We adopted a Bichon from a rescue. We had to sign a covenant promising among other things to never crate train the dog, to never let him outside unaccompanied- our fenced yard was required also but they didn't want him to be lonely. Yes, those exact words. Also we had to promise to let him sleep with us in our bed and to not bar him from getting on any furniture. It was a 4 page long document with all kinds of stuff like that. We saw it for the first time at the home visit. The adoption fee was almost $400. We're not fussy people and we don't mind the dog on the furniture or even in the bed if he wanted to be (he didn't) but unbeknownst to us he was completely unhousebroken. When we contacted them about it we were told that he wore "belly bands" at the foster home and it wasn't a big deal, we should just get some of those. We spoke with our vet and 2 behaviorists but all 3 said that without crate training there was only so much that could be done for a 4 year old dog. We gave our word to the rescue and we didn't break it but it was hard. Two years after we got him he was hit by a car and died. If we ever get another dog it'll be from a breeder. I'm burnt on rescues. Oh, and they were extremely negative about Cesar Millan and his techniques. EXTREMELY negative. The lady who did the home visit said that if she saw a dog whisperer DVD or book in a house, that family would be banned from ever adopting thought them. I don't know much about him so I can't gauge if its appropriate. Seems like overkill to me, though.

Yes. Dd is more likely to be lonely as she matures. I can't remember where I read this- I read so much about giftedness when she was tested, but we tend to make friends within about 15 points of our IQs. That's the cohort that gets our jokes and shares our perspective on the world. I'm not even talking worldviews, more the ability to arrive at a worldview. The number of people that fall into that range for her is low. Even the other gifted kids at her school (she was in public school until, ah, now) didn't fall into that range. I'd shave 20 points off her if it was an option. Not only that, but outcome for gifted kids is really a mixed bag. In a lot of ways success (worldly defined) is harder to come by. Things will be hard for her that are easy for more typical children. I've already seen that in her school. She can't just sit and do the busy work. There's a lot of busy work in the start of most careers. That's just one example. There are others. It is what it is, I love her dearly but I wish there was some term other than "gifted". It's not all gift.

The best thing I've done to encourage a love of learning is to talk to them constantly about ideas, topics, interesting facts, etc. as I would anyone else. I ask them questions about their interests and encourage them to pursue things on their own. I don't "own" learning- they get the rewards of knowledge which is to be able to pass it on and be appreciated for it. Then they own it. Hearing the 10yo explain to the 6 yo how to use the "Pokedex" to look up the critter he wanted to know about was a beautiful thing, not because I care a wit about Pokemon (if I never hear the word again I'd be just fine), but because 6yo has the drive and ability to seek out the answers to his questions on his own. That's the goal and it starts with Pokemon. Later on (if the olders are any indication) it'll be circuitry or the Peloponnesian War or whatever. That and turn off the TV. Those are the only 2 factors which I can put my finger on and say I've done right with.

This is a good thread. My situation is a little unique in that I have 1 homeschooled and 2 in public school. However, the 2 olders have been homeschooled in the past and all 3 will be home next year. The one who's home spent 1 year in school. They got put in school because I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to go to grad school. It didn't work out for them. Long story long... Anyway, for comparisons sake, I'm making my lists and plans for next year and I estimate that to school all 3 (a first grader and 2 fifth graders) is going to cost about $600 in books and supplies. Meanwhile, in the 2011-2012 school year, I spent about $450 for lunches for the 2 who were in school. Their extracurriculars won't change and our district has 48% of their population below the poverty line so supplies and whatnot were very cheap. What will be the biggest budget buster, I think, will be travel. I'm prone to spontaneous trips and I've dearly missed doing them while the youngers have been in school.

"Oh, my, thank you!" She did call you smart, after all. -or- "Oh, yes, I've heard of people doing that. I think I read about a Christian group that moves their families into the inner city to try and be salt and light to those crime ridden communities. I really admire that. Have you ever considered it?" said conversationally, not accusatively.

Through a complicated circumstance, this yea I have a 4th grader in PS and a 4th grader at home. My homeschooled 4th grader is doing TT5. That child is miles ahead of the public schooled one. The school itself has perfectly respectable PSSA results for 4th grade math, so take all this as you will. I'm certainly not sold on TT being "behind" anymore.

My profoundly gifted daughter is only 8 so I have no idea where we'll be in 10 years. Maybe she'll zoom ahead and "graduate" HS at 14. Maybe she'll go deep and broad and we'll still be plugging away at 18. Maybe she'll develop a heroin habit and never graduate. My highly (not quite profoundly) gifted son (10yo) is autistic. I don't know yet if he'll even be capable of holding down a job with responsibilities that exceed that of a greater at WalMart. It makes no difference in my love for him, but as for high school and all that entails, I couldn't even begin to answer. This is not a question I think anyone who's child is not currently doing HS level material can answer.

If this relatively mild criticism is going to damage an author, perhaps they should reconsider their calling. I will say this, and I don't think it's "mean": if an author feels the need to utilize several different Bible translations in a single chapter, chances are they're conforming the Bible to their message rather than their message to the Bible.

My 10 year old son's been doing ballet for 4 years now. There has been no social stigma, even when he was in the public school- he got out early 2 days last year to perform for other elementary schools so it became public knowledge in his class. I live in a very conservative area and go to a very conservative church. I'm pleasantly surprised at the attitude from other kids. From adults, I never expected any trouble and never really asked anyone's opinion, though. Maybe the vibe I've sent out is that it's not up for debate and so nobody tried.

I've used AO for several years. Theirs is a hardcore CM approach geared at families for whom money is a huge problem. If you're not a hardcore CM lifestyle type or if you have the disposable income to broaden your book options, you may wish to make substitutions. I'm fairly hardcore with regards to CM but I don't use their specific text recommendations. If you do decide to use This Country of Ours, read it outloud and pre-read so you can adjust the language. In general, a CM approved history book (I'm using this term for ease of communication, not because there's some governing body out there) is going to give history in a narrative, avuncular tone. Same with non-nature study science in the younger years. If that irritates you, as it does with A LOT of people, a hard core CM homeschool is not for you. Kingfisher as a spine is not smiled upon. Usborne is something of an anathema. ;) Hillyer is A-OK. The biggest difference you'll find between CM (and by extension, AO) and WTM is in LA. It's a huge difference and IMHO (which is shared by many if not most CM purists) you can't have a hardcore CM style education without a CM style LA. If your LA is of a different philosophy, the other elements of the education don't fall into place in the same way. I'm not saying your homeschool will be a horrifying abomination if you use MCT or anything, but when you move from hardcore CM to 'CM inspired', there are more decisions to be made and it's more likely that different elements won't work or won't work in the same way. It really is a package deal. Maybe it wouldn't go too far to call it a lifestyle. For reading instruction I used 100EZ, which gets a plug on the AO site and it worked fine for us so I can't comment further on early readers. For general questions the FAQs on AO's site are amazing. They really are a tremendous resource. There are also several extremely active yahoo groups that you can get specific helps on.

I have 3 children and the one who is officially designated "profoundly gifted" is the only one not homeschooled! I wouldn't have predicted that outcome in my wildest dreams when I started our homeschooling journey 5 years ago. However, the local school is going above and beyond for her and giving her access to many special and enriching things that I'd have no way to provide for her. However, if that were to change, and with the perpetual state of flux gifted programing is in and the budgetary problems du jour the future is not certain, I'd pull her in a heartbeat and never look back. It is my humble opinion that bad, bad things can happen to gifted students if they are not able to work to their abilities.

Yes and no. :) My dd8 is gifted and the local school is bending over backwards to give her access to wonderful things I could never provide. So for her I'm very pleased with the local education. My ds9 has high functioning autism and the same school could do nothing for him at all. It's an odd circumstance that isn't the norm for most schools. I pulled my son out 3 weeks ago after a series of crisis and I'm pleased as punch to have him home. I answered as if this were a month ago and both were in school. :) I'd have loved to have both in school, though, because until about 3 weeks ago I was a grad student at a fancy pants grad school and completely and utterly loved it. Every minute of it was joy for me. I'd planned on continuing and getting a PhD in my field. All of that is looking impossible now. I'm still glad to have my son in a good place mentally, but I do wish the school situation had worked out.

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