Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School How do you go about afterschooling?

I've decided to wait until after the end of the first quarter, and parent/teacher conferences, to really make any waves. If there are significant moves made to try differentiation then we'll let that play out for a while.

In the meantime DS5 could use some afterschooling which is cleverly disguised as anything but school work. What do you use and how do you go about it?

I have math workbooks lying around, let him play Timez Attack, read a lot, answer questions as they come up, and play strategy games. Nothing very organized and I could use some more tricks up my sleeve. I don't want anything to seem like extra "work". That doesn't seem fair to him.

Puzzles and games. Basically anything that he is drawn to and enjoys.

Chess? Strategy games?

Honestly, at this age, we just let DD read as much as she wanted, and whatever she wanted.

If you have the energy, try letting him pick a topic and run with it.

My kinder heard about some homeschoolers who made an ancient Egyptian lunch and now is begging me to homeschool 'at least on Saturdays' because 'otherwise I won't get to learn ANYTHING until like THIRD GRADE!!!' (tears and tantrums). She wants to study frogs that freeze solid in the winter, and she will probably branch out into other hibernation strategies. She also wants to engineer solutions to everything, so she gets lots of time with the recycling bin and a roll of tape. This particular kid would benefit from a robotics team, possibly a Destination Imagination team, and a theater club.

My older one was different. We had unusual math puzzle workbooks around that she loved, signed up for EPGY open enrollment online math, and spent lots of time in the kids' nonfiction section at the library. Teams and competitions would have been torture for her. She liked setting up science experiments, but didn't have the engineering drive I see in her sister.

Which is a very long way of saying follow the child. Notice what makes his interest spark and do lots of that. Don't withhold any advanced learning he craves, but your main job at this age (any age?) is to keep him engaged, interested, and hopeful that learning does not equal drudgery.

Feeling your pain - completely.

We are starting to use the AR program for afterschooling - since the reading instruction at in Kindy is so basic. We can do any book he wants and can take tests daily if he wishes .

I think expanding a passion is a great way to keep them interested and not seem like homework. My ds loves geography. We got him a book/game called Scrambled States of America. So he's been memorizing state capitals/nicknames. This weekend, we found a "Timeliness of the States" book that introduces the States chronologically with some basic US history. He has already requested books on the Revolutionary and Civil War - just since reading the recent book three times since Saturday. So, we'll see what emerges next. But it's when we're in sync together that I think ds flourishes the most.