Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments We decided to take the plunge into homeschooling

Learningmom, my DS recently told me that the school is like riding on a roller coaster. At the beginning of school year, he is going up, with full of expectations for new things to learn. Then shortly after, he finds himself going quickly down, down, down, down....(his words)

I'm so ashamed of myself for not helping him sooner. Fortunately, my DH has a pretty stable job, so we are O.K financially. Also, he was the one that really believed in me and encouraged me to take the scary plunge. I just hope I won't disappoint my DS.

Good advice. I remind myself regularly that schools have convocation days, parties, etc. Not every single day has to be 100% productive.



STOP! This is kicking yourself, and it's not helpful. Were you doing the best you could at the time? Then let yourself up. What would you advise a friend who said this to you? Would you think she should feel guilty? Or would you tell her that she should be kinder to herself?

Be your own best friend.

As for not disappointing your DS: if you're doing your best (which won't be perfect) and trying to meet his needs, you'll do fine. Don't try to be the perfect homeschooler. There's no such thing. All you can do is love your kid and try to help him love to learn. Do those two things, and he'll come out great.

Welcome to Homeschooling!!! It was the best choice for us at this time...we are on our second year of homeschooling DS7 and it is filled with ups and downs but we feel very good about the decision to pull from school.....take things slowly and you will do a great job!

You are right, Kriston. I'll stop kicking myself. Actually, after reading many encouraging posts here, I'm so motivated now.
I can't wait to start planning the curriculum that fits his needs now! Thanks for the advice!

Go get 'em, Tiger! And be gentle with yourself. Many parents of GT kids are perfectionists in their own right. It's not useful. You're fighting the good fight. You're good! {{{Hugs}}}

I think you'll have some fun with it. There are good days and bad days--like anything. But you are doing something to help your child. No kicking required.

Well, day one is behind us!

I formally withdrew them from school this morning and we went down and picked up their stuff.

The kids wanted to get right down to business, so I let them decide on a list of things to do for the day with the understanding that we will have to adjust it and we will not be doing the same things every day.

They each wrote a one page story, spent about 20 mins doing math, spent some time reading. I had them pick out words from their reading to be vocab/spelling words and we looked those up and practiced them a bit.

DD wanted to learn to play her recorder (which we had bought for the school music program which she never got to do because the music program was cut for lack of funds.) So I found a fingering chart online and away she went!

DS got all excited about a cross-stitch project and said he would work on it for art.

I signed them up for swimming lessons and for EPGY reading, writing and math classes. That should take care of the basics, and we can do our history and science in the form of fun projects and outings.

I'm excited that we will be able to add special stuff like Spanish, art and music which they didn't get at school!

Does anybody have recommendations for spelling?

Hi Cathy and welcome to homeschooling. We just completed our first year and are still switching things up trying to find the right fit. The good thing is we have that flexibility. I've noticed for DS7 that learning comes in spurts with lots of downtime in between to pursue his interests. I don't think we can screw them up worse than putting them in a system that doesn't work for them. Right? *nail biting*

That's what I keep telling myself, hkc!

We don't do a formal spelling lesson because DS8 reads so widely and because we talk about spelling and etymology as we come across things, so he just soaks it all up. If you have a child who is a better-than-average speller but isn't going to enjoy a spelling bee (like my kid), then this might be fine.

If spelling is an issue, there are free things online that are available. You might start there and see if that's enough.

I don't recalling hearing anyone rave about any spelling program in particular. Sorry I'm not more help.

P.S. Sounds like a great first day! How are you feeling?

All About Spelling is a nice spelling curriculum.