SanDiegoMom Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 Next Tuesday is the last day of registration for my twins' local PS. I have been thinking about homeschooling all year, I have all my curriculum and plans lined up.... yet.... My twins are going into second grade. They had two uninspiring years, but I do know (second hand) that the teacher they are lined up for is supposed to be excellent. My daughter is at or slightly above grade level, is an extrovert who makes friends easily, and thrives in the school environment. My son is an introvert who played pretty much only with his sister the entire two years, should by rights be grade skipped at least one grade (and is working in math two -three grades ahead) and adamantly wants to be homeschooled. And they refuse to leave each other -- either they both go to school (son, kicking and screaming) or they both stay at home (daughter missing the hustle and bustle of constant activity.) To complicate things, I know we are moving next year, and my secret fear is that the school they are at right now is as good as it gets! It is not challenging, despite being in the "best" school district that people fight to get into, but it is welcoming, friendly and supportive. And I already have permission from the principal to homeschool my son in math -- she is very amenable to working with us, and allowed me to choose their teacher next year based on his needs. However as great as the teacher is, he still is working well ahead in all areas and bored at school. Yet I don't feel like I should grade skip him since he is so attached to his twin sister AND the choices for 3rd grade are notoriously absymal! WWYD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinivanMom Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 How soon are you moving? I'd be reluctant to make a change right before an even bigger change. It seems like the move would provide a natural time for transitioning to homeschooling. You may want to post this on the general education board to elicit additional input from moms of multiples. I know there are quite a few moms of twins or triplets who might not frequent the accelerated board, but may have good advice about handling the twin dynamic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 Wow, this is a really challenging problem to have. I think I would start with whatever is the greatest need. That is really hard to gauge, though. As an introvert myself, I would be inclined to really want to protect your ds. But I am sure that the extrovert's needs are just as significant. I would start with talking to each one separately and see if they would be able to articulate which is more important--their academic choice, or staying together. If one would prefer their academic choice and the other would prefer staying together, then you can keep them together in the academic choice of the first. If they both agree that staying together is more important, then I would consider which child had the greatest academic need. Of course, their preference is not all you need to consider. But it might help you put all the other variables, needs and strengths into perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanDiegoMom Posted August 7, 2013 Author Share Posted August 7, 2013 Good advice, I will talk to them separately- I didn't even think of that. I feel like my daughter would be happy as long as she had more frequent play dates- she loves playing one on one with basically anyone. But I am an introvert myself and tend not to want to have more kids and more chaos in my house when they play with each other so well. It would take a concerted effort on my part to set up and maintain frequent play dates. The moving definitely adds an extra layer- we will be leaving in 5-10 months, depending on where we will be stationed. And when we get there, we will only be there for a year to a year and a half! So it does seem like that would be the natural transition time for homeschooling... Though for my son, he might do better there, as Nothern VA at least has ample funding for Gifted! There is nothing here, it is quite depressing. I really felt bad for him last year, coloring booklets about the seasons all year long and coming home to work on programming and read his favorite dictionary of idioms(Lol). I will cross post this while I mull it over and talk with the kiddos. Thanks for the advice! Sara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 I grew up in the San Diego Seminar program, which starts in 3rd grade. It was outstanding. But it sound like you'll be moving before then. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanDiegoMom Posted August 8, 2013 Author Share Posted August 8, 2013 I have heard such wonderful things about the seminar program. It is a shame we will be missing out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 I have two close-in-age kids in the same grade. One gifted, not social, generally bored in school; one average, very social, struggling some in school. They too are used to always doing everything together. In my case, my gifted kid is not easy to teach. Everything has to be her own idea. At least at school, she has a little competition from other smart kids to keep her somewhat motivated. I don't think I could homeschool her because she isn't receptive. Have you attempted to sit and teach your kids a full week's curriculum to see if it is a realistic goal? My other kid is great to work with at home, but she thrives on the social aspect of school. I still work with her at home, because she needs one-on-one help. Perhaps you could get your kids to agree to an experiment / transition where they attend school and you teach them some subjects at home. Then you could decide whether to abort PS or homeschooling at some point during the next year. For your soon, perhaps introduce a foreign language, or get him the Singapore Math enrichment workbooks, word problem books, or other supplement that isn't too much like what they do at school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanDiegoMom Posted August 9, 2013 Author Share Posted August 9, 2013 I have two close-in-age kids in the same grade. One gifted, not social, generally bored in school; one average, very social, struggling some in school. They too are used to always doing everything together. In my case, my gifted kid is not easy to teach. Everything has to be her own idea. At least at school, she has a little competition from other smart kids to keep her somewhat motivated. I don't think I could homeschool her because she isn't receptive. Have you attempted to sit and teach your kids a full week's curriculum to see if it is a realistic goal? My other kid is great to work with at home, but she thrives on the social aspect of school. I still work with her at home, because she needs one-on-one help. Perhaps you could get your kids to agree to an experiment / transition where they attend school and you teach them some subjects at home. Then you could decide whether to abort PS or homeschooling at some point during the next year. For your soon, perhaps introduce a foreign language, or get him the Singapore Math enrichment workbooks, word problem books, or other supplement that isn't too much like what they do at school. That's funny, my kids are the exact opposite in temperament! The one working ahead is happy with any and everything I give him -- though it might be because he thinks very much like me and so everything I find interesting (logic, puzzles, grammar, math puzzles) are things he enjoys. My daughter is initially reluctant about anything new that might be a struggle, but generally does come around in time. We did SOTW Vol. 1 during first grade after school, he's done Singapore Math all year, and he loves Grammar Island. We did a few test runs over different breaks, and Sunday was our SOTW day. So already I've working out a lot of the kinks as to what they like, don't like, and how important it is to make sure the work level is differentiated between the two! We had a talk last night, and again today about what his goals are. He really is set on homeschooling -- he basically begged. His sister agreed, and she is easygoing and adjusts to anything -- its just that she is such a sweetheart that it would kill me if she even so much as sighed and said she missed her friends. So it's definitely the fear of guilt! But it seems I will have guilt if I homeschool and guilt if I don't, so I will have to choose the lesser of two evils. And who knows, maybe in a month they will be telling me how much they love it! Time will tell.... Oh, and now that you mention it, my oldest (13, going into High School) is exactly like your harder one -- I am getting to the point where I realize if I want her to do something, I have to present it two months in advance, accept the initial opposition, and then get the desired response two months later when she comes back claiming the idea as all her own. In fourth grade she wrote a Declaration of Independence for kids. She refused to do homework because of its impact on the environment (the trees). She and I would kill each other within a week. Sara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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