Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Taking the Plunge...Starting Homeschooling

Sorry it took me so long to respond but I was working with the women from NM on funding a project to help gifted children in New Mexico. For all the knifes that were thrown on here to her, I wonder why a women like that would keep defending parents on here like she does.
Ok on homeschooling a gifted child at home. In my case unless you were highly educated, home school is a waste of energy on both party's. ( yes my mother had a masters and I was out thinking her at 8) ( I doubt most parents on here have PHD in Gifted Education.) They called me "rain man" for a reason. I work well with numbers and that is how I made my wealth, but now I am working on continuing my education. I have tested out of the first three years of college.( And not by the help of homeschooling) I don't know if most parents know but if you keep reteaching the same information to a gifted "highly" child you will have them start to erase what you are teaching. Our brains do not work with a lot of repetitive information.
Difference with me, reading 2nd grade level at 3 years of age.
Knew my times tables by 3.5 years of age.
Was taught Algebra by my kindergarten teacher. I would have continued with this high level of education, but my mother thought home school was best. WRONG.
I think children should be involved with the process if that is what the parents decide. But that is why I feel so strongly against home schooling.
By the way I met with some of those students that "MS" had talked about. We were all on the same agreement about what our issues where with homeschooling. And everyone of our IQ's were OUT THE DOOR.
Drew

A kindergarten teacher doing algebra with a student!? Wow! Clone her! That's fantastic!

You know, one of the reasons many of us are homeschooling is so that our children don't have to repeat material they already know, as was happening to them when they were in traditional schools. So that's covered.

But for those of who aren't fortunate enough to have a K teacher leading algebra lessons, what else went wrong with homeschooling for you?

Drew - I'd love to hear your response to Kriston's inquiry. If you are comfortable sharing more details - I'd also like to know how old you were when you began & finished home schooling? How much time did you spend in the ps school system? Can you tell us more about what your daily routine was as a child being hs?
I am considering hs but right now we are planning on private Friends school next year at a very hefty price tag on top of our taxes - which in NJ are out of control But as another parent on this thread said - it's not about taxes it's about our kids. We did the Montessori thing for preschool and that was a terrible experience. My son, who was 3-4 at the time, was self-initiating learning at home about black holes, super novas & topics way beyond his age - was bored to tears literally at the Montessori. PS has been a struggle, and all though I first took the approach that the system needs to change (and it does big time) I soon realized that my son was suffering now and that those changes would not come soon enough for him. He's asking to go to another school or be homeschooled so he can finally learn something he doesn't already know.
That said, I would love to find out more info on groups that are organizing to fight for change in our ps system. It's long overdue. Was it not in the 70's when the Marland report came out and called for changes to gifted education that still have not been fully accepted or enacted? Government moves very slowly. Who can fault the parent that acts in the best interest of their child? I'm certain many parents would love to organize & advocate for changes to gifted public education. Drew - maybe you could start a thread on this matter - you may find many allies here.

Drew I had the same exact experience as you, except replace "Public School" with "Homeschool". I can really relate to your feelings on the issues and I feel as if I missed out by not having the opportunity to learn at home, at my own pace and level. Trust me, I felt very *abused* by the public school system. It was just as tragic for me as homeschooling seemed to be for you.

I guess we should think long and hard about how very different these children are, even though they have extremely high cognitive abilities in common........something to think about.....


Neato

I had the same experience with my elementary school years. I was at a small private school that didn't acknowledge GT needs. I felt like a fish out of water for 9 years.

I'm sorry Drew had a bad homeschooling experience. If you had a kindergarten teacher at a public school working with you on Algebra, that is amazing! My child would still be at public school if that were our experience. If you asked my 8 year old if he wanted to return to traditional school you would get a resounding no. I literally think it would be damaging to him to throw him back in right now. Every child and situation is different.

If we had a teacher able to teach Algebra to a K student my children would be in public school right now. I spent four long years fighting our school district. I am only making marginal progress. It has taken that long for them to even aknowledge that they cannot meet my DD9's needs. And they did admit it since we are not in a state with any GT laws. My DD9 attends for a partial day, homeschools all but ELA. My younger children homeschool exclusively right now.

I attended the same district when we moved in for my high school years. I went from a expensive GT private school in Ohio (gifted laws) to public school in Michigan (no gifted laws). What a complete waste of four years. I do not wish to see the same thing for my children. I would love to be able to change things so that gifted children in this district get what they need, and definately beginning in elementary years. Many have fought in previous years, few of us have gotten anywhere. I cannot continue to wait for them to figure it out at my children's expense. My DD9 finally asked to be homeschooled last summer. For now a partial day is working. Still hoping to work something out for her to attend some higher classes in the future but not holding my breath in the mean time.

Sent you a PM, melmichigan!

Yes! Which is why I'm HSing. These kids are so very different. What works for some here won't work for others. We have kids in schools working 3 grade levels ahead in their age-grade, others that have been grade-skipped many grade levels, some which spend some time 4 grades up for math, 3 grades up for science, 2 grades up for LA ... and those that are HSed. All of these are the right or best choices at the time for some kid somewhere. We can't say that PS is the only way, or grade skips are the only way, or HSing is the only way....no such animal.....it's a case by case basis.

Unfortunately, the internet as many things, is self-selecting. You'll happen upon a board where grade skips are horrible. Everyone has a horrible story to post about being grade-skipped or about having a child grade-skipped. Then you'll find a page where grade-skipping is the answer to all prayers.

I think for most here, our kids were BEGGING (and for some of us, dying before our eyes) to HS. Today there are SOOOOO many avenues out there for advanced kids w/ distance learning courses, early college, that their needs can be met.

I'm sorry Drew that you had such a rough time of it. Depending on the nature of your PS, there is no guarantee you would have fared any better or worse in PS. All we can do is make a decision based on current knowledge and reassess on a regularly basis on whether what we're trying is working.

Schools today are very different w/ NCLB, increased class sizes....there is much less time for teaching a Ker Algebra. I wish more teachers were so open.

Some good news to report since we made the decision to homeschool...

DS6 made the decision to go back to his own Sunday School class at church on Sunday and had a blast. The teacher pulled me aside afterwards and told me she didn't know what had happened to DS6, but he was a different child. She said he was relaxed and happy to participate in all the activities that he previously found "boring" or below his level. I think she was more happy than he was because she had been feeling like a failure with him!

He has also been much more compliant with his normal home chores. That may seem like a small victory, but it has been huge for me. I had gotten to the point where I didn't even want to bug him about his chores, because it was like starting a war. Now, he is doing them without complaining. This morning, he even proudly showed me how hard he worked on his bed.

I have to admit that I do feel a little lost, but I am going to meet with a local cirriculum planner to help me get organized. In the meantime, we are exploring whatever comes to mind and seems fun.

DS6 is enjoying this new approach, but when I try to introduce something challenging (writing), he is very resistant and has a lot of negativity. I am hoping (and praying!) that this negativity will pass with more time at home.

Congratulations! I noticed a similar attitude shift with my son when we pulled him out of school. He gets so much more out of these additional activities now too.

My DS8 isn't a big fan of writing either, but we consistently journal every day, if only for a few minutes. I typically try to pick writing topics he's interested in - the books he's reading, how to play a video game, write a story about a crazed alien taking over our city and then underline all the nouns, etc etc. Typing can help too. Be creative and consistent when you start. But you may want to continue to give him a break until he seems ready.