Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Who here is homeschooling their children?

I homeschool DS8 1/2 day and have homeschooled DD15 in the past. The most important thing for us was letting the kids have a say in the subjects and structure of their days.

While they both understand that the core subjects have to be done, we left a lot of time for exploring their passions and interests. I also learned to work their less favorite things into areas they really wanted t explore. My DD wanted to learn to cook and I found a cookbook in metric. Forced to make conversions, it was math and cooking all at once!

we have been e-homeschooling for 2 months now and it's been an amazing experience. We have seen so much progress and can go at our own pace. I wholeheartedly think hsing can benefit all types of children.

My son is 5 and was miserable in a public kindergarten. He's now in 1st and we are flying through the curriculum and he's completely succeeding.

I guess we could say are homeschooling although DD should age wise be in Preschool right now. We most likely will continue to homeschool as well. She has been asking to have school for about 2 years now, so we do some, about an hour or so a day broken up to when she feels like it or asks for it.

LD mom said it great
When I decided we would homeschool preschool I though okay preschool curriculum, follow it. WRONG, DD was miserable, now we do what she wants...lots of play, lots of time pretend playing together, she loves to draw, but she is now working her way pretty much by herself through a 3rd grade text book and loving it. Dh and I have discussed and there is no reason for a sequence, we can allways go back and review a grade level concept if she ever needs me to. Although I am of the opinion that dd seems to be able to realize when she needs to step back and is a little bit ahead of where she needs to be, and she asks us questions that help her catch up so she can continue going LOL.

The best advice.....relax and follow your kids lead. I don't have any advice for siblings because DD is an only and I have no idea how I would handle that. Good luck

We are homeschooling our 2 children 4th and 1st grade. My oldest son went to 2 years of public school, which was not a great fit at all for him. My oldest appears to be leaning PG (based on several years of achievement testing - we have not done the full gambit of testing due to cost being extremely high locally)

Anyway - for our kids we utilize many outside activities to make it work. And I've found that curriculum doesn't necessarily work well for our kids. We've had good luck with Singapore math, and my oldest is currently using MCT language arts (designed for GT). Other than that, we use plenty of library books, local museums, the internet, etc. Both kids are well ahead, so I'm quite laid back. As long as they're reading, writing, and doing math on a regular basis we're good. I find some of their best learning and exploring occurs during the time when we're not "doing school". It's nice to have that time! It's a balancing act. I'm in no hurry to get my kids off to college, so we go deep, wide, and slow as often as possible.

Good luck!

I'm homeschooling DS after an unhappy year at school. We do a mix of enrichment classes and eclectic homeschooling. He has Robotics, Math Olympiad training, Science classes. At home, we're generally pottering around with whatever science projects he wants to do, which is very rock-centric these days. What we're not doing is anything language related. But I figure that if he writes a science report every two weeks or so, that would cover plenty. DS is an avid reader, so I just follow his interests.

In the coming months, I plan to up his sports participation significantly. He's tried soccer, Aikido, swimming, but he's keen on nothing! I bit of parental authority will be required, *grin*.

I second what kimck said - deep and wide is our goal too. DS has long infatuations with various topics that I plan to milk to the last drop . I'm a co-learner and loving every minute of the ride.

I used to teach high school at a private school, and saw several kids come in and out of school in favor of homeschooling. Homeschooling, especially in the case of a child who has special needs (and yes, I believe that being gifted counts as a special need) could potentially be great for him/her. However, there are things that do need to be considered first. First of all, you have to be totally committed to it. I can't count the number of kids I have seen who are homeschooled, and the flexibility makes both them and their parents lazy - so they don't get the education that they could be getting. Second, make sure he has some sort of activity at least a couple of times a week where he socializes with kids his age. An awesome education will do no good if he doesn't develop the ability to get along and work out problems with others. Third, keep them on a strict schedule. I remember having a very bright student in my class once who had been homeschooled most of his life, and understood the material, but had a TERRIBLE time meeting deadlines because his mother had been flexible with them when he was at home. You don't want your child going to college without time management skills - that's a recipe for disaster.

Now, on to the other part of your question. I'm no expert on this, since DS7 is in public schools. But DD4 doesn't start kindergarten until the fall, and I do extra work after school and during breaks and weekends with DS7 to keep him challenged. So it's not exactly homeschooling, but it's close - especially during the summer. Anyway, at first I tried working with them together. That was a total failure. While I was explaining something to one, the other would need help, or one would be curious about what the other was doing, ....it was horribly distracting to both of them. So I put them on a schedule. They got up in the morning, ate breakfast, did their chores, then DS7 did his reading for the day while DD4 worked on reading, writing, and math. After she was done, I would give her a coloring book or some other quiet activity (we ended up getting her an art desk for her room, so she could occupy herself without distracting her brother) and work with DS7.
I also found that it was important to let them study things that they like. I was adamant that they would cover the basics - reading, writing, and math - and I also wanted them to work on some Geography, since so little is taught in school now. But when my daughter decided she wanted to be a vet, and my son went through phases where he loved astronomy and the presidents, I covered a little of that every day with them as well. It broke up the monotony and made them actually look forward to doing their lessons every day. It's a lot of extra work, but I think it's beneficial to them.
Hope this helped a bit!

I'm a homeschooler and an ex-teacher.

Some days it's all going well and it feels like the best decision I ever made. Sometimes it's all a bit harder! I have two children and another on the way, and it is hard to meet all of their needs and my own, but actually I think not attending school does that better for us right now. If we were going to school, not only would I have the usual school run, but I would also have to fight to get my child the education he needs. At home, I don't have to do that as much.

I can meet his needs outside of school hours, like in the morning when they are fresh and stop when they are tired. I will second (or third?) the advice you have already received - you don't have to replicate school at home for it to be effective. As a teacher, I know how much effort and time goes into organizing things that can be done really easily at home, like cooking, or shopping. You don't have to waste all the time schools use in administrative tasks (think taking the role, waiting in line), and your lessons can be much more focused to the needs/level of your child so your day can be much shorter. And you can do many more excursions than any school! Those sorts of things are beneficial to all children in the family anyway. Also, you can take advantage of weekends or evenings or whenever you have another adult around to do things with specific children. Maybe a grandparent who loves playing math games, or whatever applies in your situation. You can be creative in that way!

It is hard work, and I sometimes get frustrated, but right now, it is the best choice for my children and my family. And most of the time, I quite enjoy it too. Although, sometimes I'd love to have just a few minutes more peace and quiet. But hey, don't we all?