I just found this forum and thought I would introduce myself.
I'm still trying to figure out how to change the way I'm teaching these kids of mine. We homeschool and this is the first year I've looked for something beyond just teaching at grade level, with grade level being defined as one above where the public school would place them by age.
My daughter, now 9, was a "precocious" child as a preschooler. By the time kindergarten registration came around, she was reading chapter books (Magic Treehouse) and able to do addition and subtraction with multiple digits. I knew kindergarten wasn't the place for her so I tried to convince the school to enroll her into 1st grade. When they refused, I decided to keep her home. I continued using resources that were just one grade level ahead until we received her MAP scores last year. Her RIT scores last year (age 8, 3rd grade) were above 10th grade for language usage, 9th grade for reading, and 4th/5th grade for math. So, I started to make some changes to her curriculum.
My son had a totally different beginning. At age 2 years, 4 months he was diagnosed with severe learning delays, primarily in speech/language/communication. He entered special ed preschool at age 3 where he didn't make much progress the first half year. That summer, I did an elimination diet and discovered lactose intolerance despite the gastroenternologist telling me his lactose intolerance test was negative. I dealt with the lactose intolerance and he began improving by leaps and bounds (ie. went from barely putting 2 words together to several complete sentences with three months). He graduated from preschool slightly ahead of the game academically but still needing speech therapy. He graduated from speech therapy last year. His RIT scores this year (age 7, 2nd grade) came back at 4th grade reading and 5th grade math. He's scheduled to take the secondary MAP test because we think he hit the primary test's ceiling.
So, I'm trying to figure out what to do with my kids. My daughter is lazy and unmotivated when it comes to school. I never challenged her until this year, and then only a tiny bit. She hated school before this year, and is slightly more tolerant of school this year. I realize that our early years didn't help her attitude any so I'm trying to slowly undo that damage and increase the rigor/expectations. My son has a generally good attitude about school; he doesn't care a whole lot about language arts subjects but LOVES math and taekwondo.
I also have a very active 2 year old with advanced large motor skills. He looks academically normal compared to my daughter at the same age. He knows at least half of the alphabet, single digits numbers, and most colors. His speech is starting to take off, although he has all kinds of weird ways of saying certain words (ie. hoosh=shoes).
I'm due with my 4th in July.
I'm looking forward to gleaning whatever I can from the experience of those who've already been where we are.
JoAnn
