Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Using a Teacher for Homeschooling

Questions, I'm glad things are going well, so great!



We have been summer schooling and things are sooooooo pleasant!

I know a SAHM who was a math professor who is willing to tutor DD8 and I am about to follow up with that.

Just start asking around people you know. I think you will track someone down.

Good luck.

Thanks, Incog. I have someone wonderful. I just don't know what to pay her and we haven't discussed it yet. Just wanted to get an idea before we do.

I am glad you asked this question because I have been thinking about this also, but I think what my son really needs is a math "mentor", possibly a college student who really, really likes math. I have always wondered if my attitude toward math has somehow affected my son's attitude the subject. He has always learned math concepts very quickly and he always liked to find other ways of coming up with the answers, which I think is probably a good thing, but I was often impatient with him when he did this. I was only taught one way of doing math and I felt like I didn't really understand math inside and out the way I needed to. There were too many times that I told him "why can't you just do the problem the way I showed you or the way the book shows it and get it over with?" With science, history, literature, everything else, we spent lots of time discussing the subject because we both enjoyed these subjects, but math was a different story and I wish I could take back all those times when I was tired and cranky and not helpful at all when he wanted to discuss math. As a homeschool mom I sometimes feel a little guilty about this.

Lori, have you looked into Johns Hopkins CTY and/or Stanford EPGY? They both include tutors in their classes and some have virtual classrooms where the kids listen and speak via the computer. They're expensive, but they might offer assistance.

Even ALEKS, a less expensive option than JH CTY or EPGY, has somewhat of a teacher function, though not a real person. My dd8 says that it is like having your own personal teacher. She occassionally needs assistance from a real person (me) so that may not be sufficient for your needs. Though it might be feasible and more affordable to have an online curriculum with the occasional tutortial rather than depending on regular course instruction from a tutor.

We might try those in the future. He used Aleks for a while and did well enough with that, but I just don't think he will ever like math the way he does all the other subjects and I just wonder if it is my fault. He enjoys learning about every other subject, even through the summer, but he reminds me that it is summer break if I try to get him to do anything math related. I just wish that he could find a friend or mentor that really liked math, and could convince him that math was actually fun.

He does have one friend his age who is in the gifted class at the public school and this kid says he likes math, but they don't let kids work above grade level at this school so my son is doing higher grade level math than he is. His other gifted friends don't really like math as much as other subjects.

Lori - have you tried any of the Zaccaro books? I just got "10 Things Every Scientist and Mathematician SHould Know" and DS has liked it so far. We've not done any of the math in it just reading the stories. It's all stories about things that have gone wrong (Challenger disaster, Destruction of the Mars Orbitor, a bridge collapse etc" due to errors in math or science. At the end of each chapter, there are 4 levels of math problems with answers in the back.

The other book is CHallenge Word problems (two levels, one for PRimary and the other for middle-high) and it too has 4 levels of problems (final level being Einstein Level) which your son might like to work through on his own to see which levels he can do. The stories that go with them are cute. There is a website where you can peek inside the books.

We haven't tried any of the Zaccaro books and that sounds like something my son would really like. Thanks for the suggestion. I think I need to work with his love of science and technology to get him more involved with math.

Fractals can inspire people! Learn about graphing, complex numbers, iteration, computer programming, limits, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandelbrot_set

Thanks. I'll have to have him look at fractals too. I just don't have the time or energy that I used to have to find just the right homeschooling materials since my dad needs us to help take care of my mother, who is probably in the last stage of dementia and very likely in her last year of life. I think it is going to be a really rough year or two for us. I do appreciate the help we get from this message board.