How did your son enjoy Mara, Daughter of the Nile? I was going to skip it because it sounded like it would appeal to girls more than boys, but I can reconsider it.

We too live close to our ps gifted magnet and could have pursued that. Dss have gained so much more from homeschooling and it has been good for our family as well because academics alone cannot provide the richness of life that we seek. If there are any non-academic reasons that you chose to homeschool, remember to weigh those as well. Academics aside, if you are comfortable with your daughter spending the bulk of her day in that setting, then you could always give it a try and resume homeschooling if the program doesn't work out for your daughter and your family.

This is our first year in Classical Conversations, which is in its Cycle 1 study of ancients. I want our SOTW history study to match the CC time period, so instead of reading SOTW 4 this year, we will revisit the ancient period. I plan to use the WTM recommendations for 5th grade history reading but would love to have other recommendations as well. Any recommendations? TIA

I practiced law for 20 years before I began full time homeschooling and I loved the practice of law. It can be a very rewarding profession. My state's bar association has a section on its website re: how to become an attorney. It is very helpful. http://calbar.ca.gov/state/calbar/calbar_generic.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@2085238358.1252853096@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccdadeiefghfelcfngcfkmdffidfnf.0&id=24442&cid=10581 I checked the Texas State Bar website and didn't see anything similar but that doesn't mean it isn't there. Also, it may have a publication of some kind available in hard copy. I would call the Texas State Bar and ask them if they have any information for prospective attorneys/law students. Also ask if there is an environmental law or public interest law section within the state bar that you can contact for more information. HTH. :001_smile:

We use Right Start Math and Singapore math and I have always supplemented with other types of drill sheets such as Math Minutes, Spectrum, etc. I liked the quick review Math Minutes gave: an assortment of ten problems, each in a different area of math. Dss did two a day but they always seemed too light weight for the given grade level. A teacher/friend gave me Saxon 5/4 to use instead. The "Problem Set" gives us exactly what we wanted. It's about two dozen problems taken from a broad area of math topics. I think this is why Saxon is noted for it's great use of review. We don't use any other part of the book, so I can't speak to the rest of the program, but I would say this is a good thing about Saxon.

Yes, this warning is given in every travel guide, and for good reason. A group of such children encircled me outside the Coliseum. Within seconds my waist pouch was unzipped and little hands were fumbling through the contents--a comb, a pen and some Chapstick. Everything of value I kept in one of those hidden zipper billfolds underneath my clothes, just like the travel guides recommended. Nonetheless, I instinctively fought off the little darlings. A few minutes later I saw the police arrest a women sitting on a nearby bench.

Have you seen this sweet You Tube video? http://www.irememberlove.com/video/video/show?id=2013722:Video:53844

Why not devote a portion of the study to rescue dogs? Or perhaps cover the topic of seeing-eye dogs, therapy dogs. Sheep dogs. Watch dogs. Bomb sniffing/narcotics dogs. The list goes on. These animals really earn their keep. HTh

Actually, once I finished writing that post I realized it was a tribute as well as a response and have been pondering the idea of writing it in a form suitable for publication in my hometown newspaper. Or perhaps a letter, as you suggest. Thanks for the encouragement.

Reflecting on the other side of your study--the gifted students who receive no special services--I would be interested in finding out how many of those students acknowledge prolonged or continued inattention in class and how that affects their self-image, class performance and perception of various academic subjects. Another anecdote. This time from the other side. Dh's elementary school tested him as a child and determined that he had an IQ of 168. They asked him to be in a gifted program but he had no transportation to the school where it was held. (The school district did not provide transportation in those days) So he remained in a regular class. He spent his entire school career bored and unfocused, doodling and daydreaming, not to mention late for class. Although he was able to focus his mental energies on interests outside the classroom, the lack of challenge, and therefore lack of focus, in the classroom created poor academic habits that continued into his later years of schooling. It would be interesting to find out if the gifted children who do not receive special services report similar happenings. I'm glad to hear that your research project is taking shape. Best of luck.

My school district had a gifted program for 4th, 5th and 6th grade. It was called the MGM (Mentally Gifted Minors) Program. This was back in 1968-1971. The one feature that stands out in my mind above all the other great enrichment we received was the fact that in 6th grade we had designated Fridays when we were allowed to bring in a hobby or interest and work on it for the entire day. The room was filled with creativity, interest, and passion. One of the teacher's passions was cooking, so we even cooked meals on those days! So, I would value a program that either sets aside time like this for the uninterrupted pursuit of a passion, or one in which the students in the program feel that, within the structure of the program, they receive adequate time to concentrate on an area of interest. I would also value a class in which the instructor models or demonstrates a passion for learning, like my sixth grade teacher did. Looking back, I recognize that this instructor was gifted himself. One of his passions was drawing cartoons. Midyear he posted a cartoon mural he had drawn of our entire class. Each child was depicted in a way that reflected the child's interest. I belonged to Girl Scouts and I also played tennis, so he drew me dressed in my green Girl Scout uniform, holding a tennis racquet. On the last day of school he cut out the individual cartoon children and we each got to take home our personal cartoon drawn by a teacher who cared enough about us as individuals to observe and remember what our interests were. What a grand finale to our elementary school years. My sister still lives in my home town. She periodically sees this teacher because she is one of his customers; he's retired from teaching and now operates a store that sells holistic health products. He taught thousands of public school children and put his own son through medical school. He could easily rest on his laurels. Instead he is still learning, still pursuing an interest with thoroughness and integrity. HTH

for the post and the link.

His website is http://www.greathall.com but you can order his CDs from Amazon and many other places. My personal favorite is Galileo and the Stargazers. The Jungle Book is also a favorite.

You can buy it from: http://www.videouniversity.com/shop/cyber-film-school-cd-rom Dss 9 want to be film makers just like your son does and Star Wars has been part of their inspiration too! Ds Edison decided to be a film maker at a young age when he watched some ICR (Institute for Creation Research) videos for kids that were produced by his "Uncle A". Over time, my other ds, Tesla, decided to be a film maker too. We were at Uncle A's birthday party last week and he showed the boys his studio/office and he recommended they start with the Cyber Film School CD Rom. It's only about $50. He also recommended these software products for film making at home: Premiere Elements AVS Video Sonic fire pro My dss took a film making class at a homeschool learning center last year. All the students were required to appear in the film as well as create the film, and that was surprisingly helpful. Neither son aspires to be an actor, but being in the film then watching the film after it was edited taught them alot about the process. They remembered doing certain actions and often the actions appeared on screen quite differently than they remembered them or envisioned they would be. For example, Tesla was in an "action scene" and in the film all that was shown was his hand and his hat. So having your son appear in one of his own films might be a great way to learn things (Although I suppose comparing a film to the raw footage would do the same thing) Another thing I introduced dss to was the director interview or behind the scenes interview on the DVDs we watch. If your son isn't already doing that, he should. The first one dss watched was on the "Toy Story" 1 and 2 DVDs and it was very informative. Almost every DVD has them under "Special Features" or "Extras". Good luck to your son and to you!

but alas, I live in the light pollution capital of the west coast. Thanks for sharing.:001_smile:

Dss will be in fourth grade. What resources do you recommend? Both textbook and otherwise. Both Christian and secular. I want to explore all the options. I want to make the study interesting. TIA.

Would you say that in its tone and coverage it is respectful to people of faith? I've listened to a lot of radio that has the bias you described and sometimes noted a subtle intolerance for people of particular faiths (even an overt intolerance on some shows) and I do not want that for my children. Sorry if the question about speech sounds off beat. I've always stressed proper enunciation for some reason. People ask me if I'm originally from Britain even though I'm a born and bred California girl. The only reason I can think of is that I enunciate more distinctly than the majority of people in SoCal and I try to eliminate the meaningless use of "like" from my conversations. I guess my appreciation for enunciation just spills over into my buying decisions. We own dozens of Jim Weiss CDs, for example. Thanks again for the input.

You made my day!

I'd love to learn more about it, such as what it covers and what format it uses. Also, in you opinion, does it seem to promote any particular world view or perspective on things? The sample I listened to on the website was that of a child's voice. Are all the speakers children? Do they enunciate well? The child I heard sounded OK, but her enunciation and clarity fell short of what I would like as a model for dc. If you've listened to the website sample and subscribe to Boomerang, would you say that the sample is a fair representation of the voices on the CDs? Thanks a million!

I did this instead of acceleration. I believe RS has led them into more profound thinking about math, but I like the workbook aspect of SM because the games became time consuming so we didn't always get to them even though we love them. During the stage of math fact acquisition we also supplemented with other types of workbooks (spectrum, Dorling Kindersly, Math Minutes, etc.) and Flashmaster in addition to the two programs. Using both programs can be done, but it takes alot of time. I think it has been worth it. The hands on geometry of RS has been a big hit with my building addicted Legomaniacs. For me, I have personally enjoyed the many "mini-epiphanies" that I have experienced throughout the program. HTH :001_smile:

What did you find you had to research?

I'd planned to use it for literary analysis, of sorts, and then saw there was more that could be done so I was curious how it was used. Thanks for your input.

I stumbled upon Scholastic's Book Wizard Similar Book Search while looking for summer reading for dss and I'm passing it on for those who don't already know about it. It helps you find books similar in theme and difficulty to books your child likes. You can even specify a search for similar books that are harder or easier to read. It also identifies both the reading level and interest level of the book, so a younger child reading above grade level can find books that are age appropriate in theme or content. Happy reading! http://bookwizard.scholastic.com/tbw/homePage.do

Dss read the Chronicles of Narnia when they were six and have since reread some of them, listened to all the audio books countless times, seen the BBC movies and seen the two Disney movies. I'm planning to revisit Narnia with them at a more in depth level now that they will be starting fourth grade. What did you find to be the most beneficial aspect of "Further Up and Further In" by Caldron Creek? Any other recommendations re: taking the "Chronicles of Narnia" to a deeper level? TIA

If so why? I'm wondering which is the best use of the elementary years. If a child breezes through all his academics, is it better to accelerate for greater challenge and to develop his gifts now, or is it better to let him sample more things with the time he has saved by grasping things so easily? Dss are 9 and have many, many interests.They have a passion for a broad array of things and so far I'm letting them sample many things. I know that some children find their "thing" at a young age and become very expert at it. I recall that the WTM mentions high school as the age to narrow and specialize, but it seems that many families I know have their children specialized by the time they reach Junior High. Perhaps I'm a hopeless generalist. I still remember the torture of having to decide between an upper level math class and becoming editor of the high school newspaper, so I know academic and professional choices have to be made. But it seems that children have to make those decisions so much earlier now. Is there something new in the structure of educational options that compels specialization at a much earlier age? If there is, then for those who don't accelerate, have your children missed any opportunities as a result? TIA! SoCal Sandra View Public Profile Send a private message to SoCal Sandra Find all posts by SoCal Sandra