I just wanted to clarify that the courses I was taking and the courses I taught in grad school revolved around education. I was earning my PhD in Instructional Technology and teaching pre-service teachers how to incorporate technology into their classrooms. Obviously, in a math or science course, much of the work will still need to be done on paper, as in your physics course. Too, anything like art, music, or drama would rely less heavily on technology. When I was teaching high school, I also found that my AP kiddos embraced and utilized technology much more than my other students, primarily because AP kids have a higher SES and can afford it. I think it's very important that schools provide "technology equality" for all students. I don't plan on relying on technology. I plan to use it as a tool to enhance my son's education. :)

I just wanted to post a huge thank you to everyone who has replied to me. I'm so glad I found these boards! I am learning so much and getting great advice! Thank you for taking the time to help out a newbie like me! :grouphug:

Thank you! Would it be better for me to just start researching together the history behind what we are learning, or as was suggested, one item over time? What are you planning to do with your 2e ds?

This is good wisdom for me to remember! Thank you! I'm sure the first week will be a huge eye- opener for me! I'm hoping that by letting him choose what we learn, he will be interested. It'll be hard when I weave in other subjects, though, as they may not be as interesting to him. If he chooses to study about biology, for example, he would love labeling a plant or the body, but when it comes time to read about a famous biologist or write about it, he could very easily lose interest. What do you do in these situations? I don't want to force him, but if he had his way, he'd never write. And I let him write however he wants, too. I let him make a comic strip or write a short story or even create an advertisement or PowerPoint to show me he's understood what he's learned. It's not like I'd assign an essay a day or anything, but if he doesn't want to write in any form, what do you suggest I do? Thank you in advance! :)

Thank you, Lisa! Yes, I know it will be hardest on me because of my background. Thankfully, I was one of those teachers who broke the rules and taught outside of the box successfully, much to the chagrin of my administration, but my kids' achievement kept them from forcing me to do it their way. Now you can't get away with not following scope and sequence, just leaving kids dangling along the way. I hate that! I could never go back to public school teaching. I'd pull my hair out being micromanaged! I've always tried to meet my students where they were and to adapt my curriculum to meet the needs of my various students, but it was not without sacrificing my time, sleep, and even health. It's just impossible when you have 30-40 kids crammed in one 90-minute block! I need to remember I'm not trying to replicate the public school setting. I need to go back and re-read my unschooling books. I need to wrap my head around the freedom I now have in homeschooling. Ironically, it's harder to teach without constraints than it is to teach with them. I admire every homeschooler that takes on this challenge! I'm so thankful I found this site and these boards to help me along the way! Thank you, again, for your advice! :)

He did really well with Singapore math in school. I checked out AoPS and love it, but it looks like he'd be in their Beast category, and they've yet to publish a 5th grade book. Maybe it's coming soon. I don't want to dive into pre-algebra, as that is my very weak spot--Algebra. I was a geometry girl. He had some pre-algebra in 3rd in his advanced math class where he was doing 5th grade work. In 4th grade, he had to redo the 4th grade math, which really irked me. Now I'm stuck wondering if I should go 5th grade or 6th grade. He was 100% on the state test for math for 4th, but since he hasn't done 5th since 3rd, maybe I need to help him refresh. I'll definitely give him a bunch of the diagnostic tests to see where he falls. He'll love that! Not! :)

He used Singapore Math. He already completed the 5th grade curriculum and was moving into pre-algebra when they pulled the plug in the advanced pull-out classes he was in, so he ended up repeating 4th grade math and working as the classroom tutor. :(. I wonder now if I need to review 5th grade math before moving on. Yes! My son is like your dd. He is much more thorough and careful in his writing when he knows it's being published. He also enjoys anything online much more than paper and pencil, but he's already mastered handwriting and cursive, so I think it's fine he goes digital. :) So do you prefer AoPS for math? I haven't heard anything about LoF here. It looked good to me because it was fun and interesting, but he's the one it needs to work for. I think I'm going to have him help me pick out the curriculum that I'll use for my own reference, as it was highly suggested I don't focus heavily on curriculum in and of itself.

This is GREAT advice! Thank you so much for taking time to explain your standpoint. I see what you're saying. The curriculum really is for me, like you said, especially for the subjects I'm not as skilled with. I can use them as reference but use his interests to dealve into what HE wants to learn about and help him make connections through various subjects. He seems to work best on his own or if he's a leader of a group. He was more advanced than his peers in math, so he was being used as the classroom tutor, and he loved that. The best way to learn something is to teach it, so maybe I should let him use whatever "curriculum references" I choose so he can teach ME. What do you think of that idea? No, I haven't read the sequel but will do so immediately. Thanks for the tip! Looking through the 5th grade curriculum offerings, you are right. He's definitely at an upper middle school/lower high school level, and if he's not challenged, he gets bored fast. He doesn't like dull, which is why my first math choice was Life of Fred, as it seems fun and engaging. I do like the Oakmeadow Boomerang program where he gets a book each month and can then discuss it with other kids in an online forum; however, I'm not sure about the copy/dictation element. The rest of the stuff seems pretty good though, but if I understand you correctly, I just need the novel and go explore with him from there, right? You said to just start with what he's into and go from there, but as an Aspie, he gets obsessed with one thing. It started with Thomas the Tank Engine and trains, moved to Legos, and now he wants to eat, breathe, and live Minecraft. I'm not into Minecraft at all. :( I know he'll enjoy the Minecraft Homeschool classes that run like 6 weeks each; they're really inexpensive, too. But I can't see just "running" with this one thing. He also loves Magic: The Gathering. Our whole family plays and goes to competitions. I can't tell you how much it improved both his vocabulary and math skills. I guess I need to read WEM to get a concrete idea of what you mean. I hope I'm at least getting the gist of it. :) Thank you, again!

I don't know how to post what you said so my reply makes sense because your reply was within my original post (how do I do that?), so I just copy/pasted it: >>>Look up threads related to vocabulary for recommendations. Typical Vocabulary workbooks are a waste of time and money. Instead, reading great literature (aloud and discussing it) and doing some Latin and Greek Roots are the most effective way to teach an excellent vocabulary. If you use the SOTW Activity Book along with SOTW, there will be lists and lists of recommended reading related to each chapter of SOTW you read. You can also go to the American Library Association's website for lists of award winning books. Between my husband and I, we read aloud great literature about 2 hours per day 5 days per week. Not all in one sitting. If this is new to your family, you may need to start with shorter read loud times and work up to longer ones. There are lots of different Latin and Greek word root options out there. The SOTW Activity Books include mapwork directly related to each chapter of SOTW. Mapping the World with Art is good, but it's also time consuming, so I'd only use it if my child was particularly interested in art. Once you get to copying the coast of Greece, you're going to see if this is a good fit for your child or not. In the SOTW Activity books Bauer recommends a more parts to whole approach to narrations. There are detailed instructions at the beginning of each book. If your child hasn't done narrations yet, I would prioritize that to lay the foundation for writing. A child who can't retain what he's heard or read and articulate a summary will struggle with reading something and then putting thoughts about it on paper. If your child struggles with a more parts to whole approach, or if you just prefer it, you can try a more whole to parts approach like Charlotte Mason recommends. If you use the SOTW Activity books, the great composers are part of the recommended reading lists in the relevant chapters. We've combined that Beethoven's Wig Sing Along Symphonies as they apply. <<<< Thank you for your response! Sounds like the SOTW books will cover the majority of the curriculum if supplemented with fiction and nonfiction reading selections. I think I should get it first before making other choices, as it sounds like it will cover history, reading, geography, art, and music! >>>Choir-1 outside activity. Fencing team -2 outside activities Swim Team-3 outside activities Community Theater-4 outside activities Your outside activities sound terribly unrealistic to me. When will you do school? Laundry? Grocery shop? Have down time so your son can get bored sometimes and come up with creative ways to entertain himself or pursue his own interests to read about or tinker with? When will he play with friends in an unstructured way? When will you have family time? When will he do his chores?<<< I should have been more clear. Choir is at church one night a week. Fencing is offered once a week in Fall. Swimming is offered once a week the latter part of Spring. His age group only attends 3 local meets at the start of summer. His age group for fencing doesn't have matches against other teams. He has to be in HS for that. He specifically asked to do community theater again after being cast in his first play, so I don't want to squelch that. I can work curriculum around the subject and time period of the play if he gets cast again. His chores include the gardening, recycling, and composting, which will also cover some science. I'm lucky in that he's not a messy kid. He has Aspergers, so he's pretty meticulous about his room though he refuses to brush his hair, which many Aspie's have issues with. :) >>>You can simply keep is work in 3 ring binder type notebook(s) and keep your plans on file so you can keep track of what he's been doing. Why does he need a blog?<<< A website and blog he maintains would be better, IMHO, because, like it or not, we are immersed in the age of technology. Many universities require online portfolios now, and it would be a great way to show his progress. Too, he loves using the computer, as do I. I earned my PhD in Instructional Technology, so I know first-hand that we are quickly moving away from consumables into the digital world. He wants to be a computer engineer or architect. He will need as much hands-on technology as I can provide to succeed in both college and the workforce. Even at UT, all our work was submitted electronically within the Blackboard program. We never turned in paper copies of anything, and as an instructor, I provided handouts, notes, feedback, and grades through the same system. Gone are the days of overflowing filing cabinets, binders, and backpacks full of notebooks. Now we just have laptops or tablets and a textbook, many of which are also digital now. Of course, I'm still a proponent of hands-on learning, and I don't want my son stuck in front of the computer all day, so I thought maintaining his own website with his dialectical reading response journal and blog about what he's learning would be a great way to incorporate technology. Believe it or not, kindergartners are learning to create their own websites! I've seen amazing things in regard to technology in education if it's used properly. :)

Thank you! This helps tremendously! I'm used to teaching 17-18 yo AP kiddos, and I'm an only child with an only child, so I was relying on his teachers to tell me how he was performing, and it always seemed like his gap between input and output was so great there must be something wrong. Your message has made me feel so much better! :) I'll repost what I said above since it's the same sentiment: Thank you! It's those stupid standardized tests that are always making me think he's behind in writing, but when he cares about something, he writes brilliantly. It's so frustrating. And every teacher he's had has said he's a "reluctant writer" like it's a bad thing. I never taught elementary kids, so I only had what the teachers said to go on. I ended up teaching him how to fake his way through the STAAR writing test with the ridiculous cookie-cutter 5-paragraph method they push us to teach HS kiddos. At least he was able to write something! Otherwise, he wouldn't have written a thing because he didn't like the prompt. They're so generic, who would? Of course, the AP kids could NEVER write like that and get away with it because, well, it's awful! Just shows us how much PS kids are being dumbed down. I will focus on just helping him grow in all areas and forget the difference in levels of performance. You made my day! :) :) :)

Thank you! It's those stupid standardized tests that are always making me think he's behind in writing, but when he cares about something, he writes brilliantly. It's so frustrating. And every teacher he's had has said he's a "reluctant writer" like it's a bad thing. I never taught elementary kids, so I only had what the teachers said to go on. I ended up teaching him how to fake his way through the STAAR writing test with the ridiculous cookie-cutter 5-paragraph method they push us to teach HS kiddos. At least he was able to write something! Otherwise, he wouldn't have written a thing because he didn't like the prompt. They're so generic, who would? Of course, the AP kids could NEVER write like that and get away with it because, well, it's awful! Just shows us how much PS kids are being dumbed down. I'm filing all the foreign language suggestions away for the future so I don't bite off more than I can chew my first year, but thanks so much!

Thanks for the great advice! I know I'll have to work hard to stay mom and not go into "teacher mode," but with all this support, advice, and encouragement, I'm hoping I can have a successful first year!

Thank you for your feedback! I really like what I've seen on Bravewriter so far. The CTY is a talent program he was accepted into--it's from Johns Hopkins. He can take whatever online class he wants. They offer some really fun ones, not just math. He's not doing the big tuition-paid program. He just gets one class per semester. He loves the computer, so I know he'll enjoy having an online class, and he specifically asked to do the Minecraft homeschool online class where he builds his own world and writes an adventure story he sends the other kids on inside the world he creates. That's all him, as I'm not a Minecraft kind of gal. Lol. I agree with both you and Ellie, especially since he hates art. All I can think is that it has something to do with textures. Aspie kids get freaked out by certain textures, and the feeling can even be painful for them. That's why so many of them don't like clothing. He'll be thrilled when I tell him he can practically live in his boxer shorts if we are inside learning. Lol! :) I'm thinking of just doing the MTWWA because he likes maps, and it combines geography and art. I'm definitely going to use the BBC free typing program, and I'm filing the foreign language suggestions away for now so I don't try to do too much. :)

Thank you! This is GREAT advice! In fact, I'm going to print it out and tape it inside my journal! I definitely want to let my ds guide the learning because I know he'll be more interested. The more he's interested, the more he'll absorb. I definitely don't want this to be stressful. It should be fun for both of us; otherwise, what's the point? It'll be so freeing to finally be able to take TIME, to go off on learning tangents, and to be able to scrap whatever isn't working. I'm going to take a 180 from traditional teaching, which I've always wanted to do but was never allowed to because I was embedded in education politics where kids DO NOT come first--test scores do!

Thank you! Free is great, and I love BBC. He'd definitely like fighting bad guys. :) I will file the Spanish suggestion away because just from reading everyone's awesome replies, I can see that would be biting off more than I can chew my first year. :)

Thank you for the suggestions! I'm definitely going to check out AoPS, as that seems to be the consensus for kids strong in math. As for verbal skills, he's at a crazy 10th grade level, yet his writing is at 7th because he's a reluctant writer even though he could write something wonderful if he wanted to. He just gets bored writing and hates anything timed, too. He always wants to know how much he has to write instead of worrying about how well he writes, which is what I want to emphasize. How do they become so externally motivated so fast? I've done everything I know of to keep him intrinsically motivated to learn and produce good work. I like WWS because it isn't about rote memorization. He has to use context clues and understand the various parts of speech one word can act as, which often stumps students. I planned to use the words for spelling, as well. However, just because I love WWS doesn't mean he will, so I'll try some sample lessons with him before shelling out the $ for it. :) I will definitely set up a flexible schedule with his input. I know letting him make choices is one of the most important parts of keeping him engaged and excited about learning.

Thank you! I will definitely check both of these out!

Thank you! I will definitely prepare myself to experience the roller coaster ride full of unexpected twists and turns! :) I will have to check out Writing Strands. Thank you for the suggestion. I'm also going to look at Brave Writer, which someone else suggested. Even though I consider myself a "cool" mom and was a "modern" teacher, I have one very old-fashioned English teacher belief: having a thorough understanding of grammar and usage leads to better writing and reading comprehension. I don't mean diagraming, but my method is similar. I use labeling. And I think the 8 parts of speech are just a very shallow base for the intricacies involved in understanding and appreciating language. It's the phrases, clauses, and modifiers that are the most important parts to learn. Once a child understands that these act as single parts of speech and they have learned the basic sentence structures, it all falls into place and is actually quite easy to understand. Kids go from ok writers to exceptional writers. They move up in reading levels, and they can communicate more effectively. I have witnessed first-hand the decline of the English language. It started when schools got rid of basic grammar and started embedding mini-lessons out of context from grammar as a whole into larger lessons. Now we have kids using textese and emoticons in their essays. :( Teaching something in bits and pieces can work great with many other subjects but not grammar. I started getting AP kiddos who would turn in essays full of serious sentence errors, like fragments and comma splices--errors that would cost them college credit because they wouldn't pass the tests, let alone set them up for failure in college. I was not taught grammar well in HS, and when I ended up in my writing courses in college, my papers were hacked to shreds with a bleeding red pen. I was very angry at my HS English teachers for not giving me the tools I needed to succeed in college and for giving me a false sense of achievement in my college prep courses by awarding me high marks. I went to the college writing lab, learned about grammar and usage finally, and my writing improved a thousandfold. Having the experience myself and watching my own students' writing blossom once they mastered grammar has ingrained this belief in me. Sorry I hopped up on a soapbox! I just want everyone to know what a huge difference grammar can make overall. :) Maybe I should nix the Artelier and just use the MTWWA since that combines geography and art. The year I was supposed to have geography, they replaced it with Civics, which was just a fluff course in how to become a good citizen. I hate not knowing geography and have tried to learn it on my own but never had time, so I was thinking this would be a great way to learn together. He hates art, but he loves maps. What kid hates art?! Lol.

Thank you! This was great info and very helpful. I was getting a bit overwhelmed trying to fit in everything, but that's the exact reason I think public schools fail our children. It's just ingrained in me to get it all done and get it all done NOW! I have to really work to shift my mind because I do have that PS mentality from so many years in PS, but as a mother, I'm a huge proponent of unschooling. Lol. I definitely want my son's interests and curiosity to drive what we learn together. I just want to have the resources on hand. I want to teach half as much, twice as well. :) I know this may sound dorky, but I wanted to start each day by asking him, "What do you want to learn about today?" If he says something like, "Where did clocks come from?" then I would weave in history, non-fiction reading, writing, math, and possibly geography, but just enough of each to answer his question, enhance his knowledge/skill/understanding, and further pique his curiosity. I'm one of those teachers who threw out the state test workbooks full of drills and created lessons that had components of every learning style--visual, auditory, kinesthetic, verbal, logical. I pretty much killed myself. I lived at the school. Sure, I had better results than those teaching drill and kill, but it was at the cost of my own health. I definitely don't want to let myself do that with my ds. This should be FUN for both of us. :) If it feels like a job more than a learning adventure and quality time with my ds, then I'll know I'm doing something wrong. I will definitely carve out time for myself! Thank you so much!

Thank you so much! I can now get more out of the discussions because I know what the abbreviations mean! :)

I was going to just start with vol. 1 of the elementary SOTW. DS loves when I read to him, and he always has questions that take us on a new learning adventure. I want his curiosity and inquisitiveness to guide everything we learn together, not a set-in-stone curriculum. I was looking at the Apologia elementary set because his charter school covered bits and pieces here and there, but he wants to be an engineer or architect, and I think he'll need a more thorough curriculum in science. However, after further research and feedback, I think it will be too Bible-based for him. I was looking at Oak Meadow, and I'm liking what I'm seeing so far. Good question. That will all depend on my DS and what he wants and how he's doing. If we are enjoying our learning adventure and I feel he's continuously showing progress, I'll just keep homeschooling him. If I find I'm out of my depth and can't keep up with his needs, I'll try to find the perfect charter school for him. :)

Hi! My name is Kurstin, and I am a former public school teacher. I taught high school English for 18 years. My subjects included AP English, Journalism/Yearbook, and Drama/Acting. I moved out of teaching into a School Improvement Facilitator position and also worked as an Asst. Professor in the Curriculum & Instruction/Instructional Technology program at UT Austin. I am happily married and have a 10 yo son who is GT, 2e, and has Aspergers. My son was enrolled in a fabulous charter school, but we have moved, and I plan on homeschooling him this year. He is entering 5th grade but is academically performing on a 6th and 7th grade level. I have been building the curriculum to use this year since I found out we were moving a month ago, which isn't much time. I'm hoping to get some feedback and learn from everyone here so I avoid as many pitfalls as possible. I've browsed through several forums, and my biggest problem is that I'm not familiar with the acronyms used for many curricula. Is there a list somewhere? Here is what I am planning to use so far (this is not set in stone, as I want feedback first): Vocabulary--Wordly Wise Math: Life of Fred and Teaching Textbooks (this is his strongest subject and my weakest) Science: Apologia History & Geography: Story of the World & Mapping the World with Art Spanish: ? Reading, Writing, and Grammar I'm creating myself from the tons of resources I've collected over the years; however, I'm wondering which grammar books you suggest and am open to any suggested reading comp. and writing curricula most enjoyed by kids in middle school. I plan to supplement with Minecraft Homeschool (he's a Minecraft addict) and CTY online courses. Art: Atelier Music: World's Greatest Composers & singing lessons/choir Eco-Wellness: hands-on gardening, upcycling, recycling, composting, etcetera. Keyboarding: ? PE: fencing and swim teams Drama: community theater Technology: Hopscotch I would truly appreciate any and all feedback. Am I trying to cover too much? Are these good choices? Any recommendations? I definitely need to find a Spanish curriculum for beginners and a quick keyboarding curriculum because I want him to be able to type properly and quickly so he can create a portfolio website full of his work, a daily blog, and a dialectical reading journal. I thought this would be a great visual way to track his growth. Do any of you do something similar? Thank you so much! I look forward to learning from all of you! ~Kurstin

Hi! My name is Kurstin, and I am a former public school teacher. I taught high school English for 18 years. My subjects included AP English, Journalism/Yearbook, and Drama/Acting. I moved out of teaching into a School Improvement Facilitator position and also worked as an Asst. Professor in the Curriculum & Instruction/Instructional Technology program at UT Austin. I am happily married and have a 10 yo son who is GT, 2e, and has Aspergers. My son was enrolled in a fabulous charter school, but we have moved, and I plan on homeschooling him this year. He is entering 5th grade but is academically performing on a 6th and 7th grade level. I have been building the curriculum to use this year since I found out we were moving a month ago, which isn't much time. I'm hoping to get some feedback and learn from everyone here so I avoid as many pitfalls as possible. I've browsed through several forums, and my biggest problem is that I'm not familiar with the acronyms used for many curricula. Is there a list somewhere? Here is what I am planning to use so far (this is not set in stone, as I want feedback first): Vocabulary--Wordly Wise Math: Life of Fred and Teaching Textbooks (this is his strongest subject and my weakest) Science: Apologia History & Geography: Story of the World & Mapping the World with Art Spanish: ? Reading, Writing, and Grammar I'm creating myself from the tons of resources I've collected over the years; however, I'm wondering which grammar books you suggest and am open to any suggested reading comp. and writing curricula most enjoyed by kids in middle school. I plan to supplement with Minecraft Homeschool (he's a Minecraft addict) and CTY online courses. Art: Atelier Music: World's Greatest Composers & singing lessons/choir Eco-Wellness: hands-on gardening, upcycling, recycling, composting, etcetera. Keyboarding: ? PE: fencing and swim teams Drama: community theater Technology: Hopscotch I would truly appreciate any and all feedback. Am I trying to cover too much? Are these good choices? Any recommendations? I definitely need to find a Spanish curriculum for beginners and a quick keyboarding curriculum because I want him to be able to type properly and quickly so he can create a portfolio website full of his work, a daily blog, and a dialectical reading journal. I thought this would be a great visual way to track his growth. Do any of you do something similar? Thank you so much! I look forward to learning from all of you! ~Kurstin