Yep! I’m not sure if mine is gifted or on the cusp. They gave him the WISC as part of the ADHD eval, which came back in the 120s, but of course he was/is unmedicated & judging by their description was basically bouncing off the walls for the entire assessment sooooo I’m not sure that’s entirely conclusive 🤷🏻‍♀️ Either way he’s a bright kid who NEEDS academic stimulation the same way he NEEDS physical stimulation.

Well, I’m definitely not “experienced” (my DS was just diagnosed ADHD last month) but at age 4 he was... relentless. SO energetic. He was in 3hrs if soccer a week (with park play before & after), rollerblading once a week, I think gymnastics weekly, too? We had a trampoline he used all the time. I had discovered that if I wore out his brain his mind slowed down a bit so we started “school” early! I’d have him run up / down flights of stairs to burn energy during lessons. The bigger issues were social. He was just so full-on, it was overwhelming *even to other kids his age*. Invading others’ personal space. Climbing EVERYTHING. Running everywhere, unable to walk. Having to hold our hands & jump in place to stand in line. He wasn’t all that impulsive yet - that has begun to rear its head more recently.

We’re doing decently. Taking life one day at a time, keeping to our regular schedule as much as possible. DS was officially assessed in early March & diagnosed ADHD-H/I. By the time we got his results back things were too hectic to meet with his pediatrician, so we haven’t begun to try out any therapies or medication yet. We did give her a head’s up at his well check that he was being assessed, so she knows we’ll need to get together to go over options when possible. We’ve homeschooled without intervention (or a diagnosis) this long, I can hang in there until this blows over...

I think what you are doing right now sounds great! DS spent about a year after learning letter formation on copy work alone - first single words, the one sentence at a time, then a couple, etc. along with narrating summaries to me. We didn’t begin dictation or writing anything totally independently (thought-to-page) until the following year.

My DS is 7 but is an early & enthusiastic writer kind of on the opposite end of the spectrum to Lori D’s kiddos. Nonetheless, the pattern of development seems very similar. Currently over the course of a week he: Completes two HWOT cursive lessons; a 2pg spread per lesson. Analyzes 2 sentences for grammar. I usually write these out, so he just labels parts of speech & such. Completes one AAS lesson across two days. 5 dictated sentences one day, 2-3 self-created sentences using spelling words the other day. Writes one short poem or story (2-4 sentences) & one simile using a newly-learned Latin stem. Works in a critical thinking workbook that sometimes includes writing single-sentence answers from a prompt. Narrates about a history or science topic we covered that week. We do these mostly orally, but I’m going to try to start having him write it out (with help outlining) once a month. We’ll begin formally working on paragraphs in the autumn. ———————————————————————— ETA: Last semester was totally different, as he was working on creative writing projects of his own choosing. He wrote a play script, then a short story for NaNoWriMo. For big projects like those he dictates while I scribe. I then write his story on the dry-erase board a few sentences at a time, & he copies his own story, a bit at a time, until the whole thing is on paper in his own hand. Those & spelling were the only writing we had time (or endurance!) for last semester!

Yup. I’m already dealing with this from DS7... I’d guess we have a long road of head-desking ahead of us. 🙃

All About Spelling has worked beautifully for my DS after completing LOE Foundations. Quick & easy, uses almost exactly the same cues / prompts for spelling rules. The books are numbered, but the numbers are not grade levels - just a sequence.

School is pretty much normal for us - I already have nearly everything I was planning to use next year, so we’ll just keep going for however long we’re stuck at home. I did use this as an opportunity to establish official chores. Mostly it’s stuff DS was doing anyway, but it’s helped us consistently get around to some of the more infrequent tasks & has increased everyone’s accountability. I picked up some more art supplies. DS’ interest in hand-sewing has rekindled, so he is working on completing a stuffie project. He’s been pleasure reading during his quiet times (60min on weekdays, 90min on weekends). We’re playing tabletop games. He’s slowly chipping away at Scouting achievements even though he already completed rank requirements. Other that that... he is playing an absurd amount of video games & watching Star Wars cartoons with DH 🤷🏻‍♀️. I’m unbothered. We’re in a crisis situation; I’m not pushing anyone - myself included.

We used Foundations all the way through & loved it. It is very thorough & engaging (read: FUN!) at every level. The books are all high quality (hardback Lesson books, sturdy weight, full-color, perforated Workbooks) so they held up very well. I didn’t personally care for their spelling exercises, but the deep phonetic work has made learning to spell afterwards with a program that fit us better (AAS) go very quickly & smoothly.

My DS is really into the Magic School Bus picture & chapter books - he’s loved them for a solid year now & they’ve been around so long that it’s easy to find them secondhand, so we have quite the collection! We’ve also enjoyed the Let’s Read & Find Out series and the Usborne See Inside series. Human Body Theatre is a great stand-alone. The One Small Square series & the “_____ Anatomy” series by Julia Rothman are both beautiful, but we haven’t found a great way to use them yet. DS doesn’t have much patience with nature-study type activities.

We have always used it in conjunction with mapping activities & a globe. No confusion here at all. Pulling the civilizations out of context with one another defeats the purpose of chronological (or in the case of SoTW, semi-chronological) history - a huge part of the story depends on comparing & contrasting the groups over time.

That’s cool! We love gameschooling 🙂 Is it always in California, or does it change locations annually?

All About Spelling has been a great fit here. Every lesson he gets practice spelling both verbally & on paper (plus with phonogram tiles if you so choose). Every lesson reviews both mastered & unmastered content. Every lesson he is writing complete sentences, which translates directly into his independent writing. The only draw-back is that if I hadn’t found the books used for a great price, it would be getting expensive as he will have completed 3 levels by the end of this year.

These were hugely popular in Hong Kong when we lived there, but unfortunately I never could get DS interested in them. It’s been over a year though, & our local library has the whole physics series so perhaps we’ll give them another shot. Thanks for the reminder 😊

Yes, it does. Each of the spelling lessons is phonics-based.

My DS is about a grade level behind Wendy’s kiddos, but the above is true for us as well. He is on track to complete AAS 1-3 this year & the improvement in his independent writing has been excellent.

...

I would be thrilled to have that opportunity!

I was thinking the same thing! I find writing in print to be faster, neater, & more comfortable. Perhaps it has something to do with being left-handed, or my pencil grip... I’m not sure. I do know that in sixth grade I got fed up with my handwriting being nearly illegible & went back to self-teach from primary notebooks. My print now is very clear, if not beautiful. As for DS, I’ll require that he use his new skill for copy work once or twice a week next year, then occasionally for free writing after that. I have no preference which he ends up using primarily. He’s in 1st now, so we’ll work on cementing cursive in 2nd before moving on to learn typing in 3rd.

I only have a moment for now, but I hope to circle back here later. I would strongly recommend Michael Clay Thompson’s book Music of the Hemispheres for a simple introduction to several elements of poetry. The man clearly loves language - it shines through in his work - & there are also skill-based prompts. Poetry is a “low floor, high ceiling” creature... I’ve found that appreciation really blossoms once you’ve wrestled with it yourself.

My DS is learning cursive because over a year after reading the series, he was still intrigued by Ramona Quimby’s discussion of it & her “kitty-cat Qs”. 😅 Once he completes the HWT workbook I will have him continue to practice writing a little bit in cursive once or twice a week - maybe writing letters to a friend or family member - but it certainly won’t be all of his writing. He has perfectly sufficient print handwriting; clear, neat, & small.

Annddd I’ve totally derailed the thread. 💣 💥 Sorry! 🤦🏻‍♀️

Not at all! I love reading about her, & everything the others are doing over here as well. I think Lace is right & that it’s just the imposter syndrome talking... DS also has SPD (potentially undiagnosed ADHD) & things have been particularly rough in that regard lately, so I’m just in a bit of a funk trying to get a handle on that. He’s “not fitting in” in the worst ways, without displaying his talents anywhere but our home classroom, so I feel like a bit of a fraud.

DS will be going into 2nd grade in the fall. We will likely move again in the second half of the school year, so we’ll continue to school year-round. UPDATE V.3 Composition: IEW Fables, Myths, & Fairy Tales Reading: 20min/day of self-chosen chapter book reading + assigned fables, myths, & fairy tales to compliment our composition curriculum. for him as well as activities such as defining & illustrating words, Handwriting: Cursive copy work Spelling: AAS 4 & 5 Grammar: MCT Grammar Town, Practice Town Latin: Recommended roots from MCT Grammar Town covered via Membean (website) Poetics: MCT Building Poems Math: BA 3D-4D, RS Math Games Logic: EM Critical & Creative Thinking 5/6, Brain Benders, Logic Countdown History: History Quest Middle Ages Science: RSO Astronomy 1 Art: Printmaking, flower pressing, observation drawing, watercolor painting Electives: Scouts, soccer, homeschool day at the library

I was a little hesitant, but no one else had gotten around to starting one for DS’ grade so I went ahead. I could see it not being a super-useful resource the further out from the norm you get, & if your AL is well into the tails of the bell curve people are likely to comment (which may or may not bother you). My DS isn’t super accelerated, though. There are times I wonder if we really ought to be here at all 😅