Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy parenting 7yo who needs constant interaction(more)

I'm right on board with you. Both of my kids are quite extroverted. I'm either an anti-social extrovert, or a social introvert (I end up right on the cusp when I do a Briggs-Meyers). My son gets much more positive social interactions now than he did at school. My daughter's best friend is 2 years older than her, which is totally normal and ok in our local secular, homeschool community. She was so frustrated socially last year at preschool, and I think she just wasn't clicking with the age level. And for her it was devastating. She had a very emotional year, after having an easy preschool year as a young 3. We are on the go constantly.

I think all that being said, the ingredient really needed for successful homeschool is a willing parent. I don't think it's the solution for everyone. It's a lifestyle choice we've made for now that's working for all of us. We'll see what a few years brings!

Wow are you raising my child? lol! My oldest dd is an extreme introvert. I probably lean more toward extraversion, but I like quiet time to read and do other things that don't entail having the house filled with noise. Dd#2 is a huge extravert. She started talking at 5 months and never stopped. She really wears out everyone else in the house. Dh is also very introverted. I feel bad for her b/c I don't want her to feel rejected since the rest of us need more quiet than she can provide.

Honestly, I think that it is more important for me to homeschool her than it would be for my older dd. We did hs dd#1 briefly in elementary school, but she is doing well in middle school now. Being introverted seems to help her be more secure in her own skin & less interested in trimming herself to fit in with whatever is popular.

Dd#2 is turning into someone I don't recognize at school b/c she is so concerned with the social implications of being different (including being gifted). She is eager to distinguish herself from her very academically successful sister and the rest of the family b/c we are all a bit different from herself. She is, therefore, rejecting intellectual pursuits in favor of make-up, goofy jokes, and things that make her appear "normal." If we can make it work financially, I intend to have her fully home next year.

You just need to move to Colorado and we can put together a co-op ! That actually was part of what I was going to suggest -- do you have a hsing co-op anywhere around you? You probably cannot provide all of the social interaction that your dd needs so I'd see it as very important that you get her involved in a lot of activities with other homeschoolers.

@Ami

Just an idea:

for things that look hard and she doesn't want to start/do -- that is the perfectionism/procrastination bug

pick something not too hard but not too easy, then say ... let's try this together, we'll just do 10 minutes and if in 10 minutes we want to stop, we can

then do it. keep doing this type of thing and see if it helps

she might have high expectations, have a perfectionism tendency, and thus may procrastinate ... if she feels she can't do it just right she don't do it ?? -- I don't know, I'm just guessing, but this is very typical for the gifted population

so, try to manage and talk through some of the expectation. show her how you make mistakes and shrug through them and say "oh well, try again next time" etc etc

so while working on that, also have her figure out things that she might like to do during "her time" and write it on a list and stick it on the wall or something. she can refer to it when she needs to think up things to do, etc etc

hope that helps a bit

First, it wasn't my theory, it was the MN psychologist who put it in her book about extroverts and HSing.

I remember this woman told me that when she was in high school she was always friends with kids 2 years or more older. I asked her what happened when they graduated, she had this puzzled look on her face and couldn't answer me.

I know that my friends through high school tended to be ones that accelerated, so not only were we in the intellectual peer group but also age group. This is a big factor when puberty strikes. I do not want DD around kids that are getting more serious about boys and maybe doing things that she is not ready for, which could include drugs. This is something I struggle with when I think she needs acceleration and she has late Sept birthday, so is already one of the younger ones in her peer K class.

Intellectual pursuits is one thing but I want my kid to have a childhood too, just hanging on bars in the playground for 30 minutes after school with her buddies is not something she gets in Mandarin class. Note Kriston, the place next door offers 30 weeks of Mandarin twice a week for $3500. Not so cheap for extracurricular. Gymnastics for the year is 1400. Plus ballet and piano. Now we do all these things but relying on this can add up quickly. The Science & Nature program at the museum is $2600 once a week during the school year. But the social aspect of these programs do not match the energy output and socialization of that 30 minutes in the playground with her school chums talking about the cutest boy in class. Which should be a girl thing no matter how smart you are. My PG friend, who is a brilliant nuclear engineer, and I sang to Bobby Sherman's "Julie, Julie, Julie, do you love me?" over and over again in my backyard. And I hear my five year old daughter singing the latest Disney pop. I thought Disney was through taking my money after the princess phase and now I have Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato CDs. Sorry, I digress, but as much as DD5 loves the Science Center and do math in her head, she still talks about the cutest boy in her class (which changes monthly) with her friends.

Ren