New to Homeschooling - Help!

[talantine]

After considering homeschooling for years, I am finally making the leap with my oldest child - my 10yo gifted son. He is completing 4th grade in ps and it has been boring him to tears.

 

I really need some help with curriculum choices. There are so many options that I don't know where to start.

 

My son hates repetition. He loves to learn - be engaged, question, challenge and be challenged, make connections, etc. He does not like busywork. Loves mind puzzles, logic, building, inventing. Strong math and verbal reasoning. Loves math.

 

He loves to read, not so much when it comes to texts. He enjoys learning by doing more than watching or listening. He is a hard worker when engaged but gets angry when forced to do what he considers pointless.

 

He hates writing and struggles. I believe he has dysgraphia.

 

He has happily opted to leave his school because they refuse to modify the curriculm for him at all.

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

Tammie

 

 

 

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

Hello and welcome :001_smile: I not qualified to advise you yet, but I want to bump you up and I hate it when there are a ton of views but no responses :tongue_smilie:

[abacus2]

With a new-to-homeschooling 10 year old gifted child, I would be looking for his input. I would expect him to have strong opinions about curriculum possibilities. If you are Christian, and possibly even if you aren't, consider the Sonlight Core Curriculum which includes History, Geography, Literature, and Reading through wonderful books. He would likely do well with Core D or Core D+E. Look for placement tests for each curriculum that interests you to help in choosing the right starting level. Budget for additional curriculum later in the year in case he speeds through some subjects.

[Gratia271]

After considering homeschooling for years, I am finally making the leap with my oldest child - my 10yo gifted son. He is completing 4th grade in ps and it has been boring him to tears.

 

I really need some help with curriculum choices. There are so many options that I don't know where to start.

 

My son hates repetition. He loves to learn - be engaged, question, challenge and be challenged, make connections, etc. He does not like busywork. Loves mind puzzles, logic, building, inventing. Strong math and verbal reasoning. Loves math.

 

He loves to read, not so much when it comes to texts. He enjoys learning by doing more than watching or listening. He is a hard worker when engaged but gets angry when forced to do what he considers pointless.

 

He hates writing and struggles. I believe he has dysgraphia.

 

He has happily opted to leave his school because they refuse to modify the curriculm for him at all.

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

Tammie

 

I have a son (just turned 9) who sounds much like yours... abhors busywork, repetition, highly logical, a doer (as well as a listener), short fuse regarding what he doesn't enjoy etc.... We don't use textbooks here other than for Science and for Math... even then we use a lot of "living" books and materials. We view many documentaries and Teaching Company videos as well which he thoroughly enjoys.

 

I can share what has worked with my son. As I said earlier, we don't use textbooks (other than Science and Maths). I also don't require much workbook type work. We have a lot of discussion around here. My approach is predominantly Socratic. It works well with DS (and my girls too). Curricula which he has enjoyed is...

 

 

MATH: Singapore, Descartes Math Cove, Hands on Equations, EPGY; will begin with AoPS pre-Algebra when it is released; he also completed Life of Fred books for fun.

 

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS:

Grammar-- Michael Clay Thompson series: he loves this; great for gifted students b/c there is no busywork, minimal repetition and it's presented in narrative form which ds enjoys.

 

Composition-- Writing With Ease for writing exercises; integrate IEW approach with writing assignments pertaining to historical studies

 

Literature-- elements of MCT program coupled with literature keyed to historical studies; some independent selections also.

 

LOGIC/THINKING: Chess, Blast Off with Logic Series, Muggins type math games, Deductive Puzzles

 

LATIN: MP Form Series (doesn't love this, but doesn't hate it either)

 

GREEK: Beginning this Fall with Athenaze

 

HISTORY: I have designed our program with spine texts along with biographies, historical fiction, primary source documents, and literature applicable to the time period studied. My son is passionate about history, so much time is devoted to this subject. Incorporate map work and elementary concepts of philosophy and government with historical studies.

 

SCIENCE: Working with dh on Conceptual Physics along with videos and books related to physical science, likely his favorite branch of science. Building projects with dh.

 

ART: Atelier program and ancillary work for his history notebook.

 

MUSIC: Study various periods of music/musicians using Opal Wheeler biographies, listening to various selections as well as selections that tie in with historical period being studied.

 

 

I don't know if I have missed anything; I am heavily medicated right now due to an infection, so I hope this makes some sense and helps at least a little. I would be happy to answer any other questions or share some of my schedules with you if you would like. :001_smile:

[LittleIzumi]

Perhaps he can type instead of write?

[Spetzi]

We like the Life of Fred math books www.polkadotpublishing.com. My kids like a spiral approach to math so the kids learn a new concept and do some problems like that. In the same session they also do problem types that they learned yesterday, last week and 2 months ago. There might be 4-8 of each problem set which always seems to be enough practice w/o it being overkill.

 

I've been eyeing Art of Problem Solving math, but haven't used it yet. www.artofproblemsolving.com. They have some interesting articles, too. http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Resources/articles.php

 

 

We use a lot of different math items, but I like to stick with one basic math curriculum and supplement w/other cool, fun items. Edward Zaccaro writes some good math supplements, too. There are also fun math games. My kids love working with numbers so this doesnt' feel like "work" to them. Your son may feel the same.

 

I know it feels overwhelming to homeschool and to keep up with a gifted child, but keep researching, reading books and message boards and asking questions. You may try some things that don't work, but you will find your groove. :D

[matilda]

I am in a very similar situation, only I have a dd10. This board has been great. I have spent days searching for good curriculum. My goal was to find the people who were obsessed with math and use what they use, the history families and use what they use, etc. So I will tell what I am planning, just to give you something to start your search. But realize that I have not actually used any of these things - everything is theoretical thus far. (Here is a site with info on the abbreviations http://mysite.verizon.net/violetweb/home_school_abbreviations.htm.)

Math - EPGY, SM (ds6), Saxon (dd10)

History - TOG

Writing - IEW

Grammar - MCT

Science - If only I could find something good.

 

Good luck!

[talantine]

Homeschoolers are the most amazing helpful people! Perhaps it is because they are so used to teaching others.:001_smile:

Thanks for the suggestions and advice and please keep them coming.

And yes, we are a Christian family and will consider Christian and secular curricula.

Tammie

[Tracy]

I don't have specific curriculum recommendations, but I recommend researching only one subject at a time. You will get more thoughtful, thorough input if you are asking about only one subject.

[joannqn]

Regardless of what works for other people, it is most important to pick what works for you and your child. I can tell you what we've chosen.

 

I have one child who does will with language arts but not math. I have another child who hasn't hit a wall in math yet, does awesome in vocabulary and grammar but really struggles with reading comprehension.

 

We use Michael Clay Thompson for language arts. The grammar is a bit repetitive from year to year because it covers the same things every year and then goes into more detail. The actual written work isn't repetitive and is certainly not busy work. However, that portion of the program only takes about a month to cover anyway. The vocabulary is excellent, and the poetry is thorough. We don't use the writing portion.

 

We use Math-U-See, which is often not recommended for gifted students on this board. My daughter cried over math daily until we found MUS; now she only cries very occasionally. My mathy son enjoys MUS because he can fly through it at his own pace. Now that he's finished Algebra 1, I'm switching him to Art of Problem Solving to give him greater depth and to keep him from hitting Calculus at 13.

 

We didn't find Story of the World until my daughter was in 3rd grade. We're stretching Volume 3 and 4 out over three years so we can cover US history in greater detail. I'm actually using History Odyssey Modern Times Level 2 with my daughter once we finish vol. 3, to give her more challenge.

 

We love Apologia's elementary texts. I wish we would have found them sooner so we could go through all of them (my younger two will). We're piecing together a few topics using miscellaneous sources next year.

 

Our literature corresponds to our history. Most of our choices are not at their reading level, but that makes them easier to understand and easier to practice analysis.

 

Then we have miscellaneous electives: art, Korean (for DS), Spanish (for DD), taekwondo, and swimming.

[acurtis75]

I would also recommend Apologia. I like the decidedly Christian approach to Science and enjoy that even though it's aimed at Elementary students there is a lot of depth to each lesson. My dd is only 6 so we spend several weeks on each chapter. Because the is only 6 and doesn't write as well as she reads we do a lot of the questions from the notebook orally & I write the answer.

 

I also like MUS. I understand that others think it's not deep enough for gifted students but like the last post..because she's flying through it I plan to work until we get done with Algebra and then do some other programs for gifted kids once she has the basics down. We've finished Alpha, Beta & 1/2 of Gamma over the last year and a half.

 

I just bought the MCT and so far DD really enjoys the narrative approach. I also use FLL, WWE and Latin for Children from Classical Academic Press. We just started their Code Cracker course for the Greek Alphabet and she likes that too. I think it would appeal to someone who likes solving puzzles.

[QueenieReighn]

Spelling Power worked great for my kids since they can move through spelling at their own pace and not have to study words that they already know how to spell since you test first and then study what you got wrong. :-)

 

Apologia (science) is written conversationally, goes deep into a topic, has lots of little projects with some bigger ones, and can easily be adjusted to do things more orally than written.

 

My girls like that Singapore Math doesn't go over the same things forever like other things they've tried.

 

Hope these help. :-)