Sarahkay Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 According to the book "Dreamer or Strong-Willed Child," we recently discovered my dd8/2nd grade is a dreamer. Like, off-the-chart dreamer. Tips and tricks to engage a dreamer in her studies when she'd rather doodle and daydream? I just discovered lap books -- they are starting to hook her. Other ideas for creative "dreamer-worthy" curric? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 my dreamer needed plenty of hands on stuff to keep her engaged. She illustrates a LOT of her stuff. During read-alouds she has to follow along in her own book or she zones out. My dd has done well with Apologia science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 My DD is also a dreamer. She is my most creative child and believes that all things are possible. We do art every day. She needs it. She also adores and needs projects related to history, science, etc. She is more interested in creative writing than copywork, so I skew her LA that way. Living books (about people!) rule for history. She loves MCTLA and the Brave Writer lifestyle. She responds best to schoolwork when allowed to pick the order of subjects every day. She needs flexibility and an ability to fly by the seat of her pants (while DS9, a diplomat, and DS5, a driver, need order and a relatively firm schedule). Above all, she needs to be heard and understood, so make sure to make time for talking and cuddling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 HOD has finally made my dreamer dd8 happy. There is something hands on to do every day. When she's memorizing her Bible verses each day the guide tells her to do something physical (jumping jacks, situps, arm circles, etc.) while reciting the verse. We have had our best year yet and I know it's because my dreamer girl is finally happy with all the projects, notebooking, and experiments that HOD offers. All I have to say is thank goodness because she was wearing me out!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarahkay Posted April 25, 2012 Author Share Posted April 25, 2012 My DD is also a dreamer. She is my most creative child and believes that all things are possible. We do art every day. She needs it. She also adores and needs projects related to history, science, etc. She is more interested in creative writing than copywork, so I skew her LA that way. Living books (about people!) rule for history. She loves MCTLA and the Brave Writer lifestyle. She responds best to schoolwork when allowed to pick the order of subjects every day. She needs flexibility and an ability to fly by the seat of her pants (while DS9, a diplomat, and DS5, a driver, need order and a relatively firm schedule). Above all, she needs to be heard and understood, so make sure to make time for talking and cuddling. Okay, you're on to something here :-) Can you share more about... - art you do? - what's MCTLA? - Brave Writer lifestyle -- I'll look at the website. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarahkay Posted April 25, 2012 Author Share Posted April 25, 2012 my dreamer needed plenty of hands on stuff to keep her engaged. She illustrates a LOT of her stuff. During read-alouds she has to follow along in her own book or she zones out. My dd has done well with Apologia science. Love the read-along-in-your-book idea! Love the idea of illustrating everything. Could you please share ideas for other hands-on activities you do? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 well, I created reading pages to keep her engaged in reading since she really had a hard time learning to read. I'd create a set of instructions for a picture. It would go : Draw a sun on the top left of the paper. In the middle of the page, draw a horse. etc. I also wrote small books out of folded, stapled paper and let her illustrate them. She loved the Story of the World and the projects with it. I cut apart the continents and let her position them correctly and label the oceans. Glue yarn down for rivers, that kind of thing. We had to use manipulatives with math or it wouldn't click. I wrapped bundles of 10 popsicle sticks with rubber bands to show her different concepts, like borrowing, carrying, etc. We had to count actual money to help with that skill. Using dimes and pennies illustrated place value and borrowing/carrying too. Any time we had word problems we had to draw a picture of it. For English skills, I had to create sentences that applied to her and her life, or were just silly, or interested her when I was teaching concepts. Overall, she is a very visual, creative person and I have had to tap into that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyBee Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Wow, this is exactly my dd! One problem, though: She's 13, 7th grade, and I'm feeling the need to amp up her academics considerably. I'm trying to figure out how to do this w/o squashing her dreaminess. Anyone BTDT with an older dreamer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Okay, you're on to something here :-) Can you share more about... - art you do? - what's MCTLA? - Brave Writer lifestyle -- I'll look at the website. MCTLA is Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts. You will find many great threads on these boards if you do a search. Look at this page for BW. Click and read all the links at the bottom, as they describe the different activities that make up the BW Lifestyle. For art, what don't we do? :lol: We do Artistic Pursuits, A Child's History of Art (series available from Calvert), a homeschool art class, and lots of extras at home. Although some people complain that it is difficult to implement, DD loves the lessons from Drawing with Children, probably because they emphasize process and creativity. The best thing for her, however, has been setting her up with her own desk outfitted with writing, drawing, and craft supplies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Wow, this is exactly my dd! One problem, though: She's 13, 7th grade, and I'm feeling the need to amp up her academics considerably. I'm trying to figure out how to do this w/o squashing her dreaminess. Anyone BTDT with an older dreamer? my dd is going into the 5th grade and this is one of my concerns too. :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixpence1978 Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Oh, keep it coming please! This is my DD as well. Very helpful for looking at what we do differently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarahkay Posted April 25, 2012 Author Share Posted April 25, 2012 Oh, keep it coming please! This is my DD as well. Very helpful for looking at what we do differently. Yes, please...keep 'em coming ladies. I can feel my blood-pressure going down and, at the same time, anticipate joy for my DD. You guys are awesome! Anyone? Anyone else? Resources? Ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onceuponatime Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 (edited) Wow, this is exactly my dd! One problem, though: She's 13, 7th grade, and I'm feeling the need to amp up her academics considerably. I'm trying to figure out how to do this w/o squashing her dreaminess. Anyone BTDT with an older dreamer? Poetry, music, ballet. Fashion through the ages. Embroidery, painting, sculpting. Lots of historical fiction. Use these to approach other subjects, except I don't know how you do this with math. Math just seems to be something to be endured. If only someone would make math beautiful. I was a dreamer child. Edited April 25, 2012 by Onceuponatime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Dd14 is a dreamer. She actually schedules time in her school day where she can just sit and daydream. When I think back on our homeschooling materials, she always did better with programs that were open, go, done. I tried programs that did projects like lapbooks. She hated them. They made her schoolwork last longer than she wanted. I never realized why that was the case until now. It sure makes perfect sense considering her personality. On her own time, she has always been a bit crafty but just didn't like it in schoolwork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Dd14 is a dreamer. She actually schedules time in her school day where she can just sit and daydream. When I think back on our homeschooling materials, she always did better with programs that were open, go, done. I tried programs that did projects like lapbooks. She hated them. They made her schoolwork last longer than she wanted. I never realized why that was the case until now. It sure makes perfect sense considering her personality. On her own time, she has always been a bit crafty but just didn't like it in schoolwork. I see a lot of truth in this, and a need for us to adjust as time passes. DD wants to do what DD wants to do. Right now, she wants to do school because I allow her to go about her subjects creatively. I can imagine a time of resistance though, when what is necessary might be at odds with what is desired. That is when I hope that her maturity and my willingness to adapt will meet somewhere in the middle to get done what must be done. I was a dreamer as well. I was willing to just do work that was required of me, in whatever boring form it took, but I always performed better, probably optimally, when I was allowed a creative twist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 I can imagine a time of resistance though, when what is necessary might be at odds with what is desired. That is when I hope that her maturity and my willingness to adapt will meet somewhere in the middle to get done what must be done. We reached that point when she was 13. It would have been her 8th grade year but she resisted the idea of 8th grade programs. She wanted to start high school because if she was going to do work she didn't want to do, she wanted it to actually mean something, i.e. good grades on her transcript. After a major discussion about expectations, we turned over all responsibility to her on a trial basis. She excelled not only in her work, but in the scheduling as well. It's like she just turns on a 'I'm all business' mode for her scheduled school hours and spends the rest of her day in her happy place. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 After a major discussion about expectations, we turned over all responsibility to her on a trial basis. She excelled not only in her work, but in the scheduling as well. It's like she just turns on a 'I'm all business' mode for her scheduled school hours and spends the rest of her day in her happy place. :tongue_smilie: That is really cool! And encouraging! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomatHWTK Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 I buy copy paper by the case for my little artist. She LOVES Sharpies, but they bleed through regular paper so I also buy cardstock in bulk at Sam's Club for her. She gets one large package of cardstock per month, then she has to switch to regular paper. :glare: Drawing while listening helps her a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 I'm the dreamer in our household. I'm also in my 40s and went to public school, so I'm not sure what will be relevant. I read the book and my ds is the discoverer, not so much the dreamer. It's been a while since I read it, may need to dig it out again, thanks for the reminder. - creative anything. space and permission to doodle. That's doodle, not dawdle. :D - creating permanent things. Lapbooking may be too confining. I always (still do) wanted to create things my way. It could just be my personality, but I hate doing things that don't stay done. I like things that remain. Even putting pictures on the fridge or that report I worked so long doing, those were helpful. - Aesthetics are important to me. I can't work in a space that feels off. I need space and time to spread out and space off at pretty things. OUr last house had a huge bay window that overlooked tall pines trees. It was the kiss of death for productivity many days, but so peaceful. - Time to wander, even if it's in the head. NightElf mentioned that, and I agree. I still need down time to "wander", and then I can focus better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Surely my son isn't the only boy dreamer? He's off the charts too. He's young (8) but unless I can engage his imagination things are in one ear and out the other. So when we were learning money for example we had to play store...which for him was super elaborate. When we studied penguins he was a penguin and so on. He does a lot of story telling and I know something has hooked him when he incorporates it into his stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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