling for a year and a half already). I have recently been more encouraged because another mom who lives quite close is considering it as well and one of her 4 children is in my son's current class. Physical Ed won't be a problem as my son plays tennis twice a week and is in baseball and soccer leagues. I have been doing things with my son for years, but it doesn't seem to be enough.

Just saw this thread, and thought I would toss in my two cents worth. I have been homeschooling for nearly 4 yrs, and LOVE it. I truly wish I had started sooner.

I spent the 6 months before I started (when I was considering it) reading everything I could get my hands on. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do it. We are definitely eclectic in our approach, and change as needed. My caveat about TWTM is it can seem intimidating -- and when I went through my phase of that approach, I still did a very modified version. I tend to pick out parts that work for us, and leave the rest.

My best advice is to join homeschool support groups -- and if you have any questions, ask. You might get a lot of answers that don't resonate, but by getting a lot of answers, you may be led to the solution to your problem, even if not exactly what anyone said. Look at both local and national groups -- there is a place for both. (Since you have a gifted child, the yahoogroup homeschoolingmensans is a good place to hang out.)

There are so many things my son learned in school, that I wish he hadn't. He learned to NOT focus on his task, to dilly-dally, to memorize and spit back rather than think about things. We are finally, after 4 yrs, shaking off the bulk of them, but it has been a lot harder because those behaviors were reinforced for so many years.

LAMom,
I'm wondering how things are going with your family? Homeschooling still on the horizon?
Trinity