Where to start... lol So many things...
Here are some examples:
For DD9 it was a continuation of the enrichment she chased after as a toddler. Because I put both kids in language immersion (French) there was a bit of a buffer zone - they weren't as immediately bored. What ended up happening was that after school we'd work on their weaknesses and then enrich their strengths.
DD - had/has huge anxiety, stage fright and perfectionism. She read well above grade level (in both languages) but her teacher couldn't get her to read out loud to anyone. (The teacher was compassionate and willing to compromise and allowed me to secretly film DD reading at home in order to grade her). Anyway for DD we worked on reading out loud in front of people (weakness). We also did enriched math (strength), for fun
As for the perfectionism, we would do timed exercises just to shake her out of her tense rut. Word searches, or word association games, etc etc... anything that was "ready? set? GO!" and then "time's up!" ...just to shake her up a bit.
DS - Hmm. Fine motor issues combined with a short attention span: His TA would have him trace single letters of the alphabet for extra practice. This made him NUTS. To combat his boredom I'd use
www.handwritingworksheets.com, choose print style, paragraph, smallest letter size, portrait layout, and I'd write paragraphs for him to trace instead of single letters. We alternated between French one day and English the next. I'd write paragraphs of things that interested him. He'd read them out loud first and then trace them. WAY better than what the TA had him do.
We did advanced math for DS as well. He had so much trouble staying focused on the math they would do in class (he also has ADHD) so to keep him interested we would do higher level (2-3 grades higher?) math at home. He would ask me for it. "Mama, math homework? Please?" Often times I'd be unprepared (lol oops ;p) and have to ask him to wait while I printed up worksheets. I like this site:
http://themathworksheetsite.com/ I'd also create a lot of stuff by hand.
I bought quite a few workbooks as well. I wouldn't force the issues of completing the pages sequentially - instead I'd flip through, find a page that was relevant or interesting, and book mark it for them to do.
Bottom line, in answer to your question - we were less structured as far as objective (i.e. I wasn't following curriculum goals) but possibly more structured in methodology.
We didn't start right away, and when we did it was in response to needs and wants (ie child-led). The key is to communicate regularly with your child and with the teacher(s). Also, let go of the temptation to do everything each day. Choose a time frame (like one hour) or number of tasks. You could schedule days for certain subjects and tweak as necessary. Of course if your son wants to do more, follow his lead
