Trinity,
I�m working on the subtle home schoolers are not all crazy message. I know some �normal� <grin> women who home school, but they tend to be in my social circle, not my husband's. That is, they are moms I know or ladies I see at the gym, but not family friends. I mention them regularly in conversation.
I have to say that working with DD5 has given me new respect for the challenge teachers face when they are asked to provide accelerated or differentiated instruction. Instructional materials are designed with a pace that meets the needs of most children. Changing the pace is hard because you have to redesign much of the material. We started the first grade math material in January, and for a couple months, DD5 was delighted to do a page of �big girl� first grade math as part of her homework while her brother worked on his. She was being a �big girl� because she had homework too, and because it was first grade material there were many terms and concepts that she hadn�t been exposed too. Also, the first grade material assumed an ability to write like a first grader and typical first grade motor skills, so she worked pretty hard to complete the sheet. Sometime in late March she stopped having fun, but it took me a week or two to figure out the problem. One day she finally said, �I am tired of doing little girl math. I want to go bombing on through the book so I can do real big girl math.� I thought I was paying attention and knew what she was capable of doing, but the next afternoon she completed the assessments for the next 25 lessons perfectly.
DD5�s only real problem with the first grade math material is that she is almost done with it, but reading more like a beginning first grader. The math material is starting to assume late first grade reading skills. I am hoping for a skip to first grade because of the math and the fact that she reads like an early-in-the year first grader right now. My guess is she will be reading better by fall, but starting in first would provide plenty of challenges. I�m not sure how well a 2nd grade math would go at this point, unless her reading really accelerates this summer.
Jill
