Advice needed for younger couple considering homeschooling for incredibly bright son.?

Question

Our son is getting to be school-aged. Both of us were gifted-level in school and bored (I read at an 8th grade level when I was 7 years old), and we're afraid our son (who's already reading and doing math problems; a district psychologist has said he'd need advanced work) will be equally bored and unchallenged. We also travel abroad quite a bit for my husband's job, and take him with us. We're in the process of (tentatively!) planning a basic homeschooling curriculum. He's starting music lessons soon, and will play soccer in a youth club. I'm also actively trying to teach him German and French, which we speak. I'm interested in advice from homeschoolers with gifted children on how they keep their kids challenged, what worked for them and what activities their kids enjoyed the most. If any of you know of any Web sites with advice, that's appreciated as well. We want our son to have free time, but I don't want him to be bored sick like I was. Is there anything else we could be doing?

Answer 1

You sound like a great mom who has your son's best interest in mind. I too was gifted and bored in school. Now that I have my own children, I chose to homeschool them.

I would definitley homeschool him or look for a program where he can find peers that he can relate to. I recently read Genius Denied. It's an excellent book for adults who grew up gifted in the public school system along with information on the educational needs of gifted children.

Another  great resource is SENG. They hold conferences and provide information on the Social and Emotional Needs of Gifted children.

Look into a Literature Rich Curriculum such as Sonlight  that will provide him with lots of great reading.

Lastly, The Well Trained by Susan Wise Bauer would provide you with a classical education model that might work for your son.

All the best to you!

Warm Regards,

Jana

http://www.summerhouseliving.com

http://www.purehomeschooling.com

Answer 2

K12 curriculum offers a placement test that will allow them to put your son in the level in which he has tested. From that point on, he will work at his own pace. If he is working ahead then that is not a problem, he can move ahead.

Many online charter schools are popping up all over. Many of them are now using k12 products. k12 schoolsare good for many reasons. Each student is given a placement test and then given individualized curriculum based on his or her individual needs. With the help of online charter schools today, homeschooling can be much easier than it used to be. They provide you with everything you need, a computer, a printer, books, supplies, and teachers that you can both email and call for help and assistance. This is free and there are no charges. Online schools are definitely becoming a way of the future for the children in generations to come. The work can be done anywhere that there is online access.

Answer 3

We homeschool our gifted son...

He was in public school gifted program for a while and the program to put it kindly was not very robust.

Firebird says to unschool - we use sort of a combo of planned learning and unplanned.  

Our ds is now high school age and we follow a college prep course of study - but we do every thing in our power to enable him to pursue a very wide variety of interests...

I don't think you can go wrong by letting a bright child pursue things that interest them - no telling what kind of cool things this will lead to.

A few examples our gifted son does "just for fun:"

photography

digital graphics

computer animation / clay animation

sound effects (he collects sounds from nature and intends to create music from all natural sounds - he plays the piano and can do so "by ear")

web design

horticulture

writing

drawing

reading (some college level books)

genealogy - we recently visited Washington D.C. - instead of spending all of our time doing the tourist thing - our ds wanted to do genealogy research.  He discovered that a 15yo is allowed to do research at the National Archives - so we spent a great deal of time in the research room at the National Archives and he found several handwritten U.S. civil war records of ancestors.

Hope this helps a little.

You might want to check out Hoagies Gifted website...

Answer 4

I have a profoundly gifted son and he's always been HS'ed and always will be, because B&M schools just don't have the resources to teach him.  Homeschooling has worked wonders for him!  It will most likely be the same for you - especially because you're mobile and want to make him trilingual.

We've always used the K12 curriculum since it is very deep and broad in its scope and sequence.  Just today I was looking over our new "music appreciation" course, which is for middle schoolers, and I told my son it was way deeper than what I'd had in college, so I was going to take the course with him.  :-)

We keep our son's brain active by doing formal schoolwork only 2-3 hours a day, and then giving him lots of free time, and lots of resources, for self-directed, independent study.

There are some great groups and resources out there for HS'ing gifted kids.  First, I recommend you read at Hoagies Gifted:

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org

And join a group like TAGMAX:

http://www.tagfam.org/  (click on "mailing lists", then "subscribe")

My son loves a great challenge.  Currently his in a group with other gifted kids and they're working on an Exploravision project.  He's done many museum activities and classes and camps.  Once he's old enough to officially volunteer, he'll be a docent at our local children's science center (they asked him at age 8).

As long as your son loves to learn, you should have no problems with boredom.  You can go off on rabbit trails all the time, or let him delve deeper into his interests.  It's all about giving him the opportunities and resources he needs.

My son loves to have lots of online subscriptions.  Here are some great ones:

http://www.cosmeo.com

http://www.explorelearning.com

http://www.brainpop.com

There are plenty of free places online, too.

Best wishes to you on your new journey!

Answer 5

Good answers from Firebird and YSN.   I had not read their answers when the thought came to me :   If this were my opportunity, I would simply follow his interests.  

So,  can't add anything except that it is a good thing that you know the challenges of being gifted and are able to lead him to and through any subject that he desires to learn.

Answer 6

It sounds like unschooling would be good for you; just keep track of what he's doing and have a basic plan of attack for high school.

All kids ask tons of questions; your son's will merely be more advanced. Therefore, much of the standard unschooling advice will apply to you.

When he asks how something works or where it comes from, help him find out. Rent a documentary, get some books from the library, head to a museum; the possibilities are almost endless. The one thing I don't think you should unschool is math, and I highly recommend sticking with the same curriculum for math all the way through, since it's a real pain in the *** to switch between math books. One company's algebra 1 is another's algebra 2, while some might just have one algebra book. Saxon doesn't have a separate geometry text, so if you're trying to switch back after doing a geometry course -like I did- you'll probably have to brush up on your algebra. Personally, I like Saxon. If you don't skip problems, you'll be fine. Some people think the review is boring, and it can be, but it's necessary to really drill the facts in.

I'm a gifted student too -I was an 8th grade reader in 2nd or 3rd grade- and unschooling has worked pretty well for me. A little guidance will go a long way, though, especially in high school.

Answer 7

Autonomous (aka unschooling) is probably your best bet with a very bright child. Of course you suggest subjects and provide resources but you follow what he's interested in.

My daughter is 4 and also bright, I have her learning French and Spanish and she does ballet but other than that we pursue whatever interests her. As of a visit to the Science Museum this week the new subject is Space so I'm buying and borrowing materials on astronomy and the space program. One thing I've definitely found is that she's happy to sit and watch documentaries aimed at adults ("Life in Cold Blood" when we were doing the frog project, "Earth: Power of the Planet" just ... because she wanted to) rather than stuff 'dumbed down' for children and she understands a lot of it and asks lots of questions. I was also bored at school and that's one of the reasons I'm going to HS.

Answer 8

my mother is in the process of homeschooling my baby brother and she said the american cirriculum was possibly the most engaging and informative for him. There will be manyy people in your area homeschooling and willing to give you advice you just have to contact your local authority and they will put you in touch with them.