Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Where to start with afterschooling?

Hi everyone! As of this school year, my daughters (5 and 8) started attending our highly rated neighborhood public school. The 8yo is a Davidson Young Scholar, though to be honest we haven't used any of the services.

I'd love some input/feedback on how to design a good afterschooling program for my kids. Neither has learned much that's new at school this year, after coming from a private Montessori. They are both thriving socially and both will skip a grade over the summer, so school has been flexible about that. They have also been giving our 8yo some ability grouping/fun enrichment once a week, and letting her sit in on 3rd grade a couple of hours a week to get acclimated for next year when those will be her classmates. We're happy with the culture and social opportunities at school, but so far it has not been very academically rigorous.

I think we can do some good learning at home but I'm not quite sure how to structure that. Do I keep pushing in math & reading and then make them even more ahead at school? Do we just do fun stuff like puzzles and board games and family book club and going to museums? I'm just not sure what is best - my goal is to keep them learning, challenge them so everything isn't so easy, and make sure they still love learning and don't get discouraged by the easy worksheets they have to do at school. My husband isn't open to full homeschooling, and both of my girls are really thriving socially at school, so really, I see our job at home to provide some additional academic challenge and keep their love of learning alive.

I'd like to set up something fairly structured - we've been doing stuff randomly and it feels a bit chaotic and disorganized. Thanks for any help you can offer.

+1 for following your daughters' lead in terms of interests. As long as your core academic subjects are being covered adequately in school, your girls will probably benefit most from spreading their wings and delving deep into their passions. To me, as a former full-time homeschooler, and now active after-schooler, the hours outside school are where creativity and deep inquiry gets to flourish. It's so much fun!

If you have some insight into current interests, we may be able to help you more.

I will add this--for the budget-conscious after-schooler who craves exploration, there are some great VR tours of world-class museums available. This weekend, for instance, my DS and I are "visiting" the Egyptology artifacts section of the Louvre as part of a history project.

(Link: http://mentalfloss.com/article/75809/12-world-class-museums-you-can-visit-online)

Thanks! It's not totally clear where my girls' interests lie. They love playing Minecraft so the Minecraft coding tutorials have been fun for them. They are both solid readers so we try to go to the library often.

I guess I'm looking for more than enrichment. Their school doesn't have any gifted services until 3rd grade (and then it's just once/week enrichment), and with 30 kids in each of their classes, they're not getting a ton of instruction at their level, though their teachers are fantastic and do what they can.

I feel like we need some more structured activities to do some real learning and have them be challenged both in math, and other areas.

Solid advice so far, to which I can add this: don't get too focused on academic subjects as a source of adequate challenge. There are other ways to meet the requirement for a gifted child to find adversity and learn to strive while being very excited to learn.

- Musical instrument
- Sports
- Drama

etc.

If they like to write there are fan fiction, plain prose and poetry sites for them to try their hands at.

If they like Coding look into Makezine for fun with Microcontrolers like Arduino. Or try a fully functional cheap computer like a Raspberry Pi.

If they like the outdoors then teach them to read USGS/OS maps and go on some hikes. Maps allow teaching coordinate geometry in a very concrete way.

Gaze in awe at Google Earth - the first time that I could make out individual sand dunes/hills in the Gobi Desert or wander down the Nile or Irrawaddy just blew my mind, personally.

Also try getting some small nets or make nets with old net curtains, stiff copper wire and a bamboo pole to catch butterflies etc in the air and little fish, amphibians and invertebrates in the water.

Set up a bird bath and a feeder have them observe and identify species, genders and unique behaviors.

I also had this post a few months ago and got some great tips:
http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....ng_an_after_school_curri.html#Post240037

In terms of structured programs, my 5 year old does an after school enrichment program 2x a week but only because she is really ahead in writing and the school hasn't been supportive in actually teaching her how to write. She also does two sports programs which has helped provide challenges for her to work on.

I agree that it's good to follow their lead on what they want to do. Mine is a voracious reader so she spends most of her time reading, but once in a while she'll declare that she wants to work on writing her chapter book or circuit board. Both my husband and I work full-time so it's difficult for us to provide her with a formal after school program. Lately she has been into learning chess, so we have been teaching her the last few days - it's a great way to exercise her brain while learning how to be a good sport.

Have you thought about languages? Music?

Thank you! That is great info!

Initially, we after schooled for "enrichment" - we went on nature walks, talked about bugs and birds, played a ton of sports, did science experiments, learned 2 new languages, did "math lab" activities, read a lot of classics, played word games, did some computer programming, studied multiple musical instruments, watched children's plays, spent weekends in museums etc etc. Though it was fun and enriching, it was not what my son needed. He gets a lot of those things at his school already and I felt that my approach was chaotic and without direction.

We have switched to the the "deep learning" track - the "Not Many things, but go Much Deeper into a few things" track. We restrict ourselves to 3-4 areas and delve very deeply. This method of learning is more suited to my son's interests than a "salad bar" style approach.

If your kids are up to structured after schooling, you should start with their areas of weakness in school and try to shore it up. If they are globally gifted and have no weaknesses, you can try doing advanced academics. For me, a curriculum and a simple lesson plan for what I will do on a weekly basis helps me keep on track. Math is a good area to spend time on and so is a foreign language if their school does not offer it. Computer programming and music also take up a fair bit of afterschool time for my son.