Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Homeschool concerns

All of DS' work is done over the course of about 3 hours a day. This doesn't include science experiments. Although he will do anything I ask, he's not inclined to dig deeper than I require. He asks lots of questions, particularly in science and he knows how to google for answers. But he won't as a general rule go further than he needs to.

We do lots of project based learning. Over the course of the last few weeks we've been reading stories, then dissecting them back to an outline or tree diagram. We've done this to help DS understand how to organize his own stories as he tends to write half a story then loose his train of thought.

We are using Supercharged Science which offers the ability to do experiments several times a week. We usually do 1-2 a week. Some of these require a week or more to complete. It's not kitchen science, that's for sure.

When I give him the opportunity to choose something to work on, he invariably will pick something familiar that we already have in process. He never goes chasing down an idea anymore. He did when he was little, wanted to know everything at once, but he seemed to loose that when he started school.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but it's like there is a worm in the back of my head telling me i'm missing something.

Chrys.... You're right. Violin is a challenge and I can see the frustration clearly on his face. In spite of that, he just keeps poking away at his obligatory practice time.

It sounds like you might be being paranoid. (And I say that with love, of course. )

I was thinking of one big, long-term experiment. Original research. 6 months or a year on one thing. Or is his level of interest not up to that? (My son's wouldn't be.) I'm just thinking that might spark his excitement and keep him learning.

Don't set your goals so high that they can't be achieved. A happy kid who is learning and enjoys learning is a successful homeschooler in my book. What are your goals?

Kriston..... That's a loaded question.

On any given day my goal could be
1. To pedal faster than he does (nearly impossible)
2. To help him be whatever it is he ultimately chooses
3. To keep him far removed from the stereotype of socially inept, depressed weirdo boy. (which he definitely isn't)
4. Just moving forward is always a good one

And of course that he be happy and healthy!

Maybe focus on #4 and happy and healthy? That's certainly enough for the first year.

It sounds to me like you're doing a great job. I really do think you're being too hard on yourself.

Thanks Kriston (insert smiley face here!)

He seems happy and he's definitely moving forward. There is a health issue that we are dealing with but hopefully it won't involve anything long term.

I'm going to present the idea of a long term project to him and see what he thinks. Maybe we'll start with something 6-8 weeks and see how it goes. But I think for something like this, the idea needs to be his, so it will be interesting to see if he has any ideas and a willingness to try it.

You're welcome. I've been on the ledge, so I'm happy to do the talking down this time. You'll do the same for me next time.

The one thing that I did with both boys before the start of the year was to ask them for specific things that they wanted to learn. I wanted them to be invested in their education, excited about learning, and feel like their desires were very important to me. I think we've been able to accomplish most of what we started out doing.

My oldest is doing fine, and it seems like I'm not challenging him at times and it drives me crazy. I have days where I feel like he does nothing, and doesn't do anymore than I ask for and then we have days where I feel like we accomplish alot.

I keep a journal of the things we do daily, and when I feel like we haven't done much I start thumbing through the past entries. I write in this every single day and log everything we do, and keep a separate entry for each boy.

My youngest is 5, and he is a total challenge in that he doesn't have any intense interests other than locks and keys, and building. He hides his knowledge so much, and we don't realize he can do something until it just pops out. I don't think he knows how he's learned it either, and we heard "I just have it in my head" for years. He is totally exasperated with math because "it's boring", but isn't willing to put much effort into moving ahead but he totally gets it once we cover it for a minute or so.

I think you're doing an awesome job with homeschooling him! This first year is hard, but I've heard you hit your stride after the first year.

I think you gain experience and confidence after the first year, and those are a big deal. It gets easier, but every year brings new challenges.

Your son may still be 'deschooling' too, so the disinterest may not be related to what you are doing but to what the school was doing. In other words, he may just need more time.

Yes - we were/are doing Plato middle school science. I think part of the problem is that I really can't stand sitting down at the computer and working with him on it. And he enjoyed it initially - the level is right. But it's been a fight to get him to do it on his own. It's just a little too dry and I wish they had some print out labs or activities to reinforce away from the computer and increase the "fun" factor. We might just free lance the rest of the year and see if I could find something similar level that is more traditional in format with "labs" that are home friendly. And secular, which is a challenge on it's own. Ugh - this whole science thing gives me a headache!

I am also looking at local classes at our zoo, science musuem, to fill the gaps, etc .... I think we are at least doing ok. We do a lot of science reading and field trips anyway. But I just love to complete something more "concrete".

I have my 5 year old doing Singapore 3rd & 4th grade science, which is perfect. Higher level singapore might work for us too. I might just order up a couple higher level ones to see what they look like. They're cheap anyway!