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Home School?
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Question:
Has anyone tried any of the home schooling programs? Just moved to a
new school district and it doesn't have a gifted program. Am interested
for 7th and 8th grades. Will send to a private high school for freshman
year. Interested in opinions of the programs you have tried while I am
researching them.
Answer:
The best site I know for gifted kids- and esp. homeschooling gifted kids-
is
www.hoagiesgifted.com
Everything you need to know is there- or linked from there.
I homeschool my 2 kids and am the coordinator for a local homeschool group.
(Just so that you know my bias upfront!) I'm not sure what you mean by
homeschooling program. There are a variety of curriculums out there. We
looked at Calvert and thought it well above the others. In the end, we
designed our own. The curriculums turned out to be too restrictive. Calvert
is one of the few that will let you have a different year for math than for
the rest of the material. After looking at the different curriculums, I
decided I would spend just as much time fleshing out the holes as I would to
do it myself. I am lucky that my kids read very well. I see no reason to
ask them to read the diluted material in the curriculums when they can read
the real thing.
Johns Hopkins offers an online math and writing program through their Center
for Talented Youth. It's expensive, but I have heard very good things from
the people using it. I am considering the math program for my two.
Much of what we do is kid directed. I have set some minimum requirements (3
hours of bookwork a day plus a progress list) and then just spend time
helping them find the resources they need. Our house (like those of the
homeschoolers I know) looks odd. At any given time I will have a chemistry
set, dissection kit, physics experiment spread out across the kitchen and
dining room. We are planning to turn the spare bedroom into the
chemistry/bio lab & darkroom to keep the chemicals away from our meal
areas. Even so, there are often days when you can't find the living room
table beneath the books and projects. That can get old.
Homeschooling has really grown up in the last decade. Our local parks,
museums and fine art centers offer classes taught by professionals. We use
the community colleges for some things. I also ended up revitalizing a
small homeschool group by concentrating on recruiting academically motivated
families. The group has more than 50 families this year. As a group, we
have started spanish, art, history, sign language and music classes. For
the spring we are adding algebra and geometry. Some classes are taught
co-op style (parents do the teaching); others are taught by professionals
(not necessarily professional teachers- usually by people who are making
their living doing what they are teaching) The nice thing about joining or
starting a group is that the kids can still have a network of friends to
play kickball, work on a science fair project, go to a movie or discuss the
latest book. Our group divides classes based on ability rather than age.
This means that my kids are learning with peers, not just agemates.
Mentorships are another good option for older kids. Volunteering with a
local food bank or at the museum gives them a real world use of their
skills. After studying both chemistry and colonial America, my son is
planning to apprentice with a blacksmith next year. He is more interested
in what is happening to the metal than learning the craft, but he will also
have the wonderful experience of working in a historic village. At the
festivals, he will need to know how to dress and act as a colonial boy.
Homeschooling gives my kids the freedom and flexibility to learn at their
own speed and level. I can mix up the material based on interest, mood and
ability. My kids use everything from elementary school texts and games to
college texts and professional journals. Some days they are reading
Hawking. Other days they are reading The Time Warp Trio books.
Our library has some wonderful video series on ancient history, chemistry,
biology, native cultures and American history. We are still in the "sample
everything- latch on to something new" stage. Right now they are into
evolution. The NOVA series about Lucy has really caught them. Everything
they are reading and writing about this month has to do with comparative
anatomy, divergent genetics and archaeology. (That sounded really
overstated: they are elementary school kids so they are learning the basic
theories- nothing fancy .) It may only last for a month or so. It may
last a year. When they finish with this stage, they will find something
new. Interestingly, my son always ends up concentrating on things around
geology or physics. As he gets older (he's only 8) he is expanding the
interest but not changing it... Even with evolution he is more interested in
the rock strata, dating techniques, the use of genetic sequencing to
determine ancestry and the physical process of fossilization. My daughter
is more interested in shifting populations, interaction of species, and
Darwin. Same curriculum- but they are each taking away very different
info... Sometimes I wonder if they were even in the same room!!
Well- this is overly long so I'll stop.
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