Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments IF!!! We homeschool - what's the 1st step?

We have requested a major meeting with the school (DD unchallenged and struggling with ADHD inattentive), but if things don't go well, we are pulling DD9 out of school. We haven't found anything else that is the right "fit" so until next year, homeschooling might be the way to go. Even typing this makes me hyperventilate!!!! Ok, for you who have gone this route, can you let me know the first few steps to take? I did check out our state's requirements. That was easy. I also joined a gifted homeschool group which unfortunately isn't very active, but there is another group, not gifted, that has a lot going on - just emailed them. Other positive points - DD already is enrolled in a gifted after school math class, and they have language arts classes as well so she could jump into that.
I might not need any of this information, but I want to be prepared.

Our state requires a portfolio or standardized testing. If yours does too...I would get a box (we used a box that had held copy paper reams in it), a three inch binder, and a teachers planner book.

At the end of each day jot notes under each subject about what she read or worked on keeping a list of titles of books. The box is a place to store samples of work (date them before you toss them in).

At the end of the year you have samples to work pull out and include in the notebook, you have your planner to remind you of books, topics, field trips, projects. Take pictures on your cell phone of art or activities and have a section of photographs.

I think next year I will be homeschooling if I can't find just the right program for my son.

You've received great ideas and advice above. Be sure to check your State laws. I'll just add a few more possible resources to explore:
- Gifted Homeschooler's Forum ( GHF )
- Royal Fireworks Press ( RFP ), especially known for Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts curriculum
- Homeschool Legal Defense Association ( HSLDA ), homeschooling advocates since 1983
- Well Trained Mind ( WTM ), book and online forum

Some popular books for contemplating the homeschool decision:
- Rivero
- GHF
- Wessling

I hope that something in this brief roundup of homeschooling links may prove useful.

We didn't end up homeschooling and things have gone well with our local school. But, nothing did more for our peace of mind then having a homeschool plan in place and knowing we could fall back on that.

#1 was knowing everything we needed for the state requirement, if things had gone south (or do in the future) we'll get all the right forms and answers in place.

#2 would be knowing who can cover times you aren't available.

#3 is knowing costs for special programming. Or determining if you can insist on receiving those services from the local school.

#4 Read a book about unschooling. It at least presents a frame of mind to understand you aren't necessarily taking on an 8 hour a day hands on job.

We've done this twice, with an eye to returning our DD to school the following year, when a different situation would be presented to her (full G/T services first time, G/T with grade skip the second).

Once you decide to pull the trigger, step one is to follow your local requirements for deregistering your child from public school and registering as a homeschooler.

And then step two would be to relax, and give your child a bit of space to detox from school. You're talking about a child who is already well ahead, so giving her a couple weeks' break while you get organized is a luxury you can both easily afford.

Step three would be to define your goals for the remainder of the year, because that will drive your curriculum choices. For example, I note that you said, "until next year," which would seem to me that you expect her school to have something more suitable on offer next year. It would make sense, then, to have preparing her for that situation as an educational goal.

And then, once you know where you want her to be, step four would be to assess her yourself, to see where she's at. School administrators like to kvetch about gaps, so if you plan to return her to school next year, you can start identifying any and dealing with them up front.

Perhaps you could elaborate on this...

I've read fairly broadly and I've never found a modern unschooling book that I like or identify with. Ds has been unschooled at home for the last 3 years. The "unschooling" books I identify with would be John Holt's "How Children Learn" and "How Children Fail", Ivan Illich's "Deschooling Society", and maybe some of Gatto's stuff. More broadly, Neil Postman's stuff is good... his "Teaching as a Subversive Activity" could be seen as pro-unschooling.

All of these books come out a 60s-70s alternative education strand. I find them inspiring for gifted kids. Despite being tapped into the urban, somewhat anarchist, local attachment parenting scene, I've never found the same connection with the radical unschooling literature for gifted kids. There are plenty of folks doing cool stuff but the books just don't speak to me... they have a greater anti-intellectual bias.

Could you suggest some good modern unschooling books for folks with gifted kids?

I'm not widely read on the topic. I enjoyed The Unschooling Handbook not so much as a guide or how to, but it gave us a frame of reference of just what a kid could do on their own and talked about their own drive to learn.

Contemplating homeschooling without realizing that kids are generally born with a drive to learn is intimidating. Seeing that guide and co-learner are likely better roles for you with your gifted kid than omniscient autocrat is liberating.

Thanks!

I still don't think there is a very good unschooling book for gifted, academic families. If you want the comfort of understanding how little direct instruction is needed, I would search on the WTM Accelerated boards[1] or just post another thread asking how much time school for K-6 kids takes. If the classical folks are only spending 2-3hrs then others must be spending even less...

[1] http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/forum/7-accelerated-learner-board/

First of all, relax. Seriously, it's amazing how much stress goes away when you declare yourself 'not part of that system'. Even if you want to enter the system later, let go of it for now.

Second, work with your DD on how they like to learn best. They may not even know at this point, but you can experiment with it. Take a class? Watch a lecture? Online learning? Project based? Unschool? Try something and if it doesn't work let it go. No stress.

For example, I know that unschooling is very popular, but DD hates the idea. She loves to be taught and the process of learning/teaching. She loves the dynamic of a classroom at her level.

If your DD takes off though you need to be aware of making the integration into regular school problem worse. Two years into homeschooling, and our DD is now working 2-3 years ahead. It's like at least two years gain for every year. There's no way we can rejoin the system now.

I love prufrock press as a resource too. Especially their clearance sale.