So, yeah, between you guys and my husband, I guess we'll be pulling him out. Haven't picked a firm "end" date yet. We didn't actually meet with the teacher today. Husband and I had to go both go to the clinic this morning, and since it was a 1/2 day today anyways we kept kid with us. My husband just has some lingering health issues. As for me, I'm 2 months pregnant, and having nearly every side effect you could possibly think of. So that weighs heavily into this whole decision. Dh says he's more than willing to do some of the schooling, but the only previous "homeschooling" he's done is 100 EZ lessons, and that's scripted. A lot of the stuff I'm looking at isn't scripted, mostly just because those type of things tend to be more expensive and I don't feel the need for them. Plus, DH has dyscalculia, so....I'm not sure how things would get on in the math area with the two of them. Husband and I will sit down with kid later today (when we're all feeling better) and see where's he's at exactly. Since he's very resistant to sudden change he may be in favor of having a firm future date to work with and get used to, and have the time to say goodbye to his friends and teacher. I need to go buy some notebooks. And a good pencil sharpener. And I think kid would like a sticker chart too. Here goes my adventure ! :gnorsi:

...for ritual sacrifice ??? :001_huh: :rolleyes:

Sorry, I posted this thread: http://forums.welltr...ome-right-away/ and it seems that maybe my kid really is gifted? But, ugh, I'm confused by some of the gifted identification lists I've seen. This one (http://nswagtc.org.a....html?task=view), for example, is so long. And some doesn't apply to my kid, but some things seem like might apply. But the descriptions are so general, that I don't know if the examples I'm thinking of that fall under that description are actually what the description is describing. I'm confused. Obviously. His reading and math are roughly at second grade level (he's in K, and just turned 6). But he doesn't really seem to care for these subjects or do much with them. But then, I think his math instruction is rather didactic. He's learning the equations, but that's it. We used counters and ten frames for a bit at the beginning, but he didn't really seem to latch onto those much. His main interest is in systems and structures. Systems means he's really interested in science concepts, knowing how things happen. Like, last night in the car we go into an involved conversation about cell division. He was apparently trying to figure out how it was that he could grow up to become as big as Pappa. He watches Bill Nye DVD's for fun, so he asked a lot of questions about how plasma fits into the equation (I'm guessing he got that from Bill Nye, I'm not really sure). And if the cells divide, wouldn't they just be half sized? No, they grow as big as the original one. Oh. okay. We have similar conversations about evaporation and rainfall. And energy. Just last week when he was eating dinner he exclaimed, "I'm eating mechanical energy!" Um, you are? uh, okay, great! I need to watch more Bill Nye, clearly, lol. As for structures, he enjoys legos, which is normal. But husband doesn't read the age levels, and regularly buys him the 9-12 sets, and he'll sit down and figure it out mostly by himself. He only runs into issues when it asks him to do something beyond his fine motor skills capability. Well, okay, that's smart of him. But then he starts coming to me with a 3-D lego machine he made himself that has an arm with a mechanical pincer claw that can pick up stuff. Ok, that's maybe a bit different. Every once in a while he tells me that when he grows up he want to be an "instruction builder." I think what he means is Mechanical Engineer. He gets super-frustrated when he gets something wrong, whether it be something that goes wrong when he is building his lego set, or a math problem. Just yesterday he was doing his MobyMath, which is a lot like XtraMath except his school paid for it, and for some reason he was counting his fingers wrong and was ending up one number off on a lot of the questions. He got very frustrated and angry. Then when he figured out that the program wasn't going to let him re-do one of the questions he got wrong he started trying to force the program to reset the lesson so he could do it again, and then started yelling when it didn't. At that point I just told him to shut it off. I'll see if he can handle it later today. He enjoys playing with kids older than him, whether just a few years older or as old as 16 (but she's a girl, and he sort of has a boy-crush on her). He tends not to open up with kids his own age or younger very well. Though he used to play with a younger cousin a lot, and he would take a leadership role with him ("no, we're not allowed to do that, let's do this instead"). There was one boy he would often play with who was his age, but that boy was also accelerated (he himself may be gifted, I don't know) and they tended to play "alongside" each other more than together. But that boy's family had to move out of state. He is resistant to change, and wants things to always stay the same. We stayed with an aunt for a bit last year before we moved to Florida, and after we moved she sold the house to downsize. He completely freaked out when he found that out, he was completely distressed that other people would be using the refrigerator there (yeah, idk....????). These are just some random examples besides the general things I mentioned on the other thread. Do they fit the categories of "displays a willingness to accept complexity" or "has the capacity to use knowledge and information other than to memorise" or something else on that list? I guess what I'm asking is if my kid is really gifted if he doesn't fit into an obvious "wow!" category like reading The Hobbit at age 4. There's lots of different kinds and levels of gifted, right? Guess I'm just trying to figure out where my kid fits on that scale, if he does at all.

Sure, but I'm just saying that he has a really hard time stopping in the middle of something. If I tell him he can finish it later he freaks out, "no, I can't do it later! I have to do it now!" Nope, later. I do employ various things to help him manage, like warn him, "okay, you only have ten more minutes and then you have to stop." But he just has trouble focusing, except for the times when he has super intense focus, and feels like breaking concentration will make everything fall apart.

I've looked at Gifted sites before, and other than the fact he's doing math and reading at about the level of half-way through 2nd grade, he doesn't really "wow!" me. He's actually pretty ambivalent about these things. But looking at some characteristics further down the line here: http://nswagtc.org.au/home/106.html?task=view makes me wonder if his "gift" is a bit less obvious. He likes systems, which is where the interest in Science comes from, and he likes constructing shapes. We have a ton of Lego's, and lately he has started making his own three-dimensional constructions that include moving parts that do things. I don't know if this is "normal" or not. I'll have to read through those sites more. But there's so much on Hoagies, I'm overwhelmed! Tibbie, your ramblings are helpful. Thanks! Glory, he does have a problem doing what he is told if he wants to be doing something else. The set structure of school is probably high on his dislikes. He's usually pretty good about following directions after he makes sure his complaint his heard. The worst is when he is concentrating on doing something and then it is time to go do something else. Sorry, kid, sometimes that's just life. But he's not always completely obstinate, and when he is he feels the consequences. :o

Yes, but what I said is true of the vast majority of Baptist churches in this country, whether they belong to the SBC or the GARBC or the IFBC or whatever. It is also true of the vast majority of non-denominational churches which simply refer to themselves as Evangelical. The Reformed Baptist group is absolutely tiny. Most Baptist and non-denominational groups explicitly reject Calvin on the issue of baptism. If anyone doesn't know where their Baptist/evangelical church falls exactly, they can just go ask their Pastor, "Hey, does our church believe baptism is for the forgiveness of sins?" They should be able to tell you. :)

That's possible. I'm sensitive myself in that regard, and I have noticed he needs quiet time sometimes. We have tried to avoid discussing this in front of him. All he knows for sure is that he'll be homeschooled when we go live in Georgia. Though when we visited Georgia again a few weeks ago he insisted he wanted to stay.... I see what's you're saying. But I feel like he's on track with what they're doing in class, so I have a hard time thinking he's bored. But he efficient, and a, how to explain? cross-studies learner. Like on Sunday I read the story of Jesus being tempted to him and his class, and he kept on interrupting to tell everyone about deserts, and about how in the desert you could see a mirage. In his small Sunday School class I could roll his information into the lesson. But I can see how that just won't work out well in a class of 25 kids who have to take a standardized test in a few months. Do you think he's gifted? :bored: Oh, dear... :leaving: Like I said before, since I think he is tracking well with the academic pace, I sort of ruled out him being bored. But maybe it's not what they're learning, but how they're learning it? Definitely not a morning person. Me neither. Husband refers to us as zombies for good while after we wake up in the morning. He starts school at 9, which I feel is a bit early, but normal enough. But it may be a good part of the issue.

I have to run, but just one quick question till later.... I don't understand. I expect my son to listen to his teacher. He's known her since August, and she's his teacher. So.... huh??? I mean, by listen I don't mean that he just chooses not to obey her. I mean, he honestly just tunes her out and has no idea that she is giving instructions on completing the task they're working on. This is a problem.

I guess I should have made this a poll. It could've been the only 100% agreement poll since the kiddo thread. :rofl: P/t conference is actually Thursday. I woke up too early this morning and my brain apparently checked out on distinguishing between Thurs and Tues. So I have two days to make a decision. So you'll all have to :toetap05: at me until then. :D btw, I'm not worried about the accelerated academics so much, DH is more concerned on that issue. I've looked at what "normal" K is here, and if he was in that class I would have yanked him out a long time ago without any hesitation. He doesn't need to sit around 6 hours every day learning letters and colors. His homework tonight is about building compound words like butterfly and passport, and he found it interesting, and easy - he did it all in his head in under 3 mins (I'm supposed to have him cut and paste the worksheet tonight, bah humbug). Kid seemed okay when I picked him up today, until I started asking him about his day. Apparently, he didn't "listen" to his teacher at all today. He was upset that his teacher was mad at him about that. I talked to him about it, but apparently there was no particular reason why he didn't listen. This is an ongoing issue, and it makes me feel completely bewildered. My only guess is that he feels completely overwhelmed being in a classroom with 24 other kids? Maybe it's something he can learn to deal with when he's older, but I approach homeschooling as just one option out of many, so I feel overwhelmed by the idea that homeschooling may be his only option. I was homeschooled, I've read way too many homeschooling books/sites/blogs the past few months. Tell me it's okay that I'm completely freaking out right now about actually doing this soon!

Thanks guys. happyshinypeople, yes, ugh, that's the thing. To clarify, he's 6. Late December b-day. Not that that matter too much. And no, he's not getting complete control, no matter how much he wants it, lol. But I think he would vote to do science experiments Every. Single. Day. Including weekends. !!!! I have to go to school. eh. I'll see how it goes.

Thanks Spy Car and stripe! I'm leaning towards MEP and BA because I'm not sure my kid is firm on the theory part, and he likes discovery-based learning. I'll have to just see how it goes, definitely. Just wish there was an obvious junction between the two we could try to use. stripe, if I understand you right, your son uses BA as a supplement? So, if it doesn't click with my kid, it could be a fun reading book to reinforce MEP?

Sigh. Every kid hates going to school, right? But if you had already decided to homeschool next year, and your kid was distressed about going to school every single morning, would you just pull him out now? My kid is in K, going to a public charter. He won a lottery to get in. And they put him in the accelerated class. He's doing well there, likes his teacher okay, and usually declares his homework "easy." He does have friends at school, and is generally happy and content when we pick him up. But every morning when I take him to school he acts like I'm taking him to his execution. He stalls when I'm getting him dressed. He walks around outside when we go to the car. He gets "sick" in the car on the way there - it's a 5 min ride, tops, and when I say "it's so weird! your tummy always hurts right when I drive up to your school!" he giggles. He stands at the entrance with me and makes up stuff to do with me before I send him in. He tries to negotiate days off, "if I go to school today, then I should have Friday off, and Monday too." There's been a few times when he refused to go into school and threw a fit. An aide had to come out and practically carry him in. We let him know that this is Not Acceptable Behavior and he's stopped doing that. We've talked to his teacher and apparently there are also days when he takes to just sitting under a table in the corner of the classroom. As far as we can tell, he isn't being bullied or anything like that. He just hates it. Like I said, he's accelerated, and working about 2 grades ahead. He finds this challenging, but not boring. I'm not sure if he's gifted or not, I lean towards thinking he's just bright. I mean, sometimes he seems to immediately know everything, but the next moment he forgets everything he knows. Also, he went to a good pre-school in Europe when we lived there, programs which incorporated some Montessori type things, and he seemed to really enjoy those. He especially liked things like the shape building designs. So I'm not sure if him working ahead now is just because he started early with a good program. But he actually didn't like the pre-school after a while either, especially on the days when he went all day. So maybe it's mostly just an endurance issue? I'm beginning to think that he's an introvert, so that may be where some of the exhaustion and dislike is coming from. He currently really enjoys learning new things, so I worry that him hating school will make him hate learning. That's my husband's main worry, he was sent to an Alternative school which made him utterly bored and hate school, when it turns out that his only problem was that he's a bit 2e (dyscalculia with very high abstract thinking). Today in the car on the way to school kid brought up homeschooling again. He wants us to start immediately. Like, tonight. But he did say that he wanted complete control over the curriculum (he didn't use the word curriculum, but I'm sure he would have if he knew it). I told him that I was already picking things out and I would show it to him. I also told him that if we homeschooled he wouldn't get to play Red Punch anymore (that's a game he often plays at school, I don't even know what it is, but I'm pretty sure it involves at least a dozen kids). He was pretty quiet after that. I'm a "Just Get It Done" person, and I feel like pulling him out of school now would be a failure. But that might be just because of all the stuff I had to go through last year to get him in the lottery and then get him signed up? So I should remember that a failure to me doesn't mean a failure to him, right? I don't even know how to legally start homeschooling mid-year in Florida. We have tentative plans to move to Georgia in a few months, so I've only looked at the laws there. But every kid hates going to school, right? But it's March already, and he still makes himself sick over it. I don't think that's normal. But I wasn't planning on starting homeschooling for months! I only have a huge pile of bookmarks, a loaded folder named "Homeschool" in My Documents, a Word document with my tentative plans that's about a dozen pages long, and a few random K-1 workbooks. I don't feel ready. Would I feel ready in a few months? Or would I be freaking out like this then, too? We have another parent-teacher conference in a few hours. I haven't broached homeschooling with his teacher yet, I'm not sure how she'll react. She knows he's sensitive, but I know she worries about how his tendency to be solitary, and I don't think she'll think that homeschooling will solve that. But, I see him outside of school, and see him relate easily with 11 and 16 yo's (we go to a small church, so there's limited options on the church playground), so I'm not quite so worried. I don't want her to think there's anything wrong with her or the school, because we really do appreciate her and the accelerated class, but I have a hard time saying "I'm sorry kid, you have to go to school for a few more months" every single morning. Sigh. I don't know. I alternate between :willy_nilly: and :banghead: with a good dose of :wacko: and :svengo: . I know that ultimately I just have to decide something, but, ugh, it's good to just type all of this up and see it in black and white.

Thanks for mentioning this. I think I've decided on MEP for my accelerated K-er for next year. I was going to start MEP and Y2 with him, because he is already doing sums up to 20, and an online assessment places his work at the moment at grade 2.3. But then I looked deep into MEP, and decided to start him with Y1 and breeze through it when necessary. I've been thinking of doing BA with him in the future, and saw a lot of people saying that they did it after MEP Y3. But I just looked at the BA3A assessment test and, huh, it looks like my kid is already nearly there. He's been introduced to most of the concepts they're asking already, though not with such large numbers. So now I'm thinking that my plan should be a quick Y1, followed by starting Y2, and keep checking the BA 3A placement test to see when to start switching over/combining. But from looking at the MEP Scheme, numbers up to 10,000 aren't introduced until Y4.7, but BA3A seems to expect that already? I see the problem. Darn it! Wish BA2 was out, I could maybe've started him there.... Anyone else switch from MEP to BA3? What's my solution???

Yes, the short ribbon idea is from an Orthodox family I knew. The girl was only about 14mo though, I'm guessing they vetted the cross on it for lead and the like. I didn't ask for details. Now I wish I did! Michael's. That's a craft store. EEEEEEK! :scared: But it's a good idea. Thanks. Oh, the things my kid makes me do......

Weederberries - it sounds like a difficult situation. With my kid I really don't want to crush his spirit and start down the You Must Bend to My Will path. But sometimes he does have to obey. So, yes, balance, but keeping it is so hard! In my house Dad is the enforcer. If kid gets really bad then Pappa steps in and does a stiff "talking to" - "This is NOT acceptable. You WILL listen to your mother. I do NOT want to see you act that way EVER again. Do you understand me?" I usually run away and hide during this conversation... There's hugs all around afterwards, and we do try to let him have his own time to do whatever he chooses. Plus, it's becoming clear that kid is an introvert. Not surprising, since both Dad and I are (I am a very major introvert). Introverts, ime, have issues with self-expression, so they try to grab control in unusual/unexpected ways. It's probably why I was so stubborn as a kid, logic and reason had no sway with me once I decided on something. Trying to override that control is emotionally distressing. So with my kid, if I see his argument is emotional, and walking away won't solve it, I just ease up and soften my tone and then give him a series of options which I find acceptable. So for sentence writing you could say "okay, maybe instead of copying the exact sentence you could write a new sentence with the corrections!" (so if the sentence has "boy" he could write "girl" instead and so on). Invite him to brainstorm with you, then let him choose the solution. Yes, this can be exhausting! You said he has few "privileges" so taking something away could be extra distressing. You don't want to take away a summer camp that he looks forward to all year just because of a few sentences! It's your call if making him do something extra, like helping you make dinner, would work. Setting a "goal time" to be done is a good idea in any case, I think. Just remind him (and your daughter) how much time they have left at frequent intervals. And when they do do well, heap on praise. I try not to fall into the trap of praising a kid for something he should do anyways, but in an area they struggle with I make an exception. With my kid the major issue is eating, so when he finishes eating, even if it is two hours later than the time he first started the meal, I thank him for eating. Slowly (very slowly) it's becoming less of an issue.

Are you looking for these? http://naturalmath.wikispaces.com/Young+Math+book+series

I have seen the materials for Resurrection Eggs. There's a book that goes with it called Benjamin's Box, and then a how-to pamphlet. I browsed through it in the Sunday School materials at my church, but it's too complicated to do in a single Sunday School class. Great for at home, though! It has the kids collect little "tokens" relating to the Easter story, so for very littles who still want to taste everything you may want to modify it.

Thanks for the ideas! He wears ankle socks, so we can't really make it an anklet. With a lapel pin we could maybe pin it inside his pants pocket, so he can put his hand in his pocket and feel it when he wants to? But then I'd be the one constantly shifting it from pant to pant....eh. I was definitely thinking of starting him off with something inexpensive. Hopefully, he'll even go for some of the little cheap things I have in the bottom of my jewelry box. I looked up hazelwood and amber necklaces, and maybe these have the advantage of being comparatively heavy? I just have a bad mental picture of this thing streaming about him when he's in the playground. Kids. Why do they have to be so bizarre?

I looked on the internet and it looks like his complaint is that the standards aren't rigorous enough. He wants every High School student to take Calculus by 12th grade. Which is a noble goal, but not really doable, imo. When I was joined public High School I took Geometry in 10th, like I thought every normal person did. But then I happened to sit in study hall next to some girls I sorta knew, girls who lived in our town's version of the "wrong side of the tracks" and I was baffled by their math homework. "What class are you in?" I asked. "Oh, we're in Integrated Math." Integrated Math? I worked out that this class was for students that were behind in math, and I'm not exactly sure what their homework entailed, but it was definitely pre-Algebra. It apparently counted as a math credit for graduation, but clearly it wasn't on the "college prep" track. CC, again, is minimum standards. The goal is that everyone can go to Community College and not have to take a remedial math class. Making sure 10th graders are doing something more than pre-Algebra is a worthwhile goal, even if we may find the idea that there are 10th graders not doing Algebra shocking. But just because some 10th graders couldn't do Algebra in my school didn't mean that there wasn't a good number of 10th graders in the Geometry classes. And my high school did offer a Calculus class, too.

Reading music is like riding a bike, ime. I didn't do anything concerning sheet music for a long time, but then we moved into a house with a piano, and my husband wanted to learn how to sing, so I sat down at the piano and worked it out. Middle C, ok, move up from there - and here's G, ok. It took a few minutes, and I still have to stop and think sometimes, and I had to look up what, exactly, the dot after the note was doing, which took a few minutes of googling. But I could do it. I can't sit down and play a song again, but I know how to help my husband when he asks "what does this note sound like?" So what I learned as a kid is worth it to me.

So, my 6yo boy has decided that he is "scared." He's scared of a lot of things. He stopped watching Thomas & Friends because something scared him. But lately, he's been very scared. Bad dreams at night and all that jazz. We have a small table crucifix, so we put that on the table next to his bed. But the last few days he's taken to carrying it around the house with him, though usually only after it gets dark. And when he goes to bed, instead of leaving it on the table next to his bed, he puts it in bed next to him. Just tonight he fell asleep holding it. Anyways, it's sorta cute, but sorta worrisome. Plus, he can't exactly carry around the 6" gold-plated crucifix whenever he leaves the house. My husband suggested he wear a crucifix, so that he could wear it under his clothes and always have God with him. Son is very much in favor of this idea. But I'm like, kid? boy? 6? necklace??? Does not compute on the safety scale. I've searched the internet for good ideas on this front, and came up pretty empty-handed. These are my ideas so far: 1. Put a very lightweight small cross on a ribbon, something that can be easily cut/torn if it gets snagged. 1a. Tie the ribbon very closely around his neck to reduce the possibility of it getting snagged. But then would it stay under his clothes? (he does attend a public charter school, and I'm not sure if they have a policy about jewelry, I'm more worried about his propensity to jump around constantly). 1b. Secure the ribbon together with some tape. Idea is that the tape will let go if the ribbon gets pulled? 2. I saw on the internet the recommendation to use magnetic clasps. The theory is that they will let go with even a small amount of force? 2a. Can the magnetic clasp idea be combined with the ribbon idea? 2b. Again, is it best to go longer or shorter? Any other ideas/advice? Obviously, I'll enforce the routine of taking the necklace off at night. He can keep the crucifix with him then. :rolleyes:

I have a 6yo who is bright and accelerated, and currently in a public school which sometimes send him home with homework that causes grrrrrrr-inducing sounds from me. With him I've found it's sometimes best if I let him work On. His. Own., which he will insist on if I am too close by and he is getting frustrated. Except sometimes, when he is frustrated and I am too far away and I should be Right. There. :willy_nilly: Course, he's still at the age where he depends on me to tell him, "okay, this is what your teacher wants you to do tonight." My husband is the one with psychological training, so he knows this better than me, but I think the key thing when you find yourself in a power struggle is to remove yourself from it. Make your expectations clear, and then walk away. This is assuming, of course, that you're completely confident the kid can accomplish what you told him without your help. If you're not, make sure they know they can ask for help if they don't understand something. If what they do isn't up to snuff, repeat your expectations and hand it back to them. Your kid might be totally different from mine, of course, but it's possible that your kid doesn't do well with constant pressure (the instructions, your presence, your evaluation) and will respond with just being stubborn. I can understand, that's the way I was as a kid. :D

Just wanted to comment that I actually have no dog in this fight. My kid is 6, and I'm planning on doing SSL1 with him this Fall, and we'll take it from there. I just find this interesting. I looked on the MP site, and it looks like for their Greek book they're assuming the student has two years of Latin under their belts already (http://www.memoriapress.com/onlineacademy/classes/latin-and-greek/first-form-greek). So whenever they do make it public it still may not be a good choice for a student who hasn't done Latin.

Yes! We'll be forever young identical triplets! :hurray:

Really? Huh. I've been trying off and on for a few weeks. I keep getting frustrated with the pink box and give up.