Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion New and full of questions.

Well, first off, I know that studying subjects doesn't REQUIRE writing, but it sure seems to be the most common method. How much time did we spend writing at school? It seems that all workbooks and curriculum are based on writing. So just in terms of using those things, writing seems to be key. And personally I think it is important...somehow there is a difference between clicking on a correct answer and writing out your work. I think it makes different brain connections...not sure about that though. But I do feel more engaged when I do things the "old fashioned" way - off the computer. So a more specific question is if he is ready to sit down and multiply two digit numbers, but he can't write well enough to keep digits in the right column...is it best to just do this stuff verbally, or to be his scribe, or just hold off until he writes better?

Second, my concern with the computer is that I don't want him to spend too much time in front of it. I want his education to be writing and reading intense, and I don't want too much emphasis on electronics. I know they are the blessing of the age, and of course, he is, like most young kids, good at a computer already. But I don't want it to be a crutch. I want more interpersonal interaction, I want more effort. A computer, as wonderful as it is, does seem to take away a certain amount of effort from thought. It displays everything so neatly in front of you. You don't have to imagine ten groups of six apples, you see the picture...and while this is great and helpful, it takes away the effort of imagination of creating it in your head. I think the computer is to learning what audio books are to reading. Of course, audio books aren't bad and used appropriately they are wonderful. But they are not reading and while they can substitute for it, I don't think they should replace it as a very important and core of all core skills. I read this idea in Susan Wise's Well Trained Mind book and it just resonates with me.

I will try that calculation ranking site on him. It looks interesting - thanks.

My DS5 is similar though not as mathy. We also live very rurally which is why I post so much here! Our solution is driving, lots of driving. Each town usually has something they do well. The library in our closest town doesn't have much but the next town over, no larger in size, has much more, took me a year to realize it. Be open minded about what constitutes an educational experience. For example DS has gotten interested in taxidermy, our area abounds in experts (though I have to admit I hope his interest passes before an age at which I'd allow him to attend a class). We have a homeschool association a half hour away that organizes field trips and we attend many of those. He's taken a weekly class an hour away. Other lessons such as common sports, music, etc can be found almost anywhere. DS also spends a lot of time outdoors Next year he will start 1st at what looks to be a mediocre public school, so we will still do all the rest by taking him out of school. We will likely move to a more populated area by high school.

I'll be another vote for the Handwriting without tears method. We do just 5 min a day and have seen a real improvement not just in the actual writing but more importantly in his confidence level. He professes to dislike it but lately has spontaneously written sentences while playing, his attitude has improved tremendously even though he won't admit it.

However I didn't think the app was reflective of the strengths of HWT. DS found it frustrating and I think it lacks the HWT strength of efficiently getting the kid able to communicate in writing without initially worrying whether it's pretty or perfect.

Oh and I had to laugh about your DS and coloring, mine answers "color in the correct answer" type questions by placing a single line of the color within the figure. One can't argue because he did color "in" it.

Polly

LOL my DD used to do that dot or single line thing for coloring, I forgot about that!

Homeschooling books that are nice are The Ultimate Book of Homeschooling Ideas and Creative Home Schooling (Resource Guide for Smart Families).

For "output" ideas after learning units or whatever interest is going, there are things you can mix up with writing (for example book reports) like collages, dioramas, building things. You can just keep working on the handwriting a little bit every day but not be stressed. He can do combo things like creating a notebook or dictionary of terms for an interest with a definition and drawing.

My DD loved a bag of mixed dried beans and an empty egg carton, she got so much out of it. And making a marble run type thing from paper towel and toilet paper rolls. Can you have a garden, you can get so much science and things out of that. We cooked and baked alot and she learned alot of math from that. We spent alot of time outside and observed - always have lived in 4 seasons.

Technology can actually be a saving grace for some kids with organizational and writing challenges. My DD has gone into a very writing intensive environment and it's a challenge but as she moves up technology is taking over and it's something you can even shop around for in schools if you get to that point.

Everything in moderation - I've started using the word "balance" every day with my DD. I say if there is one thing she can remember that I taught her it's that - balance. Balance being outside with screen time, sleep with being active, being in the company of actual humans with being alone - etc.

I too like her to learn to do things "for real" before short cuts and understand how people used to do things - she's always loved inventions and how people have made things better, faster, stronger etc.

I think it sounds like a fun opportunity and if you mix up all the ideas here it will be really enriching.

ps I got a big package of foam numbers in different colors and a pack of math symbols. My DD much prefered creating equations for that and putting the answer to the right of the equal sign than completing a math sheet. You could combine that with a sheet, maybe he could follow the questions on the sheet and come up with the answers and just have him write some of the worksheet answers for practice, like just the evens/odds or something...

Okay, so we did this too from ages 4-6, before we enrolled her in a virtual school (entered at gr 3 midyear and finished the complete year in ~2months, so it worked fine). Mine is another kid that thought "coloring" was more or less equal in happiness to "scooping the cat box with my bare hands." Fingerpainting and "clay" were the only even less desirable activities, as I recall, though handwriting was a close third. Yes, she was an e-ticket ride at these ages.

My tricks:

a) I kept a "reading log." DD was responsible for reading: her own choices from our HUGE stack of library books, and my "assigned" books also mostly from the library. She also then put COMPLETED works into the "book box" where I would log them in our "log" (title, author, ISBN, genre, and pages) before returning them to the library. This system worked like a DREAM for my daughter, who would happily spend 4-8 hours a day reading by the time she turned 6. If your library has a check-out limit, find out if they waive it for you if you can't get in more than once a week. We regularly went through 50-75 books weekly (mostly K-4 reading level). I often had 120-140 items checked out at any one time. I can't tell you how much money that saved us, though. We also talked a lot about books and stories that she'd read. More on that "explaining" method of assessment at the end of this post.

b) workbooks-- I used VERY text-rich and low-writing workbooks. Not sure what brand those were... but they were about 1.5" thick and usually about 200 pages or so. She did dinosaurs, 'science K-2' Science gr3, and Spanish, US History, etc. She would do a few pages each day.

c) Singapore math-- Elementary math

d) a simple double pan balance with a tub of interlocking "gram" cubes. We still have them, and until this year (AP physics lab pac came with calibration weights) we had used them and used them.

Other than that, we followed a loose program of unit studies (I'd fill a storage box with an assortment of roughly thematic things, and she'd "play" with them as desired), she used primary illustration journals (great if you can find them-- primary ruled with just 3 lines to a page, and a generous unlined space above) for the Draw-Write-Now series of books. My daughter was NOT a fan of Handwriting without tears, but she WOULD draw using the step-by-step instructions in the other series, and do the minimal handwriting in each lesson without too much fuss.


My DD has always been symbolic and abstract in her thinking (well, as long as she's been able to talk to us about it). So we had to adjust to the fact that "tactile" and "manipulative" items were deeply offensive to her innate learning style. LOL. It meant getting creative.

Luckily, even far from the nearest city, UPS and USPS will still bring a smiling amazon box. Just noting that is how we often got materials that we needed.


We also borrowed heavily from Charlotte Mason philosophy on child development-- which seems to REALLY suit PG kids with asynchrony getting in the way of writing at the level they are cognitively ready to tackle. This is why I didn't push writing very hard. Now an 11th grader, my daughter has quite strong writing skills, and she is very definitely still maturing there-- it's always been the area she lags most in.

It sounds like your child is a self learner, so one thing to consider is that a computer can give your child the tools he needs to learn at his pace. My son has dysgraphia and couldn't write to save his life, but he could manipulate the mouse and keyboard, so it allowed him to work around the inability to write without slowing down what he wanted to learn. A computer is a tool, not a tv, so integrating it into his learning will not only mean he learns at his own pace but will also give the two of you some space. Gifted kids can be exhausting to keep up with, and if you're home schooling, you'll need individual time so that you don't burn out.

As to the writing, have you had him tested for a fine motor development delay or a neurological delay? If it is something other than asynchronous development, the sooner you know and start therapy, the better off he'll be.

Hi Phey - welcome!

My kids loved a magnadoodle when they were young. They could write much better on it than with pencil and paper. My DS8 had fine motor issues at that age (his paper work was awful).

The drawback of course is that you can't save the work unless you photograph it (which I did only a couple of times... I wish I'd done more).

Another thing that worked for my DS was a paint brush. In his first year of preschool (he was three) he would fill his easel papers with all kinds of words, but ask him to do it with a pencil? Not a chance.

I think the advantage of the magnadoodle and the paint brush is that there's no pressure required from their hands, leaving all their fine motor energy for directional control. What about a smaller paintbrush for your DS so that he can fit more on each page - would he try that? This way he'll get the same neurological connections from forming the text himself without the pressure/tension issues in his hands (if that's even the issue - it was for my DS). Or you could try the magnadoodle and just take lots of pictures... lol

Great plan of attack. Thanks.

We have this problem a bit as well, in that my DS4 (almost 5) is probably low-average on handwriting. He likes to "do math," but he still can't write a 3 reliably and reverses a ton of numbers. Also, the spaces in workbooks at his level are too small for his writing.

We do a lot of oral math, and sometimes use a whiteboard (lots of room--easy to erase). However, I am not homeschooling, so this is more casual.

Also, if you buy workbooks, you can go through them and looks for pages that can be done without much writing (mostly bubble-in).