Homeschool World Forum

hmschooling · User Joined: 10 Jul 2007 Posts: 40 Location: Arkansas

...Especially when you have more than one homeschooled child and only one is gifted.
Not saying my younger ones not smart, he's just not like his sister. He is quite smart really. But my oldest....wow! She just turned 6 and getting ready to start 1st grade. She is reading on an advanced 1st grade/early 2nd gr level, doing 2nd and 3rd grade math, etc. She is SO advanced and understands so easily, I've barely had to teach really. At least it feels that way.
So, a good topic in my opinion would be Homeschooling a gifted child (without making your other children feel dumb).

StellarStory · User Joined: 15 Apr 2007 Posts: 472

My daughter is academically gifted particularly in the area of creative writing. One reason why is that she has inner drive which my son simply does not. When she was in school they flagged her as gifted.

It really bothered me because I wanted my kids to enjoy being kids. I didn't want her moving up a grade or getting ahead of herself in life. I also didn't think much of the gifted program at her schools.

I guess you could sum up my opinion of homeschooling a gifted child this way:

You love your kids differently but not unequally. When educating them, you educate them differently, but not unequally. She has higher expectations on her. These expectations come from her more than anyone else. I have to check in with her a lot about how she feels about what she is studying to make sure she isn't bored with it and is reaching for her goals appropriately.

If they are different ages, it could be they won't even think it the least bit unusual that they have different expectations at the same age and grade. If they do notice simply say, everyone has differences in what and how they need to learn or be taught because that is true.

My daughter had trouble really "getting" some of her algebra, a subject I hate until I had her "teach" her younger brother btw. She was shocked that he picked up the concepts so much quicker than she had. He just didn't want to do the actual work. As he matures he is getting better at getting his work done on time.

Since he had no inner drive, I've had to make a rule that applies to both. The rule is you make an A or a B or you do it over. His sister always makes an A or a B so it wasn't a problem for her. He was completely capable of doing the same but just wanted his free time so he'd turn in utter garbage that was messy. Thus the rule.

I think he too could be a brilliant creative writer but he thinks he hates to write. Someday I suspect he may surprise himself be a writer. The way he describes things is just amazing.

seekingmyLord · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:45 pm Post subject: Re: HS'ing a gifted child...

momo3boys · User Joined: 14 Feb 2006 Posts: 574 Location: Western Mass

I wouldn't call my middle son gifted but he does learn easily while his older brother takes a very long time for him to learn anything. Neutral

I have a hard time with the fact that a younger sibling is surpassing an older sibling. And considering the fact that my 2.4 yo wants to learn the letters and numbers and has amazing fine motor skills, I am going to have the same problem with him as well. It can be hard sometimes finding something that my older child can do that my younger one can't, academically, if you look to sports not a problem. Wink

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Morgan · User Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 102 Location: U.S.

Not to boast, but I know I'm advanced in my schooling. I withdrew from my public middle school to be homeschooled when they refused to move me up one grade. I think a topic for gifted children would be perfect, and in it could be posts regarding equal treatment of your children - no matter their academic status, activity/project ideas for advanced learners, accelerated class textbook suggestions, etc.
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StellarStory · User Joined: 15 Apr 2007 Posts: 472

My daughter insisted on doing all 8th grade work in 7th grade. She missed a few key things in Algebra doing that but she caught them in the following years. Instead of her skipping a grade, I gave her an unschooling year.

Morgan · User Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 102 Location: U.S.

3KansasKids · User Joined: 03 Nov 2011 Posts: 2

My 3rd grade daughter is gifted and flies through her daily curriculum. She has an enormous passion for paleontology and self teaches herself tons of information on the topic. Is there such a thing as an actual paleontology curriculum or even online class that homeschool kids can take? Im not having much luck looking. If it were aimed anywhere from elementary to 8th grade, she could handle it. Thanks to anyone with any information or suggestions. A simple dinosaur unit study won't due. Smile

Thanks again!

Theodore · Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 3:22 pm Post subject:

Unless you assume everyone has identical intelligence, not everyone can be naturally gifted. Given, virtually everyone is capable of being excellent at one thing if they work at it long enough and hard enough, but some people find it easy to learn and do a large variety of things well, while others have to put in a lot more effort. I do think some of that is how you were brought up, however - how much people talked around you and how much you played with building blocks and how much mental math you did and so on. IQ can be built, to some extent.

Regarding paleontology - I'm sure there's something available somewhere. Are you looking for paleontology from a Creationist standpoint or an evolutionary standpoint?
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3KansasKids · User Joined: 03 Nov 2011 Posts: 2

The daughter I am referring to (oldest) is naturally academically gifted, or as the pediatrition put it "undoubtably scholastically gifted." However, she can actually be quite lazy if allowed to be. Her sister does equally as well at school work, but tries very hard, and cares very much.

I knew early on that "oldest" was gifted, before any testing. She would sit on the floor at 14 months and complete 25-50 piece puzzles unassisted. She also drew a complete circle with eyes, ears, nose, ears, and hair at 14 months. She knew her colors, numbers, and letters before her first birthday. She would hold toys and intently study them, and how they worked, instead of crawling around with other babies, putting toys in her mouth. By Kindergarten, she could read anything you put in front of her. Physically, as a baby and now, she is slow. She never crawled, walked at 17 months, and now at nine-years, she still can't ride her bike.

I agree that iq can be trained, as you mentioned, but some children are just born "getting it" while others spend much time trying to "get it." Oldest can read it, see it, hear it, and she gets it.. then she questions the answers (and finds out) why. My other two children (brought up playing with the same toys) take much longer to understand things, even though they may care much more about learning. In the end, they all do well, but they are inherently different.

As for paleontology classes or curriculums, both Creationism and evolutionism will be welcomed. My kids are encouraged to learn both.

Theodore · Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 3:40 pm Post subject:

It's not a course per se, but your daughter might enjoy Creation magazine, then. It has articles on all sorts of old Earth / new Earth subjects, which often includes paleontology.
http://creation.com/creation-magazine

Munchie33 · User Joined: 24 Oct 2011 Posts: 21

We've always praised our son more for hard work than natural talents. You are born with talents, you do nothing to get them, so it's kind of like praising someone for having brown eyes. We appreciate and admire his talents, yes, but we praise much more the effort he puts into things. Hard work is something that people have to develop on their own, so we see it as much more worthy of praise. For most people, hard work will take them much further than their talents could on their own anyway, e.g. being talented at a sport doesn't mean you don't need to practice - the talent only gives you a bit of a head start.

As for paleontology, a resource I have used before is http://www.teachervision.fen.com/dinosaurs/teacher-resources/6611.html (some is free, some you can sign up for or have a free trial and access). There are digital textbooks, quizzes, arts and crafts activities, information and fact sheets, maths puzzles, the whole deal. Useful for kids from maybe 5 to 15 years old or more.