Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School 1st/2nd Grade 2010-2011

St Pauli Girl - I tried teaching DS6 about a year ago how to tie his shoe, and he wouldn't do it. I dropped it, as his shoes were mainly velcro anyway. And then all of a sudden I realized he had been tying his jogging pants' strings. He taught himself. I guess. LOL

Ds7 (June birthday) will be in 2nd grade - school starts August 16th. When he was in 1st, they accelerated him to 2nd in math, but could only manage 3 days a week, due to scheduling problems. This year, his 2nd grade teacher, and his 3rd grade math teacher are supposed to be arranging their schedule so he can go every day. Fingers crossed that this actually happens ! His 2nd grade teacher this year is the same one he went to math for last year - and the 3rd grade teacher I also know, as her son used to attend my daycare He does have one girl in his grade that is almost at his reading level, so I'm sure they'll be grouped together again. His teacher last year gave him his own spelling list, and I'm pretty sure that will carry on this year. Last year they let him attend the ULE (gifted) program starting in about Feb, even though he hadn't been tested yet. In May, he tested into the program, so he'll start with it straight away. I'm interested to see how it goes - the school so far have been wonderful, and are happy to have ds there and to help challenge him. We went to a science evening in May, and the principal pulled us aside, and told us that in 15 years he had never met a child like ds - smart, social, kind, etc etc etc. Always good to hear LOL
As for tying shoes - he tried a few times, but didn't have the patience - then tried agaim when he was about 6 1/2, and figured it out in about 20 minutes. Still wears velcro shoes, though - it's so much easier !

I found out yesterday that DS6's new school does reading buddies with the upper grades. This is FANTASTIC news. There was a few kids in his old school that were close, but I think having an older kid to read with will be beneficial. Now, wouldn't it be nice to have math buddies too?

JJsMom, the reading buddies sound like a good plan. We did that through our library program a few years ago, and DS loved it! The older elem kids are so good with the younger ones, too, so it's really heartwarming for everyone.

Math buddies would be great! I just learned about math circles and am considering trying to get one together. That, or an OM team. I'm going to offer it as another idea at our charter. So far they've been really great and have offered to try and start spelling bee and geography teams at my request, even though DS6 doesn't even make the regional age criteria. Unfortunately, to get anything going, I'm probably going to have to coach, and we're always close to schedule overload as it is.

I have a funny story with shoe-tying, too... DS6 learned it when he was 4, and we even made a book about the story he created to go with it. However, he always had trouble getting his tight sneakers on by himself, so all through K he wore slide on/velcro shoes. About a month ago, I realized that he had completely forgotten how to tie his shoes, and he had to learn it all over again! We also realized that his sneaker laces are too short since he can't tie as tight as you or I would, and the loops keep coming untied. We end up tying them for him so they don't come undone and double-knotting for him, which just perpetuates the can't-do-on-own-anymore cycle. Whatever did we do at that age? It just didn't seem as complicated back then, did it?? LOL

DS (6 in 4 days) had an unchallenging year in K and ultimately we decided to do k12 at home with him through the CA Virtual Academy. We're hoping this will be the fit he needs as we were getting nowhere with the school. It didn't help that his whole school structure changed - principal, 1st grade and 2nd grade teachers, etc. so we had no hope of picking a teacher and then meeting with them.

We did apply to DYS on July 1 so we'll see how that goes I guess I think k12 will be the right fit for him, whether he stays at 1st grade lvl in name or moves up he should be able to do 3rd grade math within a few weeks of starting at least.

We too won't start till September. The summer break pretty much just started and school seems so far away right now.


Same here. The only problem is that I sometimes need a few seconds to remember which grade my older one is supposed to be in

DS6 still has to learn how to tie his shoes. One of these days we will get to it.

Yeah, I have the same memory problem, LMom. LOL!

Hi All,

I've been lurking for months now, and have finally admitted to myself that we belong here, so I guess this will be a good place for us to begin. My DS6 did half a year of kindergarten last fall and was tested with the WISC-IV in October. Based on those results and his frustration with what we were trying to teach him, in January we bumped up to Year 1. We ended up tweaking as we went through the next few months because it was clear that this wasn't a good fit for him either. Though, we did continue to call it kindergarten since that's where he would be in public school based on his age.

We never schooled in any way before this, though books and natural learning were always a part of our lives. The growth that we've seen since January has been staggering. I'm a bit scared to see where he'll be this time next year, if this year's growth was a good indication.

Two months ago I spent several weeks pulling our curriculum together for the upcoming year. No sooner had I finished than he made one of those huge leaps that these children make; it made it clear that I would need to go back and change some things. So, I'm currently taking a school break and tweaking our curriculum for next year. We school year-round (or intend to), but take short breaks throughout the year.

We are currently doing an art class and swimming lessons, both of which will end on Friday. Our guitar teacher isn't going to be teaching this fall, so I'm not sure what we'll do about music. He will be taking art classes this fall, but that's all we're sure of at this point.

I think we'll be starting up with school again in a few weeks, once I'm able to finalize our schedule. To be honest, if I don't have him focused on school each day, he completely wears me out with all that his mind comes up with. My house is no longer my own. I have lost the battle it would seem. It is now a natural history museum, an engineering testing facility, and a library (to name a few). ;-)

DS6 has DYS qualifying scores, but I've yet to apply. Initially, I didn't really feel the need to do it, though that has certainly changed over the past few months. Social issues have always been our biggest 'problem' with him, so we're hoping that if we do join, we'll be able to wrangle up a few friends for him eventually, even if they aren't nearby. ;-) When having his vision checked a few months ago, and again yesterday at a physical, he engaged the doctors in a way that reminded me that it is important for him to connect with people on his level at some point, and since he's clearly much more intelligent than either of his parents, I think we're going to have to be very proactive in seeking out others.

Hope to get to know everyone throughout the year. :-)

thanks for continuing the thread JJsMom!

Nice to hear from folks, new and not-so-new.


My ds6 has been going to fun camps and we have had less time for "academics". Well, not really. He still asks plenty of questions about math, how the world works, etc. (How were you born, Mom? How was the first person in the world born? etc...)
we still do math problems at breakfast lunch and dinner. DS is also reading more.

I have tried not to think too much about 1st grade the way I obsessed over K. It is certainly nice to hear everyone's experiences. I am trying not to be GWE (green with envy) for Kriston's co-op. It sounds lovely. Hope you get the math bits figured out.

Based on the first grade open house they had last spring I am hoping 1st grade will at least be more interesting, if not more challenging. In otherwords, I have to accept that they won't be doing multiplication but at least they will have more special projects, field trips etc.

In our district 1st grade is where "the real work" begins. My (mostly likely) MG kid has been ready for it for a long time now. As Irisheyes' dd pointed out, "enough with the single digit addition already!"

I am glad we still have half the summer left. At the same time I am kind of looking forward for the school year to begin. We've always "afterschooled" so I am looking forward to putting together our own learning plan for the fall.

EW

Thanks. I hope so, too.

BTW, the place the kids go is an actual school, not a co-op. I point this out not to be nit-picky (and I hope I don't seem nit-picky!), but so that people realize that there are a wide, wide range of options possible for homeschooling kids. This school was started by a homeschooling mom because she wanted something like it for her kids. If it sounds good to other people, maybe the idea can be transplanted!

Co-ops are generally significantly less "formal" than this school. The nonprofit, secular school isn't accredited and is geared to homeschoolers, but it has its own building that is dedicated solely to the school, the teachers and full-time administrative staff are paid, they write evaluations of each kid and will give letter grades if families desire those, they assign homework, they have yearbooks and school dances. Over 150 families--most with more than one child--attend at least one class there.

It's basically college but for kids aged 3-18. Take what you want and don't take what you don't need.

I'd love to see places like this springing up wherever there is a good contingent of homeschoolers, frankly, because I think it meets so many of the needs that we homeschoolers have.

Sorry to interrupt the conversation with my clarification. Carry on!