Guest Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 (edited) I have math but how about the rest? I know about Micheal Clay Thompson LA, Prufock Press, and Moving Beyond the Page. What else is out there? I thought it might be interesting to start a thread about this. Edited October 2, 2009 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 College of William and Mary curriculum http://cfge.wm.edu/curriculum.htm Royal Fireworks Press http://www.rfwp.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 I read somewhere that Connect the Thoughts was for gifted kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiobrain Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 Go to the library and get Lisa Rivero's "creative Homeschooling". Horrible Histories, Horrible Science, Horrible Geography. http://www.horriblebooks.com get Nova, National Geographic and history channel stuff out of the library. Graphic Novels based on history, science and great works of literature. Go to Hoagies, Julie's homeschool diner and, bright kids at home (google). join tagmax... a gifted HS web list. go on "digest" good luck! You already have the most obvious and important ones. You will do fine! Good luck!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 Personally, I have found "gifted" curricula less useful than just looking for good quality curricula (deep, well-thought out) at a higher level for my kids and requiring more (either greater depth or quicker speed)... I'm not afraid to "telescope" skill-oriented lessons (grammar, math) and move more quickly, doing multiple lessons at a time. I'm not afraid to use content-oriented lessons that were meant for kids much older than mine and that require a greater depth of discussion or thought. Now, I'm not saying we avoid all materials targeted toward gifted kids -- ds is in his third year participating in Math Olympiad, and their materials are great; we've used / are using materials from Prufrock and Hickory Grove Press (though those weren't necessarily designed for "gifted" kids, they're just sometimes marketed that way) -- but I do find that sometimes that "gifted" label is just that, a label, and doesn't really mean faster, deeper, richer, more challenging. Sometimes I have even found that "remedial" materials meant for much older students have worked well for my kids -- they tend to cover the material they're trying to teach quickly and efficiently with a minimum of clutter and limited "dancing around" type stuff... I suppose that has mostly applied to skill-oriented materials. I'm just saying: be open to many things. Don't shy away from reading about materials meant for older kids. Adapt when you need to, whether that's crossing out redundant material and moving quickly, requiring greater depth and more writing from your kids than others might ask of similarly aged kids, allowing them certain work-arounds to make material meant for older students accessible to them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiobrain Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 Personally, I have found "gifted" curricula less useful than just looking for good quality curricula (deep, well-thought out) at a higher level for my kids and requiring more (either greater depth or quicker speed)... I'm not afraid to "telescope" skill-oriented lessons (grammar, math) and move more quickly, doing multiple lessons at a time. I'm not afraid to use content-oriented lessons that were meant for kids much older than mine and that require a greater depth of discussion or thought. Now, I'm not saying we avoid all materials targeted toward gifted kids -- ds is in his third year participating in Math Olympiad, and their materials are great; we've used / are using materials from Prufrock and Hickory Grove Press (though those weren't necessarily designed for "gifted" kids, they're just sometimes marketed that way) -- but I do find that sometimes that "gifted" label is just that, a label, and doesn't really mean faster, deeper, richer, more challenging. Sometimes I have even found that "remedial" materials meant for much older students have worked well for my kids -- they tend to cover the material they're trying to teach quickly and efficiently with a minimum of clutter and limited "dancing around" type stuff... I suppose that has mostly applied to skill-oriented materials. I'm just saying: be open to many things. Don't shy away from reading about materials meant for older kids. Adapt when you need to, whether that's crossing out redundant material and moving quickly, requiring greater depth and more writing from your kids than others might ask of similarly aged kids, allowing them certain work-arounds to make material meant for older students accessible to them... :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 I'm with Abbey. I consider WTM the ultimate gifted too, because it gives you a progression of skills and age-appropriate amounts of work so that you can disconnect the two and rearrange to fit your situation. The approach to gifted education seems to bow down and worship too much and teach too little. Not saying I find that perfect balance of stimulation and skill, just saying it's possible to become very inbalanced in either direction. It's just harder to make everything fit with some kids. Even when you bump up, they still need MORE, more thought, more discussion, more relevance, more stimulation. But that's neither here nor there. I mainly wanted to caution you not to swing too hard. Make some of your gravy stuff more dynamic but keep a solid progression on your skills. You can use a humble math program (BJU, Singapore, Horizons, whatever) and kick it up with Math Olympiad and CWP and Zaccaro. That type thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kckamy Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 Personally, I have found "gifted" curricula less useful than just looking for good quality curricula (deep, well-thought out) at a higher level for my kids and requiring more (either greater depth or quicker speed)... I agree. I consider my daughter an advanced 4th grader. Most of the curriculum we use is at a higher grade level and this has worked well for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissKNG Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 My Critical Thinking Company catalog has many of their books listed with awards as gifted curriculum. (ie. from Mensa) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 It's not specifically designed for gifted kids, but I really like Don Killgallon's sentence-composing workbooks. I also love "The Elements" by Ellen McHenry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 We are very hands-on learners here so everything we've been doing is hands-on. For math, we like the Right Start math Activities for AL Abacus book better than the actual levels. This allows us to go at our own speed. We've also been using some of Montessori's ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez J Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 :iagree: This is us too. I just use curricula for higher grade levels where needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiobrain Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 I am thinking about this, and really what I would consider "gifted" curriculum would be material that is written in a way that does no assume you are a child. It is one of the reasons that I tend to enjoy stuff from Great Britain.... I forgot to mention Zaccaro & Pappas math books. I would also like to say that just because something has "gifted" in it's title/definition/ whatever that doesn't mean it is. I think that MBTP is not exactly gifted, it is still geared toward gifted in only one category. But it is better than nothing, I guess. Basically, gifted means that one understands things in a different way than normal. Standard curriculum is not going to be as effective, and usually is B O R I N G . However, the G spectrum is so wide and varied that it is most likely impossible to really create a one size fits all gifted curriculum. MCT is the closest that I have seen to my G way of thinking. If I had been taught with his materials when I was a kid, I would have a Pulitzer by now. :) But it won't resonate with everyone. No one G curriculum will. I wish he had other programs... like math and science. Oh well... Basically you need to have an open mind when looking for ANY material for a TaG kid. having the label "gifted" might help, but it is not the final indicator. You know, I HATE the William & Mary stuff. HATE IT. I am sure it is great, but I can't even look at it. So, usually my way of discovering stuff is to look at the choices of someone else who loves something I do, or has some similar curr. choices, then pay attention to OTHER things they like... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quad Shot Academy Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 I think staying away from all in one curricula is key. When you piece things together you can pick and choose varying levels for each area. I also really like the WTM for gifted kids because my son does some of the reading for four years ahead, but does the writing on grade level. He moves through the basics (math, grammar, writing, reading) at his own pace. For science, history and literature we do the WTM. For supplemental, interest led things I look for programs that have wide age ranges, like: Mc Henry's materials Sciencewiz kits ETA: There is an accelerated learner board on this forum, in case you didn't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 I also love "The Elements" by Ellen McHenry. What ages did you use this with? And has anyone used McHenry's Carbon Chemistry? It says it's for grades 5-9 or 5-10. I'm just wondering about the stretch from elementary to high school science. Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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