Wow - that is so wrong! If HS kids qualify for special ed then they are supposed to get special ed. Period. Gifted is just the other end of the special ed spectrum. All kids should be evaluated if it seems like they need more support - either remedial or advanced. I will have to call my local district and find out....

Basically the title says it all. DS is due for K in the fall but we are planning on HSing. We have been USing/HSing up until this point and he is definitely REALLY advanced in reading/language and science. I was in the gifted program as a kid and I know that I was identified for testing by an elem. teacher. And it is my impression that most kids are identified this way. How does it work when you are HSing from the start? Can I just request he be tested?? What is the "best" age to be tested - is 5 too early?? I know it changes over time, can I just have him tested now and then again in a few years? I know it is not necessary to have him tested, but honestly I do think it is important to have him tested. I have a general idea of his strong areas and am trying to stimulate him in those areas, but would like a little guidance as to what level he is really on. Right now I am just letting him pick - and most of what he picks is 3-6 grade level, in some cases HS level. I would love some ideas on how to challenge him and perhaps some help getting him into stimulating extracurriculars as he gets older. I am also thinking ahead - there are some age based community programs (like at the zoo) that he will be super bored in, but if they allow him to join the next age group he would have a blast and be stimulated. He will not find reading Dr Seuss and petting animals very interesting, but the animal detectives program would be a HUGE hit. I think it would be easier to convince people to allow him into more advanced programs if I had the school endorsed label of "gifted" or "advanced" - or perhaps someone knows another way to get around the age requirements? TIA!

My son is 5 also and due to start K in the fall. He is not officially considered gifted, but I sure consider him gifted and plan on asking the school to test him in the fall. He really excells in reading/language and in science. He blows my mind with the things he decides he wants to learn. I mean how many 5yo get Christmas morning excited over Daddy's new Cross Sectional Anatomy textbook?! After begging to release it from the shrink wrap, he did spend about an hour pouring thru it. Often Dh and DS sit down together to "study" and Dh spends most of it explaining the concepts to DS. For the longest time, he carried around a kid's encyclopedia - forget a teddy or other cute lovely - a huge kids encyclopedia went EVERYWHERE with us. To the point it is seriously reinforced (several times! lol) with duct tape to hold it together. And the otehr day when doing a project on the 5 senses, he was doing sound and decided to draw a picture of the cat meowing for sound - did he draw a pic of the cat? Nope, he drew a series of curved lines which totally stumped me. When I asked what it was "that is the sound that oscars meow makes as it moves in the air" - the boy had drawn sound waves! He pushes himself way harder than I ever would. I want him to be stimulated and challenged - I was NOT challenged as a kid and was soooo bored. I got As but never had to work at it. in Elementary school, I lived for the one hour a week I was pulled out for "gifted" class. Never felt stimulated in school, only outside of school while doing my own thing. I don't want this to happen to DS. So we are HSing and I let him progress at his pace (FAST) and in the direction he wants to go in. Like many other "gifted' kids, his gift tends to be in specific areas and other areas are "average" or perhaps even a little "behind." He does also struggle with handwriting. He decided he wanted to learn to write around 2.5 when he was learning to read - he mastered all teh letters and wrote all the time. Then his reading really took off and he just doesn't have time for letters anymore. I think he doesn't have the patience to sit and write all the letters - his brain is already light years ahead at that point. He will sit and write sometimes, but not often and usually it is part of an art project or present. He has an interest in typing and seems to be able to type his ideas faster than write them - leading to less frustration and longer periods of him writing in general. I figure his motor skill will eventually catch up to his brain. Until then, I encourage him to write and when he doesn't want to, I let him dictate to me and/or encourage him to type. The hardest part for us is that people treat him like he is older (including DH) and I have to constantly remind them that he is barely 5! He is still just a baby really, regardless of how book smart he is. And he is super sensitive! Plus, he gets frustrated so easily when he can't make his little body do what his brain has mapped out. Anyways, all that to say - we are in the same boat! LOL I challenge him in his strong areas and support him in strengthening his weaker areas - but not to the point of frustration. There is only so much they can do at 5! Writing will come in time. Since they are HS, we have the luxury of evaluating them by other means and tailoring their acclerated learning to their particular needs and abilities :)

I am planning on getting it too for my DS - watch the demo on their site - that made a difference for us and helped us choose. GL!

Bushkill Falls! That is MY home territory! I seriously miss it up there. Can't wait to see pics of my Flat kiddo from "home" - We can't really visit in person cuz something about the PA/NJ air gave DS his first asthma attack and sent him to the PICU for half our trip. :*( It is the asthma capital of the US for a reason I guess.... But it is super cool to know someone from "home" is also participating! wait till Dh hears! :) BTW that vid sounds super cool and like it was a ton of fun to make!

We are so excited! Are we making just 1 Flat Child, or more than one? I know someone mentioned sending out several.... When is this going to start up?

DS is really enjoying picking out books about ancient Egypt, China, and Greece. He is really really enjoying the mythology that goes with it. It is the main focus of his creative play lately :) I am looking for more resources - texts, activity books, supplemental books, DVDs, audio books, just for fun reading, websites, games, etc. Basically ANYTHING. I know alot of people like/use religious curriculums and resources, but we are actually looking for something that is NOT religious. I really want it be fairly secular and based upon science/archeology/proven historical facts. Any suggestions? TIA!

I just showed DS the McRuffy stuff and the samples - and was told "I KNOW that - why are you giving me baby stuff" then he walked away. *sigh* Well there went that idea for now. I just bought the orange and red Miquon books on the FS board, so I guess I will start there and see what happens. Thank you everyone for all the info and suggestions.

I am trying to decide on K/1st grade math for my DS. Lots of people have recommended McRuffy and Miquon. We were initially looking at MUS. DS is 5, and honestly has been teaching himself/'just picking it up naturally" so far. He taught himself to read before he was 3 just cuz we read SO much together around here. So reading skill is not an issue, but perhaps his independent nature is LOL Not a problem, but something to be factored in. After some research, I think that he is likely VSL - He LOVES reading and researching things on his own and doing hand-ons stuff, but does not do well with primarily verbal instructions. He could sit with puzzles, blocks, experiments for literally hours. But workbooks and simple games (like his counting bears, abacus, etc) lose his interest in a matter of minutes. Honestly he picks 3-5th grade stuff for himself when it comes to reading, history, and science. Math is where we are lagging - only cuz until recently he has shown NO interest. Now that he is interested I want to seize the opportunity and give him a LOVE of math too! The only reason he is even interested is cuz he found these great HS math games based upon ancient egyptian and ancient greek math and is frustrated that he can't do the basic math to solve the more complex problems (he totally gets the idea behind the complex math but can't add let alone multiple to figure out a2 + b2 = c2) Like I said, DH and I were looking at MUS and really like it. DS watched a portion of it with us and thinks it looks cool (he loves blocks). Lots of people are saying don't use it though....recommending Miquon or Mcruffy instead. (also recommending RS - but I have some reservations on this one and it is a bit out of our price range). can you tell me more about Miquon and McRuffy K/1st programs?? I looked at their websites but it doesn't tell me anything except what topics are taught - not HOW they are taught..... Just want to be sure what it is, how it works, personal experience with it, etc before I go and make an investment. TIA!

Thank you for the responses. Gives me alot to think about.... I will have to look into Miquon and some of the other things. I have looked at RS and am just not sure it will be a good fit - I hesitate to make such a big purchase cuz it just does not resonant for me. We have an abacus and couting cubes and counting bears and a bunch of math games and he really is NOT excited about most of it. RS is big on manipulatives, but we have a bunch and they don't interest him - so I cant see spending hundreds of dollars on more of the same stuff.... I did have my DH watch the MUS demo too, and he really liked it and thought it would be something DS would respond well to. It just made sense how it was being taught. Now I just have to get DS to watch a few minutes of it with me and see what he thinks about it.... I know there's alot of workbook stuff, but it also seems like you can use that as much or as little as you want. The guy even says that in the video. And it seems like something you can "play" with and sneak in some math. And since it relies heavily on word problems, it would make my life a bit easier - DS does not like 2+3 but give him a word problem to figure out and he get excited. I need something with lots of word problems or I will have to make them up myself! Actually we are working on that - a bunch of index cards with word problems that we are making up together - then we can just pick a card and use our cubes to figure it out. Thanks again....off to do more research

We do child led learning here so far - just providing books, activities, etc as DS has show interest in things. He is just barely 5 and getting ready for K this fall and we know that we are HSing him. He is very bright - taught himself to read before he was 3, on chapter books by 4. He currently is loving Daddy's cross sectional A&P textbook LOL But he is very independent in how he likes learning. He generally hates formalized learning time, worksheets, etc - but he will devour books, experiments, and is ALWAYS searching cosmeo.com to do his own research on a specific topic he is interested in. Now that he is getting older, I am trying to guide his activities a bit - but don't want to push him since he is sooo young and so strong willed and independent. While he LOVES reading, science, and geography - he has been incredibly resistive to the mere idea of math - although he has been able to count to 100 and count by 10s for over a year now and can do simle add/sub in his head when he doesn't realize it or it suits his own purpose LOL He is starting to show hints of interest in math. Yay! Right now he is liking when we come up with word problems and use Unifix cubes and/the abacus to solve it. I want more math "games" to fuel his interest... My main goal at the moment is to fuel his thirst for learning and maintain his love of learning, while expanding it to other subjects like math. I figure we have plenty of time for formalized instruction once he enjoys what he is learning. I am looking at Math-u-see and Rightstart - I like RS alot but don't think it will mesh well with him and his needs at this point in time so I'm leaning towards MUS at the moment. I think the MUS blocks will interest him. It looks like a fun and intuitive way to learning math - like he can learn alot just playing with the blocks and having minimal "teaching" from me as we are playing (basically pointing out relationships, etc).. While RS seem hands on and has tons of games, it seems to rely heavily on "teaching" too. And that you can't do the "games" until you have the sit-down teaching portion concepts covered. Interested in hearing some opinions on MUS! What do you like/dislike about it? HOW do you use it? How do you get your child to love learning math?? TIA!

I would LOVE to jump in on this. Representing FL's Space Coast :)