Starting to freak out with thoughts of next year!

[HeatherL]

My DS will be 5 in a few months. My plan was to HS him till he was more in the upper grades. I am a former teacher and former "gifted" kiddo and know that schools today will not be able to teach him and challenge him where he is at. We do 2ish hours of school a day right now. We are about to finish Saxon 1, ETC 2, is reading at a late 1st grade level, and just discovered (on his own) what multiplication means and how to do it in his head. He loves science and can tell you a lot about many of the biology subjects we are studying this year.

I knew that sending him to PS next year would be horrific. He would be bored, while the other students were learning letter sounds and 1+1, he would be in trouble every day and I would be getting calls home.

I was excited to just continue HSing him. The last few months have been a little rough, a new baby brother, and 2 deaths (DS's favorite grandfather and the family cat). We have been butting heads a lot, so on one rough day I was looking around at PS options. I found that a school district about 45 minutes away has a gifted academy that students can test into. They have open enrollment for out of district students.

But... I am torn. I really do love HSing, but many days feel like a break may be good. The program sounds great, but the school is 45 minutes one way (my DH and I would share drop off/pick up duties) and a full 7 and a half hour day for a 5 year old. On the positive side they offer Mandarin as a special and work extra science and technology (my DS favorite things!) into the curriculum. On the negative side he wouldn't get home till at least 4:30, so by hw, bath, dinner, I feel like I would never see him.

My DH keeps saying nothing is forever and we could always pull him, but my DS doesn't handle change well at all and if he is happy and has friends (whether it's the best for him or not), pulling him out would be tough.

If you made it this far, thanks! I just don't know what to do...

[mta]

Do you think the gifted academy would be a better fit than HS for your son and family at the moment? Why not look into it, explore all options and then make a decision. Does your son feel strongly either way? Would the cohort of kids at the school provide a peer group you wanted your son exposed to? What's the basic curriculum like? Do kids work at their own level and pace?

 

I'm at the point where I wonder whether even the most rigorous, expensive, selective etc school could come close to providing a better education academically than we can manage at home, but can see that there are some peer, sporting, musical and specialist subject benefits at particular schools.

 

Good luck with it all. I hope the decision makes itself easily!

[MamaSheep]

Fortunately homeschooling isn't an all or nothing deal. Even if you decide the gifted academy is a great fit and a good idea and your son goes there for the rest of his pre-college academic career, there will still be times when he's home and can do fun learning things with Mom. You could turn over a lot of the planning and stress to the teacher at school (assuming it's a good fit) and just do the stuff you really love at home. Evenings may or may not be very available depending on homework load, but Science Saturdays (or whatever) might be fun, and there's always summer.

[matilda]

But... I am torn. I really do love HSing, but many days feel like a break may be good. The program sounds great, but the school is 45 minutes one way (my DH and I would share drop off/pick up duties) and a full 7 and a half hour day for a 5 year old. On the positive side they offer Mandarin as a special and work extra science and technology (my DS favorite things!) into the curriculum. On the negative side he wouldn't get home till at least 4:30, so by hw, bath, dinner, I feel like I would never see him.

 

I have had kids in full-day kindergarten who don't get home until after 4:00. It is not ideal, but fine in the end. In your situation, the huge red flag that I see is the 45 minute drive. That is 1.5 hours round trip for each of you and I assume you will have the baby in the car. For me, the program would have to be incredible to commit to that much drive time.

[boscopup]

We do 2ish hours of school a day right now.

...

The last few months have been a little rough, a new baby brother, and 2 deaths (DS's favorite grandfather and the family cat). We have been butting heads a lot, so on one rough day I was looking around at PS options.

 

Honestly, it sounds like you guys are burnt out (and I can see why!) and just need a break. Have you tried backing off and not doing school or just doing one or two subjects for a while until you get over the burn-out?

 

I can't even imagine my kids doing 2 hours of school at that age. My oldest was similar in the math and reading department, and he would not have done well doing that much school. I started accelerating him at 6.5, and even then, we only spent 1.5-2 hours on school when he was actually in 1st grade (working above grade level). You don't have to do a lot now, curriculum wise, even if you're accelerating. He'll keep learning without curriculum. Afterall, he's figured out multiplication right? (btw, that seems to be a common thing with mathy kids - figuring out multiplication around age 5... mine did too :D).

 

When my oldest was 4, I tried to work on reading with him, as he was oh so close to figuring it out. He resisted big time. We butted heads. I dropped it completely, and he took off with reading. By time he turned 5, he was reading at a 2nd grade level with NO instruction from me. Resistance in a 4 year old usually means "I'm not ready", even if they are smart enough to learn the material - it's the formal school they're not ready for. Let him keep figuring stuff out on his own. Read a lot together. Talk about math (our van conversations at that age were so fun!). Put the curriculum away and just enjoy each other, get used to the new baby brother, grieve the loss of the beloved pet, etc. He's 4, so he doesn't HAVE to do school right now.

[8filltheheart]

Honestly, it sounds like you guys are burnt out (and I can see why!) and just need a break. Have you tried backing off and not doing school or just doing one or two subjects for a while until you get over the burn-out?

 

I can't even imagine my kids doing 2 hours of school at that age. My oldest was similar in the math and reading department, and he would not have done well doing that much school. I started accelerating him at 6.5, and even then, we only spent 1.5-2 hours on school when he was actually in 1st grade (working above grade level). You don't have to do a lot now, curriculum wise, even if you're accelerating. He'll keep learning without curriculum. Afterall, he's figured out multiplication right? (btw, that seems to be a common thing with mathy kids - figuring out multiplication around age 5... mine did too :D).

 

When my oldest was 4, I tried to work on reading with him, as he was oh so close to figuring it out. He resisted big time. We butted heads. I dropped it completely, and he took off with reading. By time he turned 5, he was reading at a 2nd grade level with NO instruction from me. Resistance in a 4 year old usually means "I'm not ready", even if they are smart enough to learn the material - it's the formal school they're not ready for. Let him keep figuring stuff out on his own. Read a lot together. Talk about math (our van conversations at that age were so fun!). Put the curriculum away and just enjoy each other, get used to the new baby brother, grieve the loss of the beloved pet, etc. He's 4, so he doesn't HAVE to do school right now.

 

:iagree:

[Ester Maria]

Honestly, it sounds like you guys are burnt out (and I can see why!) and just need a break. Have you tried backing off and not doing school or just doing one or two subjects for a while until you get over the burn-out?

 

I can't even imagine my kids doing 2 hours of school at that age. My oldest was similar in the math and reading department, and he would not have done well doing that much school. I started accelerating him at 6.5, and even then, we only spent 1.5-2 hours on school when he was actually in 1st grade (working above grade level). You don't have to do a lot now, curriculum wise, even if you're accelerating. He'll keep learning without curriculum. Afterall, he's figured out multiplication right? (btw, that seems to be a common thing with mathy kids - figuring out multiplication around age 5... mine did too :D).

 

When my oldest was 4, I tried to work on reading with him, as he was oh so close to figuring it out. He resisted big time. We butted heads. I dropped it completely, and he took off with reading. By time he turned 5, he was reading at a 2nd grade level with NO instruction from me. Resistance in a 4 year old usually means "I'm not ready", even if they are smart enough to learn the material - it's the formal school they're not ready for. Let him keep figuring stuff out on his own. Read a lot together. Talk about math (our van conversations at that age were so fun!). Put the curriculum away and just enjoy each other, get used to the new baby brother, grieve the loss of the beloved pet, etc. He's 4, so he doesn't HAVE to do school right now.

:iagree:

[HeatherL]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts.

 

I wanted to clarify that the 2 hours of school is workboxes with FIAR projects, crafts, cooking, science expreiments, and such in addition to the formal math and reading. We don't really just "sit" and do school for 2 hours. I guess I felt I just needed to keep pushing since I had all these plans laid out for the year, but I do see that he will still learn even if I back off for a while. He does still want to do FIAR, science, and our countires, just not any of the math and reading.

 

He just used to beg to do school with me, but now I catch him reading on his own in his room and begging to play on reading eggs. I wanted him to be more independent, I guess I just get a little sad that's it here.

 

I do think the 45 minute each way drive is one of the main things holding me back from the school option and honestly... I'll miss him!

[boscopup]

He does still want to do FIAR, science, and our countires, just not any of the math and reading.

 

 

This sounds like a good plan. :) He's reading on his own anyway, so just let him read. Math can wait until he's a little more mature. He'll probably figure a lot more out while you're waiting. :D Don't expect to do one grade level of math in 1st grade. Just sayin'. :lol:

 

You say he used to want to do school with you. I'll bet he probably just wanted to do *anything* with you. Then you gave him stuff that was challenging, and his 4 year old mind wasn't really ready for a challenge. 4 year olds like easy stuff, like workbooks about stuff they already know. Continuing your FIAR, science, and countries will be fun stuff he can do with you without challenging his little 4 year old brain. I'll bet you'll both be very happy that way! Next year, start to add a little inkling of a challenge when he's in K, but still keep it nice and easy. Then in 1st grade, up the challenge a bit more as you see he's ready for it. Don't hold him back - if he wants to go faster, that's fine! But at this young age, let him go forward on his own without the curriculum leading the way.

 

With my son, I saw a HUGE difference in ability to handle a challenge between ages 4 and 6. At 4, he would resist if anything made him think too hard. At 5, he started to be able to think hard on occasion, but still needed stuff to be easy. At 6, he was more willing to take on a challenge. Now at 7, he's even better at handling it, though I still have to be careful and walk that fine line between challenging enough and too challenging, or there will be tears! I just constantly read him during our lessons, and if I see we're starting to head to the too challenging side, I back up.