This is my first post here and I'm so thankful to have this forum! I'm not sure the best place for this question, so please let me know if I'm in the wrong place. I think the question is more about how to best serve my son given his giftedness rather than "homeschool" per se.
Ds is 4 and in kindergarten this year but I'm planning to homeschool next year. Up to this point, his learning has been 100% self-led. This has been wonderful, but has also caused some huge discrepancies in his skill level across academic subjects.
Here are some examples to show what I mean:
-Reading is approx 5th grade level but spelling is several years behind. He's still working on proper letter formation (i.e., handwriting) and is not composing written sentences yet. No knowledge of grammar except what he's gleaned through his reading.
-Science is approx 6th grade level or higher (this is truly his gift and he CRAVES learning more--starting to get into basic chemistry and physics now. He "thinks" science all day long.)
-Math is 1st-2nd grade level
-Geography is great. He's been map-crazy since age 3 and knows all the states and capitals, approx 50 countries, and all continents, oceans, etc. His knowledge of history is almost non-existent.
I've been toying with different hs approaches I can take with him. At first, I decided to concentrate on weak areas and "even" out the playing field a bit. There is such a huge discrepancy in his reading and writing. And he'll soon be at the point in science where he can't move forward without higher math skills. So that makes sense, right? Focus on weakness and try to rein in areas where he's galloping ahead.
But now I'm leaning toward not doing that. He LOVES science and learning. How can I not make that a big part of his school day? It's his gift. As long as he's not below grade level in any area, why not just move to the next level in all subjects--leaving the discrepancies there unless he makes a giant leap forward. Is that crazy? Or the right thing to do for an unusual child?
