Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion What to do over summer break

Every summer we have done the swimming lesson, vacation, Girl Scout camp typical summer. This year we will do volunteer work as well, but I am looking at our younger one differently now that we got the results from all the tests and have discovered that she is gifted. Do I pull together online math classes? She's years and years ahead in reading - what do I do with that? Is it a good idea to have a lazy summer? I would like to hear what others have done.
Currently we do a bit Khan Academy and Aleks for math.
I don't have anything set up for language arts.
I would want fun stuff - nothing dry!!
DD just turned 9. She LOVES photography so I am trying to find someone for photography lessons as well.

Fencing is a good "thinking" sport. Like chess, but a great physical exercise. Men and women are equals. There are centers that teach children as young as six and also host national and international competitions. Some offer summer camps, which are really a week or two of lessons.

http://manhattanfencing.com/content/what-fencing

I get a lot of "I don't know." when I ask her what she wants - except for swimming and photo. lessons. Those she is excited about. She's pretty down on school right now so she is feeling negative about learning (bored and feeling like nothing is changing -we are working on that). School is not challenging her, and I don't want to fall down on the job either when she's out of school.

My younger son needs to be physically, mentally and socially fulfilled over the summer.

We do swim team, summer library program, visits with family, play dates, roller skating lessons, cooking with his dad, yard work, and games.

I insist on quiet hour after lunch each day...reading, napping, writing or playing silently in your own room are the only activities allowed during the hour. No electronics.

I would love for him to do some math too but he never gets around to it. I think I am going to see if he will go for daily typing/keyboard practice.

I also know he wants to work on learning to play the guitar.

I'd guide on their interests. Mainstream threaded academics would be the last thing I'd do for a learning discouraged kid. If something piques their passion and interest then run with it, one can be deep and intellectually engaged in photography or almost anythng.

This is such a great question. I think Laura V. (Davidson affiliated) may have blogged the question recently, so you might want to go to her Gifted Exchange blog, too.

My spouse raved about a past Nikon photography class, but, of course those were the old days of photography, before digital. But, a huge emphasis on light / dark almost like a cinematography class for a black and white feature.

We always have continuity of activities based on what we love and are gifted at innately. We are specifically role modeling a family environment, but explain that was our choice and our child is free to just be.

If there is some hole in the education (and you re trying to be as well rounded as possible or maybe give exposure to many areas in case that exposure ignites a currently unknown interest), then try to get as close to that area or topic as possible because the best exposure will be very appealing. A watered-down, not so great experience might not be anywhere in the ballpark of meeting the sensitivities of a gifted child. So, if your child loves insects, it is definitely worth it to go to the museums for natural history. The child will love it there if they have an exhibit on insects.

Online programing is fantastic especially if you are in a very hot geographic area at the time and want the children out of the sun for part of the day.

Since you have a gifted reader, we can recommend going to the libraries everywhere you travel. Some of the universities in the areas where you travel are open in the summertime with access maybe to their museum collections. Gifted kids love that!

At this point I think what I might be stating is that summer is a great time to be yourself without having to worry about 'looking cool' in front of any / all peers. It can be a huge relief to the children to just be themselves.

Also, gifted kids are constantly learning anyway. If you take a nature hike, you might not even get that far, because the child stops every ten feet to observe. That's normal for a gifted child, but you may not be able to do that with a group that wants to get to the top of the hike, while the gifted child wants to spend time examining an ant.

Whatever has worked successfully for your family in the past that you continue each year can be such a happy tradition and that will resound positively with the gifted person, which is such a wonderful feeling. Say something as simple as making, heating and eating S'mores to a gifted person is this rich experience of the senses and they will never forget those memories or you. That's great for summertime. Happy summer (in advance)!

One thing we did was to create a summer reading list or course based on local "fancy" private school syllabi a couple of years ahead. So, if she's going into 4th grade, maybe 6th or 7th (or 8th or 9th! :-)) grade reading list. The syllabi are often public and online, and this approach has two virtues: (1) the syllabi often suggest great books to read, and (2) pursuing this kind of structure might (for my dcs, it did) generate some cred beyond "Mom says I should read this." My dc's aren't all that competitive in life, but academically they are, and so they got a bit of a kick from knowing that they were easily knocking off "fancy" (:-)) private school stuff many years ahead. You could either just have her read the list or possibly start her on some essays as well -- it's not too hard to come up with compare/contrast or character-analysis that can easily be done in a 5-paragraph format. It's a good discipline to start to pull ideas together into a thesis and use evidence, although I know 9 is young.

Just a thought!

Agreed. Kids need to develop hobbies and interests which they can return to over the course of their lives for comfort and stress management/relief. Swimming and photo lessons sound like great summer plans for a 9-year-old to suggest.

Math and reading are encountered everywhere. A parent could begin locating books with swimming and/or photography in the theme, as possible summer reading material to offer in support of their child's expressed interests.

Meaningful photography lessons for a gifted child may go well beyond the typical children's introductory class. If sufficient depth and detail may be found in an adult class at a camera shop or community college, the parent may need to sign up as well and accompany the child. Even if not a shared interest, the time spent together in support of a child's fledgling hobby can be highly rewarding.

http://www.hcssim.org/

This could be good for kids who like math. Not sure if it's too late to apply.

Here's a longer list.
http://www.ams.org/programs/students/high-school/emp-mathcamps