Although my son is younger - only 5, we were seeing a very disturbing trend of apathy and general "blah-ness" for anything and everything aside from a very few random activities. He decided he could no longer do maths, could not read, could not figure out anything on his own.

I took him out of his gifted school even though they offered us a skip - he has confused the idea of learning with the concept of being at school. He believes that he will never learn anything new at school.

He has been home nearly 2 months now and we are still de-schooling. Although we have a specific outline to our day, he gets to choose what he does every day. At first it was literally only going for walks, jumping on the trampoline, playing on the PC and watching TV. Only this past week has he tried to set up a few experiments, started reading of his own accord again and started seeking out maths again. ITs still all at a level he was comfortable with nearly 18 months ago, but its the first sign of HIM we have seen in ages.

The point to my rambling - why not let her do the powerpoint, the dancing etc for a while? It could help her heal the underachievement, it will make everyone happier, and I am sure that once she feels fulfilled again she will of her own volition seek out academic work again. And then it will be what she is interested in, at her own level. This will also ensure that SHE oversees her learning as it is what interests her.

Buying a set curriculum at a specific grade level may only reinforce pre-concieved ideas based on another adult's ideas/expectations. There are so many resources available, that I'd suggest at the very least you allow her to select what she would like to study and get only the materials to support those choices at those levels. You can set guidelines and ground rules in terms of neatness etc, but I am sure that you can then build in everything you think she may need into what she really wants to do.

Just my ideas and ramblings. I hope that the transition brings peace of mind to both of you

Madoosa...This is what I had in mind initially...We were going to do some room make-overs...Very Her...We would learn all the Math we needed to buy exactly the right amount of paint, carpet and even material for curtains, pillows...etc...She could even design a desk if she wanted...Except i realized that I don't think I know how to do this stuff and boy will she be annoyed if she needs help and i have no idea...ugh...;0

One thing I have realised about homeschooling my kids is this: I will never know all the answers. In fact I am pretty sure that by the time they are about 8 I will have outlived my academic usefulness.

When planning a project with Aiden now, or when he asks me a question now, even if I know the answer - I ask him how HE thinks we can learn about it/ solve it etc. Initially he only said "let's google it!". I started suggesting other people or places to turn to for help. Now he asks grandparents, goes to the library, calls uncles etc. The point is that if we want them to be personally responsible for their own learning, we need to give them the tools to get on with it - that means helping them find other means of getting the information they may need - opening their minds that neighbours, uncles, aunts, grandparents, shop owners etc can assist.

Now with some projects Aiden gets to plan it all, and I just smile, wave and pay! lol. Even if its not perfect, he is learning valuable life skills that will translate into him being able to learn what he needs to as he needs to.

Get this book, even if by interlibrary loan. the screenwriters workbook by syd field

I just met a man that teaches home repair, remodeling and woodworking classes at Home Depot. They have similar classes at Lowes too. He's one of those people that really enjoys teaching. He said that he and most of the other teachers are happy to work one-on-one or even take requests for a class topic. If those stores are in your area, you might try them as a resource for the how-to on your idea.

I love the Home Depot idea! My DH has taken classes an we used to bring the girls to their free satuday morning classes. They loved them! We used bring oldest to home depot Starting when she was just weeks old. We would let her smell the wood and touch the textures. Such a fun place to go - even without a baby to show things to. The funny thing DH and I really are not very handy! But the people there are so kind and expect you know NOTHING! Especially if you are a little mommy with a big question pushing around two little girls. When the girls were younger, and we lived half a mile away, we used to go to home depot to let the girls drive those "cars" that were shopping carts. DH would push them all crazy down the big isles yelling watch out! Crazy driver coming through! and then he would be done and the little one would get mad and start annoying her big sis who was squashed next to her, sharing the one steering wheel and, we you know... You all have kids!

FWIW, being able to do something neatly for a creative project doesn't rule out dysgraphia.

I'm severely dysgraphic, but I also do calligraphy - I can draw letters fine if I do it slowly, and don't have to do composition quickly and simultaneously. I just can't develop automaticity for the letter forms to write quickly for meaning and good penmanship at the same time. I end up with sloppy writing and letter reversals, uneven spacing, letters out of order, and other motor output errors if I have to take notes, or write quickly for something like a timed essay, but when I have lots of time to compose separately from writing the final product and can focus on drawing each individual letter, I have won calligraphy prizes.

Word processors have been a godsend.

Your child finds typing preferable to handwriting. This is a red flag that the physical process of writing really is causing her problems.

Thank you all for helping me out. We are just finishing up school and wouldn't you know, some of the kids my dd is friends with have asked me to homeschool them too! Lol. There parents dodnt go for it. At least my dd feels like her friends will still like her! I have to get to the library and look of some of the wonderful resources. Thank you so much!

Sydness That's so good. I would encourage the friends to form a once a week afterschool learning club. Part of the daily curricula can be planning the meetings and you can set up challenges for your dd to earn resouces for the club...field trips or lego leauge fees or whatever. Have fun!

Just wanted to mention two things I wish I'd known when we started homeschooling:

(1) Children need time to "get over" school. This is called de-schooling. A month of de-schooling per year of schooling is the general recommendation. Re-doing a bedroom sounds like a great de-schooling activity!

(2) There's a list called TAGMAX which is for folks who are homeschooling gifted children. It's a great place to ask any question regarding curricula or surviving homeschooling. Google TAGMAX to find info. The subscription process is archaic, but it is worth it.