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Some newbie afterschooling questions especially for special needs/gifted children


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Hi! I am new to the afterschooling board. My daughter is 5 and has Asperger's and is gifted. She will be starting kindergarten in the fall. I've been pre-homeschooling her since she was 3 years old. Currently she is mostly doing kinder and first grade level work.

 

I am sad about sending her to school, but she is going to a special autism charter school. The therapy she'll get there will be more intensive than the kind we do now.

 

My question is, how much time of afterschooling do you do with a young child? Are there particular topics you do or don't do? Do you purchase additional curriculum like traditional homeschooling? I know this has probably been asked before. But I am new to the forum and don't have the slightest clue how to find it. I truly appreciate your input.

 

I am particularly concerned about the school making things too easy. My daughter is very smart and loves to learn. She'll be in a general education class... However, majority of the other children have lower functioning autism. I just want to make sure she is continued to be challenged. Because she really enjoys it.

 

This will be such a tough transition for me. I love homeschooling. But I know that this school will be a great place for her.

 

Thanks in advance! :001_smile:

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I after schooled my DD5 in kindergarten last year and it worked well. My priorities are things that are very important to us (math and language arts) and things the school doesn't offer or do systematically (history, French, Latin). They do a good job with primary grade science so we do nothing beyond science videos and reading books. I also let the school do the bulk of handwriting.

 

I've followed the WTM forums plus trial and error with purchasing curricula. The amount of time per day and the time of day we do afterschooling changed over the kindergarten year as her stamina increased and her personal preference shifted from before to after school.

 

So far, it has worked well. My daughter isn't always thrilled to sit down for afterschooling but she likes learning and knowing the topics and will ask for it when we take breaks. Originally we decided to afterschool to ensure the kids have a strong math and writing background. Then I discovered all the other great aspects of classical education and that got folded in. But one of the best parts has turned out to be sharing the learning/teaching experience. I was more academic than athletic or artistic. While we do go out and toss a ball around and sing songs, we are starting to have a new kind of bond over SOTW, Latin, and even grammar.

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Welcome to the Afterschooling board, and that is a mighty cool blog you have going!

 

I don't want to fall into stereotypes about ASD, but does your daughter by chance have any gifts for memorizing what she hears? If so, then Carschooling could be an easy way to start.

 

In terms of how much time to spend Afterschooling, our family follows the rules 1)School 2)homework 3) playtime 4) Afterschooling 5) screen time. My DS does 1 hour of school a day all summer, and then about 1 hour-2 hours of Afterschooling a week.

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