Homeschooling gifted kids

[Anonymous]

I'm looking for stories! Could you please share how it went? I already read the ones in this forum.

[Anonymous]

While my kids went to public schools, we did a lot of “after schooling” because the curriculum was awful. I highly recommend the Hoagies website. Not only is it an excellent resource for anything and everything related to gifted kids, but it also has links to enrichment websites for all ages and subjects.
https://www.hoagiesgifted.org/

https://www.hoagiesgifted.org/home_sc.htm

https://www.hoagiesgifted.org/links.htm

[Anonymous]

NP. Curious about how after schooling was scheduled. The school day already feels so long. Do you mind sharing what a schedule for elementary would look like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. Curious about how after schooling was scheduled. The school day already feels so long. Do you mind sharing what a schedule for elementary would look like?

It wasn’t that structured. As I noticed gaps (there were many), I addressed them. They had both learned to read, count money, and tell time before they started school, but some of the things I had to teach one or both of them at home after they started school included:
How to hold a pencil
How to print letters
How to write in cursive
How to use a dictionary
Parts of Speech
Capitalization
Sentences need verbs
How to use a textbook
To not rely on calculators
That you need common denominators to add and subtract fractions
Factoring
Long Division
Adding and subtracting negative numbers
The Bill of Rights

I also tried to expose them to as many different things as possible and encourage their interests. I wanted them to be excited about learning and to have fun doing it. There was barely a science curriculum, but there was an extracurricular science class after school that was very popular. They had a variety of other extracurricular activities, as well. We went to museums, zoos, the forest, the beach, festivals, library programs, etc. We read a lot, both together and individually (although I strongly oppose requiring daily reading after a child has mastered the skill). We played games (great for math), did crafts, baked, enjoyed many different kinds of music, etc.

Contrary to the prevailing DCUM wisdom, I also considered screens to be a useful tool. To me, they’re just an alternate form of media and should be judged based on their content (which I supervised). They watched a lot of educational TV and children’s movies, and often we watched together. They had access to a computer (in a common area when they were young and with safeguards when they were old enough to need their own). Their dad (a computer guy) made sure they had great educational software and as they got older, I found websites that I thought would interest them. Youtube wasn’t around then, but if my kids were still young, we’d definitely be taking advantage of some of the fantastic educational videos that bring the entire universe vividly within reach.

They worked hard at school, excelled academically, and I couldn’t be prouder of the adults they’ve become, although the credit for that belongs to them.

[Anonymous]

Well-Trained Mind forum

[Anonymous]

PP, thank you for your response, and I would definitel give a lot of that credit to you! Brava.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Curious about how after schooling was scheduled. The school day already feels so long. Do you mind sharing what a schedule for elementary would look like?

It wasn’t that structured. As I noticed gaps (there were many), I addressed them. They had both learned to read, count money, and tell time before they started school, but some of the things I had to teach one or both of them at home after they started school included:
How to hold a pencil
How to print letters
How to write in cursive
How to use a dictionary
Parts of Speech
Capitalization
Sentences need verbs
How to use a textbook
To not rely on calculators
That you need common denominators to add and subtract fractions
Factoring
Long Division
Adding and subtracting negative numbers
The Bill of Rights

I also tried to expose them to as many different things as possible and encourage their interests. I wanted them to be excited about learning and to have fun doing it. There was barely a science curriculum, but there was an extracurricular science class after school that was very popular. They had a variety of other extracurricular activities, as well. We went to museums, zoos, the forest, the beach, festivals, library programs, etc. We read a lot, both together and individually (although I strongly oppose requiring daily reading after a child has mastered the skill). We played games (great for math), did crafts, baked, enjoyed many different kinds of music, etc.

Contrary to the prevailing DCUM wisdom, I also considered screens to be a useful tool. To me, they’re just an alternate form of media and should be judged based on their content (which I supervised). They watched a lot of educational TV and children’s movies, and often we watched together. They had access to a computer (in a common area when they were young and with safeguards when they were old enough to need their own). Their dad (a computer guy) made sure they had great educational software and as they got older, I found websites that I thought would interest them. Youtube wasn’t around then, but if my kids were still young, we’d definitely be taking advantage of some of the fantastic educational videos that bring the entire universe vividly within reach.

They worked hard at school, excelled academically, and I couldn’t be prouder of the adults they’ve become, although the credit for that belongs to them.

You strongly oppose reading every day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Curious about how after schooling was scheduled. The school day already feels so long. Do you mind sharing what a schedule for elementary would look like?

It wasn’t that structured. As I noticed gaps (there were many), I addressed them. They had both learned to read, count money, and tell time before they started school, but some of the things I had to teach one or both of them at home after they started school included:
How to hold a pencil
How to print letters
How to write in cursive
How to use a dictionary
Parts of Speech
Capitalization
Sentences need verbs
How to use a textbook
To not rely on calculators
That you need common denominators to add and subtract fractions
Factoring
Long Division
Adding and subtracting negative numbers
The Bill of Rights

I also tried to expose them to as many different things as possible and encourage their interests. I wanted them to be excited about learning and to have fun doing it. There was barely a science curriculum, but there was an extracurricular science class after school that was very popular. They had a variety of other extracurricular activities, as well. We went to museums, zoos, the forest, the beach, festivals, library programs, etc. We read a lot, both together and individually (although I strongly oppose requiring daily reading after a child has mastered the skill). We played games (great for math), did crafts, baked, enjoyed many different kinds of music, etc.

Contrary to the prevailing DCUM wisdom, I also considered screens to be a useful tool. To me, they’re just an alternate form of media and should be judged based on their content (which I supervised). They watched a lot of educational TV and children’s movies, and often we watched together. They had access to a computer (in a common area when they were young and with safeguards when they were old enough to need their own). Their dad (a computer guy) made sure they had great educational software and as they got older, I found websites that I thought would interest them. Youtube wasn’t around then, but if my kids were still young, we’d definitely be taking advantage of some of the fantastic educational videos that bring the entire universe vividly within reach.

They worked hard at school, excelled academically, and I couldn’t be prouder of the adults they’ve become, although the credit for that belongs to them.

You strongly oppose reading every day?

I strongly oppose forcing kids to read every day without a purpose. I think when a child is learning to read, daily practice is useful. Telling a child, “Read Chapter 10 so we can discuss it in class tomorrow” or “Read a book of your choice and write a report on it” makes sense because it accomplishes something. Telling a child who has mastered reading that they have to read for X minutes every day will only accomplish making them hate reading. Doing this turns something intrinsically enjoyable into a dreaded chore. It’s like Tom Sawyer’s whitewashed fence, but in reverse.

Imagine someone told you that you had to eat your very favorite food every day - whatever it is that is a special treat for you. The first day you would undoubtedly savor it and be thrilled that you would be able to enjoy it every single day. After a week, you’d probably still be enjoying it, but you might be more matter of fact about it, not nearly as thrilled. After a month, you’re getting tired of it, and maybe you see someone else eating something that you’d like to try, or maybe there’s a day when you’re just not hungry at all. How long would it take before you came to dread the very thought of that once favorite food?

Don’t get me wrong. I love books and think it’s important to support reading, which is WHY I oppose mandatory daily readings. There were certainly days when my kids didn’t pick up a book, but there were also days when they were lost in a book that you couldn’t get their nose out of. Sometimes we’d bingewatch a series on TV together. Other times, the TV would stay off as we binged a book or book series, reading aloud together. Maybe it was a glorious day and the kids wanted to run around and play at the park, so I didn’t force them to sit down and read. On the other hand, sometimes when the weather’s bad, curling up with a good book is delightfully cozy. They may not have read the daily minimum time the school wanted to assign them as homeWORK each day, but I think over the years, their total reading time greatly exceeded whatever the mandated time would have been. Now, as adults, they still love reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Curious about how after schooling was scheduled. The school day already feels so long. Do you mind sharing what a schedule for elementary would look like?

It wasn’t that structured. As I noticed gaps (there were many), I addressed them. They had both learned to read, count money, and tell time before they started school, but some of the things I had to teach one or both of them at home after they started school included:
How to hold a pencil
How to print letters
How to write in cursive
How to use a dictionary
Parts of Speech
Capitalization
Sentences need verbs
How to use a textbook
To not rely on calculators
That you need common denominators to add and subtract fractions
Factoring
Long Division
Adding and subtracting negative numbers
The Bill of Rights

I also tried to expose them to as many different things as possible and encourage their interests. I wanted them to be excited about learning and to have fun doing it. There was barely a science curriculum, but there was an extracurricular science class after school that was very popular. They had a variety of other extracurricular activities, as well. We went to museums, zoos, the forest, the beach, festivals, library programs, etc. We read a lot, both together and individually (although I strongly oppose requiring daily reading after a child has mastered the skill). We played games (great for math), did crafts, baked, enjoyed many different kinds of music, etc.

Contrary to the prevailing DCUM wisdom, I also considered screens to be a useful tool. To me, they’re just an alternate form of media and should be judged based on their content (which I supervised). They watched a lot of educational TV and children’s movies, and often we watched together. They had access to a computer (in a common area when they were young and with safeguards when they were old enough to need their own). Their dad (a computer guy) made sure they had great educational software and as they got older, I found websites that I thought would interest them. Youtube wasn’t around then, but if my kids were still young, we’d definitely be taking advantage of some of the fantastic educational videos that bring the entire universe vividly within reach.

They worked hard at school, excelled academically, and I couldn’t be prouder of the adults they’ve become, although the credit for that belongs to them.

You strongly oppose reading every day?

NP here. My kids, who are now in college and high school, were also "afterschooled", by me. We worked on cursive, children's classics, math, writing.

I concur with the PP. Actually, I didn't know families actually followed the "required reading" thing! We completely ignored the log sent by teachers. We're bookworms. We read. Telling a book lover to read 20 minutes a day is super weird. Sometimes there are days you don't read, because you're busy doing other things, and sometimes you absolutely MUST finish the damn book and end up reading multiple hours. It has to be organic. Same for math reasoning. Ignore teachers who tell parents not to get involved, because math is taught a different way. That's the belief of someone who doesn't understand math. A child will do BETTER in math if they understand that there are different ways to solve a problem. Math is not about memorizing one way to solve a problem. It's about understanding the common logic behind all the different ways to solve a problem.

My kids didn't have much screen time in elementary, but plenty after that. Youtube is full of excellent STEM and cultural/humanities content like Kurzgesacht and Overly Sarcastic Productions, or videos made by skilled craftsmen, etc. We watched plenty of TV series together, and discussed style elements, plot and character motivations, just like we did for books.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well-Trained Mind forum

Hi fellow hive boardie!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Curious about how after schooling was scheduled. The school day already feels so long. Do you mind sharing what a schedule for elementary would look like?

It wasn’t that structured. As I noticed gaps (there were many), I addressed them. They had both learned to read, count money, and tell time before they started school, but some of the things I had to teach one or both of them at home after they started school included:
How to hold a pencil
How to print letters
How to write in cursive
How to use a dictionary
Parts of Speech
Capitalization
Sentences need verbs
How to use a textbook
To not rely on calculators
That you need common denominators to add and subtract fractions
Factoring
Long Division
Adding and subtracting negative numbers
The Bill of Rights

I also tried to expose them to as many different things as possible and encourage their interests. I wanted them to be excited about learning and to have fun doing it. There was barely a science curriculum, but there was an extracurricular science class after school that was very popular. They had a variety of other extracurricular activities, as well. We went to museums, zoos, the forest, the beach, festivals, library programs, etc. We read a lot, both together and individually (although I strongly oppose requiring daily reading after a child has mastered the skill). We played games (great for math), did crafts, baked, enjoyed many different kinds of music, etc.

Contrary to the prevailing DCUM wisdom, I also considered screens to be a useful tool. To me, they’re just an alternate form of media and should be judged based on their content (which I supervised). They watched a lot of educational TV and children’s movies, and often we watched together. They had access to a computer (in a common area when they were young and with safeguards when they were old enough to need their own). Their dad (a computer guy) made sure they had great educational software and as they got older, I found websites that I thought would interest them. Youtube wasn’t around then, but if my kids were still young, we’d definitely be taking advantage of some of the fantastic educational videos that bring the entire universe vividly within reach.

They worked hard at school, excelled academically, and I couldn’t be prouder of the adults they’ve become, although the credit for that belongs to them.

But aren’t all of these activities just parenting? How is any of this ‘extra’? Are these activities considered for ‘the gifted’??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Curious about how after schooling was scheduled. The school day already feels so long. Do you mind sharing what a schedule for elementary would look like?

It wasn’t that structured. As I noticed gaps (there were many), I addressed them. They had both learned to read, count money, and tell time before they started school, but some of the things I had to teach one or both of them at home after they started school included:
How to hold a pencil
How to print letters
How to write in cursive
How to use a dictionary
Parts of Speech
Capitalization
Sentences need verbs
How to use a textbook
To not rely on calculators
That you need common denominators to add and subtract fractions
Factoring
Long Division
Adding and subtracting negative numbers
The Bill of Rights

I also tried to expose them to as many different things as possible and encourage their interests. I wanted them to be excited about learning and to have fun doing it. There was barely a science curriculum, but there was an extracurricular science class after school that was very popular. They had a variety of other extracurricular activities, as well. We went to museums, zoos, the forest, the beach, festivals, library programs, etc. We read a lot, both together and individually (although I strongly oppose requiring daily reading after a child has mastered the skill). We played games (great for math), did crafts, baked, enjoyed many different kinds of music, etc.

Contrary to the prevailing DCUM wisdom, I also considered screens to be a useful tool. To me, they’re just an alternate form of media and should be judged based on their content (which I supervised). They watched a lot of educational TV and children’s movies, and often we watched together. They had access to a computer (in a common area when they were young and with safeguards when they were old enough to need their own). Their dad (a computer guy) made sure they had great educational software and as they got older, I found websites that I thought would interest them. Youtube wasn’t around then, but if my kids were still young, we’d definitely be taking advantage of some of the fantastic educational videos that bring the entire universe vividly within reach.

They worked hard at school, excelled academically, and I couldn’t be prouder of the adults they’ve become, although the credit for that belongs to them.

But aren’t all of these activities just parenting? How is any of this ‘extra’? Are these activities considered for ‘the gifted’??

They're for everyone, you just adjust the level to your kid. One of my kids was reading Tolkien in first grade - filched my prized collector's edition with Bible paper leaves and delicate, pullout maps out from the bookcase and brought it to school for a bit of light reading. I wasn't happy, but the reading specialist thought it was hilarious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Curious about how after schooling was scheduled. The school day already feels so long. Do you mind sharing what a schedule for elementary would look like?

It wasn’t that structured. As I noticed gaps (there were many), I addressed them. They had both learned to read, count money, and tell time before they started school, but some of the things I had to teach one or both of them at home after they started school included:
How to hold a pencil
How to print letters
How to write in cursive
How to use a dictionary
Parts of Speech
Capitalization
Sentences need verbs
How to use a textbook
To not rely on calculators
That you need common denominators to add and subtract fractions
Factoring
Long Division
Adding and subtracting negative numbers
The Bill of Rights

I also tried to expose them to as many different things as possible and encourage their interests. I wanted them to be excited about learning and to have fun doing it. There was barely a science curriculum, but there was an extracurricular science class after school that was very popular. They had a variety of other extracurricular activities, as well. We went to museums, zoos, the forest, the beach, festivals, library programs, etc. We read a lot, both together and individually (although I strongly oppose requiring daily reading after a child has mastered the skill). We played games (great for math), did crafts, baked, enjoyed many different kinds of music, etc.

Contrary to the prevailing DCUM wisdom, I also considered screens to be a useful tool. To me, they’re just an alternate form of media and should be judged based on their content (which I supervised). They watched a lot of educational TV and children’s movies, and often we watched together. They had access to a computer (in a common area when they were young and with safeguards when they were old enough to need their own). Their dad (a computer guy) made sure they had great educational software and as they got older, I found websites that I thought would interest them. Youtube wasn’t around then, but if my kids were still young, we’d definitely be taking advantage of some of the fantastic educational videos that bring the entire universe vividly within reach.

They worked hard at school, excelled academically, and I couldn’t be prouder of the adults they’ve become, although the credit for that belongs to them.

But aren’t all of these activities just parenting? How is any of this ‘extra’? Are these activities considered for ‘the gifted’??

PP here
Yes, a lot of it is just parenting. While my kids were identified as “gifted”, I think the term is problematic and try to avoid it. “Giftedness” is too squishy with different definitions and measures. A child might be identified as gifted by one assessment but not by another. Moreover, interest and determination can accomplish wonders. Who will go farther, the unmotivated genius who doesn’t apply themselves to anything or the highly motivated child of average intelligence who lives and breathes a subject of interest? Knowledge is not a limited resource that needs to be rationed. All kids should be encouraged to explore the world and pursue their interests.

The reason I described my experiences as “afterschooling” had nothing to do with my children’s giftedness or lack thereof, but with the deficiencies of the schools. While I expected to have to occasionally answer homework questions, I did not expect having to identify and remediate significant knowledge gaps from “one of the best school systems in the country”.

As for “extra”, whether you want to describe it as normal parenting, as some people have as a pushy mom trying to make her kids “gifted”, or as I experienced it, a mom running as fast as she could trying to keep up with the interests of her kids who were constantly pulling ahead dragging her along behind them, I have a lot of resources for a lot of subjects. If anyone wants ideas, I’m happy to offer suggestions. FWIW, my eldest was a mathy kid, so I especially have a lot of experience in supplementing that subject.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, a lot of it is just parenting. While my kids were identified as “gifted”, I think the term is problematic and try to avoid it. “Giftedness” is too squishy with different definitions and measures. A child might be identified as gifted by one assessment but not by another. Moreover, interest and determination can accomplish wonders. Who will go farther, the unmotivated genius who doesn’t apply themselves to anything or the highly motivated child of average intelligence who lives and breathes a subject of interest? Knowledge is not a limited resource that needs to be rationed. All kids should be encouraged to explore the world and pursue their interests.

I agree with the quotes part above.

Especially on DCUM, "where all the children are above average" and even the special needs kids are 2E, the term "gifted" seems a meaningless phrase.

[Anonymous]

Check out the story of Laura Deming:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY3uMvaMkys

And Erik Demaine:

https://homeschoolingteen.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/erik-demaine-math-wizard/