Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Feeding the monster -- still and always

So a quick update on Hanni's new school -- it is actually exceeding expectations. I am giddy. She's learning geography and local history and science and Spanish. I hadn't realized how under-challenged she was at preschool. And the kids really are nice! One of the older girls wrote her a welcome card.

But here's an interesting revelation I've had -- educating Hanni is still and always my job. The school is great, but there is so much more that her little brain is demanding. I feel like, by putting her in this school, I'm just outsourcing part of the job. I'm still the project manager.

We are continuing to afterschool with a vengance. Not deliberately, but that's the only way to describe our evenings. Here's a sample day from this week:

- Picked her up at 3:30 and went to a performance of Mexican folk music at the university. (We've got this whole accidental music education thing going. Her current favorites are bhangra music, Bill Withers' Ain't No Sunshine, and the original South African version of Mbube, which she has declared to be "more interesting" than The Lion Sleeps Tonight.)

- A kid at school had told her about after-images (you know, this kind of thing). Well! I teach that stuff! So when we got home I pulled up my lecture slides and showed her some demos.

- Worked our way through a Spanish picture-book using Google Translate.

- Watched this totally awesome tour of the International Space Station. Discussed gravity, why zero G is bad for your body, what would happen if the return capsule landed in the middle of a desert, and what would happen if some of your pee didn't make it into the little funnel thingy.

- Went to bed with Hanni wobbling around the room shrieking "I'm in space! I'm floating!" and read a big stack of books before turning out the light.

My plan for the next decade of my life: FEED THE MONSTER.

It sounds like she's thriving!

Maybe to reframe your next decade's view, instead of "feed the monster" but "teach the monster to feed itself." I feel that's one of the most valuable things I've done for my kids so far. We've taught to think, find information, and self advocate. My two kids (2nd and 5th) are currently reaping the benefits of having learned to self-educate and to positively self-advocate with their school staff. I'm finding that I'm less and less involved in the feeding process, and more and more in the role of keeping the cupboards stocked.

Your daughter sounds wonderfully engaged!

I love this attitude. I'd add that you're also the CEO and are responsible for setting growth targets and formulating end-game strategy where teachers cannot!


I'll be excited to read along as you set your course. We're on the same rollercoaster, just many cars behind you.

ETA: please excuse my clumsy double post.

Ain't that the truth! I cannot WAIT until this kid learns to read.

I agree re: teach the monster to feed itself. Also, I have absolutely no business butting into this in any way, but I will say that having another child has been helpful here in terms of not having to entertain my kid all the time. (Of course, I do have to break up arguments.) Finding playdates could help.

Learning to read doesn't necessarily help. The more they learn, the more questions they have. And sometimes the reading material creates more confusion.

For example, DD7 is homeschooling at a 3rd grade level. She had a 3rd-grade level lesson about the federal government. It consisted of a three-paragraph reading assignment, with questions afterwards. In order to pack something so complex into three paragraphs, the reading used vocabulary that demanded explanation, but it assumed the reader was already familiar.

DD was outraged, and I ended up giving a lecture (DW punted) to fill in the gaps. And what I thought I could cover in half an hour ended up turning into nearly 1.5 hours, because DD kept having more questions... important ones like, "What if the president owned everything in the country?"

Oh, I think learning to read helps!! If nothing else, it creates long periods of blessed SILENCE. The first day when both of my kids sat next to each other on the couch and read for 30+ minutes at a time, I almost died of joy.

Ha! Loving these stories! I think "self-feeding" as they get older does help, but is not a get-out-of-jail-free card. I think of it this way -- even a relaxed, unschooly sort of homeschool parent will spend several hours a day guiding, strewing, discussing, debating, finding resources, answering questions, etc. Then by 2 in the afternoon the kid is ready to just go to the park and play. My kid puts in a full day at school, and then needs that five or so hours of additional "unschooling." A ravenous monster indeed!