Roll Call

[angela in ohio]

I think it is time to do a roll call for the Accelerated Board. If you posted under a different name over there, include that, too!! Please include the ages of dc you are homeschooling and a bit about them. :)

[angela in ohio]

I am HSing an 11 yo, 9 yo, and 5 yo. Oldest went to Pre-k for 3 yos and K for a few months, but other than that we have always HSed.

11 yo dd loves horses, knitting and sewing, reading, writing, and history. :)

9 yo dd loves art, crafts, sewing, reading, writing, and math. :)

5 yo ds loves knights, animals, writing, reading, and math. :)

We have always done testing, and this is our second year doing MATS. We use a mix of materials.

[CleoQc]

Homeschooling a 10yo boy, my accelerated child. He loves sciences, math, and electronics. He may or may not have Asperger, depending on who does the evaluation. He's also into 'girl sports', ballet, highland dancing, and synchro swimming

Also homeschooling a 7yo girl, quite standard, but completely pig-headed.She's my artist. She enjoys drawing, inventing stories - she's quite good actually. Her art teacher tells me she's talented enough to make a career of it. She's also well coordinated, part of a competitive gymnastics team, and her ballet teacher told me she could make a career of ballet.

[nandmsmom]

I'm still nandmsmom. We have always homeschooled.

DS 6 loves legos, star wars and doing mental math

DD3 loves dolls, reading and doing 'school' with mommy

We havent' done any testing and have no plans to do any at this time. Favorite materials are Singapore math, HWT, Spelling Power and Minimus.

[Sharon in MD]

I mostly post on the high school board, but usually check over here daily too.

We just have one ds, a junior....can't believe we've only got one year to go. Sometimes that is a relief and sometimes it makes me sad.

Our son is slightly accelerated....very bright in math and science, but we are only going about one to two levels above grade. It is hard for me to judge because I only have my experience with him to go by, KWIM?

He's done a couple CTY classes through JHU and he is really hoping to win a spot at Drexel's summer high school mentorship for this summer.

Oh and he's into classical piano and Irish Step Dancing, check out the promo for the show if you have a chance, it is really cool...make sure you have the sound on. You have to click the button that says click here for promo.

http://www.teelin.com/POI.htm


Hope the link works, never tried it before...:o

[mellifera]

I was mjia on the other board. We homeschool 3 of our 4 kids (the youngest being 2 and not old enough.:)

All of them like Legos and trains. Dd1 is my most accelerated one. Ds1 gets obsessed with a topic and wants to learn everything about it. Ds2 loves math and is a lefty. He and dd2 are the biggest train nuts after dh.

[hsmamainva]

I didn't post much on the accelerated learning board on the old forums, but I'd like to start doing so now, since these boards are easier to use for me!

My oldest dd (16) is a college student at our local community college. She's hoping to switch to a 4 year university in another year and a half. Her passions are Tae Kwon Do, reading, and music -- she plays four instruments (piano, violin, flute, and guitar) -- she's also my computer geek and spends hours designing webpages, graphic design, and programming.

My second child (ds 13) has some learning disabilities, so he's not accelerated, by any means, although he's gifted in art and hopes to be an artist when he 'grows up'. He loves drawing (naturally), video games, and chess.

My third child (ds 8) is working at a 5th grade level in all subjects and he adores math and science. His passions are Tae Kwon Do and video games.

My youngest (dd 6) has autism and she's in a special education program at our local public school. She's gifted in math and reading (she's been reading since she was 3), but she has significant speech and language delays.

[PariSarah]

I'm homeschooling myself, although this is officially called graduate school. Dh is homeschooling himself in a similar fashion.

I'm homeschooling my 9yo son Isaac, who is scary-ahead in anything language- or idea-related, and merely bright in science and math.

I'm homeschooling my 6mo son Theo, although this tends to be called merely parenting. So far, he's not scary-ahead in anything, but we have high hopes that he'll learn to crawl soon. :D

[StacyWithFourRugrats]

I am in are 2nd year of homeschooling. I have an almost 8yo ds, almost 6yo ds, 5 yo dd, and a 4 yo dd.

My eldest boy, Gandalf, is my academically advanced child. We are taking a break and doing fun math before going to SM 4a. He loves Legos, Brainpop, Star Wars, TaeKwonDo and learning.

My next boy, Pippin, is our artistic and silly boy. He loves to build and draw. He does not have much interest in academics right now (they cut into his building and drawing time) so we spend only about 30 minutes a day doing some grammar, math and reading. He just began guitar lessons.

My eldest girl, Arwen, has absolutely no interest in learning whatsoever unless it can help her dress prettier or become a movie star. She loves horses (of course).

Our youngest girl, Eowyn, is the hardest worker in the house. She wants sooooooooooo badly to learn how to read but is just not at the point where she is able to. She is a small girl for her age and also wants to do everything the bigger kids do. She has amazing determination and I can't wait to see what she does with it as she gets older.

Everything might change for us and our homeschooling journey as there is a good possibility we will be relocating to the Czech Republic within the year. While it is legal to homeschool there, it is not very common. Learning the language will be important and for at least some of our children, PS might be better for them for a while. Who knows :)

*obviously, these are not their real names! ;) I just love Lord of the Rings tho.

[Closeacademy]

I have 2 girls and I own and moderate http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GiftedUsingWTM/

My oldest is in 2nd and is about 2 years ahead in math and science. Currently, I just let her explore science although I am looking at picking up Singapore Science again later this year.

My youngest is in K and taking her time. She loves princesses and ponies.

[Anne/Ankara]

We've got two kids, one in 8th grade, one in 6th. Busy homeschooling them from day one. Today, for instance, my ds age 13, is at the science center, a teen docent for the Bodies Exhibit, and my dd, age 11 is in a chess tournament, followed by basketball game. Fun Saturday for us!

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

I'm homeschooling myself, although this is officially called graduate school. Dh is homeschooling himself in a similar fashion.

I'm homeschooling my 9yo son Isaac, who is scary-ahead in anything language- or idea-related, and merely bright in science and math.

I'm homeschooling my 6mo son Theo, although this tends to be called merely parenting. So far, he's not scary-ahead in anything, but we have high hopes that he'll learn to crawl soon. :D
Clearly there has been a gap between the first crawler and the second crawler. Don't you remember what happens when they start to crawl? Life as you know it is OVER.

Your proper response to all attempts to crawl or walk is "STOP IT! What are you THINKING!"

[Laura Corin]

I have two kids: 'Calvin' is eleven and 'Hobbes' seven. They are very good friends, despite a 3 1/2 year age gap and markedly different personalities. Calvin went to school for the equivalent of pre-school and K, then part-time for first, before I started homeschooling him full time for 2nd. Hobbes went to playgroups but never started school.

Both boys are probably gifted, but Calvin is the one that people spot - he has that 'little professor' air. He loves to read, play 'till all hours with the neighbourhood gang and work on Zoo Tycoon. He has some coordination issues still, so his output doesn't always match up to his intellectual abilities. He's been stuttering recently. He's low-key, affectionate, amenable, has feet almost as big as mine and weighs 66 pounds at 4'10"

Hobbes is full of energy but has flashes of surprising insight. He loves to build lego models, play Gameboy and read, but his favourite activity is exploring - either in town or in the countryside. He hates to move on and leave people, then falls in love with the next place and person. He stutters, but less than he used to. He takes after his father: short, stocky, a bundle of fun.

I own and moderate the Yahoo group for users of Galore Park products.

Laura

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

I'm not even a homeschooler now -- unless you count the 4 y/o that we're using Phonics Pathways and lots of United Streaming stuff (Magic Schoolbus, Peep, Weston Woods books). And lest you call me on the United Streaming stuff for a FOUR year old, dh is now the primary caregiver and is not on board with the whole "limiting of screen time" thing, though we really don't "do" TV for her. Ah well. Any thoughts (or books) on making this case without being a nag would be appreciated. As in, this would need to be "his" idea.:rolleyes:

I homeschooled one kiddo from 1-4 using Calvert for first two years of that and Sonlight for the last two. Interspersed in that, he went to half-day public school kindergarten, six weeks of ps 1st grade, and German 2nd and 3rd grade. He's now in his first year of college after seven years of boarding school (three of those as a touring musician).

My second dd was homeschooled mostly WTMish for 5th through 8th. We had a great time, and it was just about 100% wonderful. She's now attending a boarding high school and loving life. The school does a four-year sequential history rotation with art, music, and lit woven into history "spine." She's continuing with Latin and has the opportunity to prep for AP Latin credit and just read (Virgil? Cicero? something) in her Latin V year. We're pretty amazed that there's even a school out there like this and that she gets the opportunity to go.

I'm a full-time nursing student, second-semester junior classes. I'll be finishing up in December if all goes as planned.

And I'm trying to post enough to be a larva before classes start again next week. Between copious amounts of reading, reading, reading.

[JenneinAZ]

I have three kids, all three are different.

The oldest is Bookworm, a girl age 9. She loves books and currently is into Neopets. She does Girl Scouts with other homeschooling girls and loves it.

The middle is MisterMan, a boy age 7. He likes to play the piano and play games of all kinds. He likes Ticket to Ride and Moose in the House. But he will learn any game if you will play it with him. He is a Wolf in Cub Scouts and likes hanging out with the other little boys.

The little guy is Bunny, a boy age 3. He thinks he is big and is sorely disappointed when he can't do the things the older kids can. He tags along for most of our outings and picks up far more than I think he does.

Jenne in AZ

[kokotg]

I'm another who didn't post much at all on the old boards, but I like this format much better....

I'm Gretchen, mama to 3 boys--6 1/2, 4 1/2, and newly 2.

Ari is the only officially homeschooled kid. He's doing SOTW 2, Singapore 2B, and we just started FLL 3. He likes reading ("books are better than toys"), drawing, making books, and gymnastics.

Milo's less interested in academic things at the moment. He's doing Singapore Earlybird, listening to lots of library books, and sitting in on SOTW and science when he wants to. He likes robots, superheroes, and aliens.

Gus is 2, so his main interest is in destroying things and trying to give up naps. But he's cute.

[Rhonda@LivingWater]

We've always homeschooled. My dc are dd age 10 and has always been way ahead in anything to do with language, reading, and writing. Ds is 8 and is a math/science whiz with a HUGE imagination. Youngest dd is 6 and seems to be like her older sister and loves to read and write and is an amazing logical thinker. :)
I did not post much on the old board either (I mostly read posts) but this format is soooooo great, I'll post more often.
Hopefully, too, I'll get my avatar fixed in a day or so.

[KAR120C]

Hello hello! I was "erica" on the old boards but KAR1200 in various other places so for continuity's sake I switched! (and since we have to be logged in here, the only hope for my remembering all my logins is to have some duplication! :p )

I homeschool my one darling 8 year old boy and have since the start whenever that was. He's working at an almost-solid 7th grade level in most things, although his writing is slow (good, but slow) and his spelling is only just barely age appropriate. And we're not planning to finish all the 7th grade work this year, so we might just be camped out at this level for a while!

We use a TON of different things, enjoying the variety and taking full advantage of there being no hurry to get through any one of them... I'll just list:

Science:
Singapore Interactive 1
New Scientist magazine
First Lego League (fall)
Science Fair (winter)
Dissection/ Biology club
Cooking club
Physics class

Math:
NEM 1
Gelfand Algebra
Zome Geometry
Euclid (with a study guide by Benno Artmann - extremely helpful!!)
Martin Gardner puzzle books

History/ Geography:
Story of the World 3
History of US (3 I think... can't remember... whichever has the American Revolution)
Oxford Teaching Guides to the History of US for discussion questions and essay prompts
History Pockets American Revolution
Behemoth geography project that will almost certainly take us until graduation to finish (lots of writing, lots of maps, continent by continent and region by region within each. We've been on Africa for a year now.)

Literature/Language Arts:
Lightning Lit & Comp 7
Local book group of 8-12 year olds
Megawords Spelling
Turbo-twist Spelling (anything for extra practice!)
Sentence diagramming (McGraw Hill workbook)
Evan Moor Daily Paragraph Editing workbook

Language:
Minimus Secundus (co-op)
Lingua Latina (home)
Spanish with a reader, Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur
Russian cursive handwriting (in preparation for adding Russian language in a bit)

I mentioned our menu system on another thread -- these are all our choices, but they don't get done all at once. Basically we do an hour of each (science, math, history, lit/comp, language) and DS chooses what is done in each hour from the list. Although I should admit that when the science fair deadline is only two days away and it's not quite done yet and book group is meeting this afternoon, sometimes it works out to four hours of science and one hour of lit/comp and everything else can wait for next week! LOL

[mktkcb]

I'm Kayleen in So Cal. I Homeschool 3 (dd 16, dd14, ds 11). I mainly like this board for my ds who is very asynchronous (you all know....the input output thingie), gifted academically and musically, and is an EXTREMELY difficult kid. My oldest was very similar (although not quite as obviously gifted), and she is now in her right mind and a very good student, so there is hope! I love getting ideas from all you great ladies.

[KarenNC]

One daughter, age 7, who loves anything to do with horses or comics (Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes, Foxtrot, Asterix, TinTin, Far Side, etc). Princesses, Playmobil and Barbie are now in second place, except where they intersect with horses (which is quite frequently:)).

She's taking aikido and enjoys Girl Scouts. She went to a small preschool from 2 1/2 to 4, hsed rest of the way.

The only thing we've done in terms of testing are a couple of streamlined WJIII achievement tests for planning purposes, and she had scattered scores at the end of last year (age 6) from 2nd up into 5th/6th grade depending on topic. Her passion is for reading (her best areas are reading and spelling), not so much on the math or handwriting end of things.

I have gone back and forth numerous times on whether there is a point to doing an IQ test on her as we don't have any specific program-driven need at this point or any concern about learning disabilities (her achievement scores are quite scattered, but I don't think it is likely LD-related). I have a suspicion of where she would fall based on knowing my and my husband's scores and observation of her (and that would not likely be in the profoundly gifted range), but not sure we really need to shell out for formal testing just out of curiosity.

We have the typical issues periodically of emotional and social maturity being closer to her chronological age than her cognitive skills and that gap being an issue, but she has a group of friends, is very outgoing and does well. I'm actually not sure how two introverts ended up with such an extrovert, but it's an interesting journey!:)

[Lorna]

I have two children. They have always been best of friends and love to play together. They like to invent their own games, go swimming, make crafts, build Kapla, listen to radio plays and play with their wooden animals.
Our oldest daughter (12) is really the one who has always been ahead of her time. She read at age two. I didn't even realise she knew her letters but she read out a 'No Smoking' sign phonetically. She was in school until the age of seven. She was reading chapter books before she went to school (aged five) and so I was quite concerned with her having to read the terribly boring, badly sellotaped together, books they had at her school. I was worried that might put her off. Luckily she would read anything and so I needn't have worried. She was tested at age six as being off the scale with her reading (their test only covered up to the reading age of ten). Because she has spent most of her childhood reading I am think she has missed out on some things her brother is good at. She is very impractical! She has no common sense. I think she is going to have to have a wonderfully practical husband to look after her and not mind her reading all the time. She even reads whilst her friends come over. She really doesn't notice. She is also very good at maths although she only occasionally gets pleasure out of it similar to her reading. She has an 'instant' sort of memory and so she loves memorisation but it isn't really an activity for her because she only needs to read through something a few times. I do find her difficult to 'teach' because she picks things up quicker than I do and she is also very pedantic.
Our son is certainly an engineer and we come from two families of engineers. He is wonderful with processes. He can astonish me with maths but also exasperate me if he can't be bothered that day! He is a fantastic writer with some beautiful turns of phrase which always surprises me because he isn't a reader like his sister. He is extremely kind and thoughtful and loves to help cooking and fixing things with his father. He is an extrovert who really likes to be with people all the time. This, I think, is the main reason he only reads when I set time aside for it or it is bedtime.
I love these boards for getting new ideas and sharing similar experiences!
Best wishes,
Lorna

[tess in the burbs]

Hi, I am Tess and I homeschool my two kids, Ds, just turned 6, and Dd, 4.

Ds is K by the ps standard, but I filed him as 1st grade this year. He is ahead a year in math....and reading on a 4th grade level now. I struggle to find books he can read and still have appropriate subject matter/language. He is also into K'nex and builds the most amazing things!

Dd is preK, but already reading and doing math...I suspect she will catch up if not surpass her brother next year. She doesn't like to be 'behind' her brother in anything. She is taking ballet but IMHO more suited for aggressive sports and hope she will ask to play a sport next year ;-)

[allearia]

Hi everybody! I am a frequent lurker but rarely post, but now with the new boards I am hoping to change that, especially if this board is moving with no more awful spam. I have two sons, ages 6 and almost 3.

I just started homeschooling my 6 year old in September, who would have entered ps Kindergarten, but has been reading and writing at a higher level since he was four.

We started RightStart A in September, went very quickly, and started RightStart B at the end of October, and he just did the mid-year test yesterday and so far is doing great though I expect we will do all the lessons in the rest of the book as it is getting more challenging for him.

We are doing first grade language arts, and SOTW 1, REAL Science 1, Spanish, piano, monart classes, gymnastics, soccer, and some other stuff that I am exhausted just typing out but he thrives on it and wants more. He loves prehistoric mammals and dinosaurs and is currently in a superhero phase, spending every spare minute drawing superheroes, creating costumes out of scrounged materials, and we are starting to write a book about them. Oh, also poetry memorization, he went through the first two levels (40 poems) from Andrew Pudewa's Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization program in less than a month and now going through a similar level that I created myself, though a little more slowly as the initial novelty has worn off.

My almost 3 year old goes to preschool 3 days a week, and although he is still learning to talk, he is also learning to read and write and loves letters and numbers and steals my thick paperback novels to pretend to read and point out letters. He can sound out words but doesn't always realize what he is doing (he will sound out C-A-T and then proudly say, "Daddy!") He is also obsessed with the computer and takes every opportunity to play games meant for much older children that I mistakenly installed a demo of.

I look forward to active participation in this board!

- Laura in CA

[Old Dominion Heather]

I've got three boys, 8, 5 and 2.

They are in 3rd and K. We do mostly WTM with a mix of whatever we feel like doing at the moment.

The oldest is a bright kid. He is ahead in most subjects and is scary ahead in math and science. He writes like an eight year old, though. He also has some vision issues, had congenital cataracts, double lensectomies and has glaucoma.

The five-year-old is also ahead, scary ahead in anything language based. He is reading The Hobbit.

The two year old likes to ask questions about our current read aloud... "Where Bilbo go?" (We just finished chapter one of Fellowship of the Ring) "Bilbo work?...Noooo! Bilbo trip!"

We have a dog who likes to run away.

[Mom2GirlsTX]

I used to post on Accelerated Board a ccouple of years ago and have only visited once or twice in past year...their was so much spam on that board!:mad:
my 10 year old dd is ahead in most subjects, with math being her nemesis, so she is on grade level for it.
My 8 year old is just a typical kiddo, but has some special needs do to a head injury/stroke so she is gifted in some areas and behind in others.

[K&Rs Mom]

Clearly there has been a gap between the first crawler and the second crawler. Don't you remember what happens when they start to crawl? Life as you know it is OVER.

Your proper response to all attempts to crawl or walk is "STOP IT! What are you THINKING!"

That goes for talking and reading, too.... ;) Once they can talk, you get backtalk, and once they can read you have no more secrets!

I have 3 & 5yo dd's, the 5yo definitely accelerated and the 3yo looks like she may be also but has speech issues so it's hard to tell what's in there just yet. This is one of the main reasons we're homeschooling - I was lucky enough to attend an elementary school with a gifted program, but it was only one day a week and I was SO bored with the other 4. I don't want to do that to dc and the outschools here (public, private or charter) don't offer much in that direction.

[Sara R]

I lurk here occasionally. My middle child is accelerated. We used to homeschool, but school worked well for him, and the public school here has a great Spanish immersion program. The school's math program is weak, and he is ahead in math (just finished up Singapore 3A), so we do Singapore for him before school each day.

[Debra in CO]

Hi,

I'm still Debra in CO. I have five kids, homeschooling the four boys.

ds10 - he's my accelerated one. He's using VideoText Algebra, he reads anything and everything, he is pretty decent at picking up languages. His spelling is horrid, though, and we're doing remedial work on that. He doesn't particularly like to write, which is something I have to start dealing with.

ds9 - he has struggled with a lot of things, mostly reading. He's behind grade level pretty significantly there. But he loves history and science, and he's pretty good at math (as long as he doesn't have to read it). He's a hard worker, and the one who notices things and tends to follow through.

ds7 - he's a pretty typical first grader, though I think he might take off with math in the relatively near future. He has loved learning about the Civil War this war, and all things battle related.

ds3 - he's doing kindergarten math, started reading without any instruction from me, and he gets pretty obsessive about whatever his current topic of interest is. He loves helicopters, is fascinated by Abraham Lincoln, and his current project of choice is to teach his sister sign language. I think he is going to be an even bigger challenge than my oldest.

dd 23 months - she loves her babies, loves to dress up, and is majoring in getting her big brothers all twisted around her little finger. She's good at it. She loves to be read to.


So, that's my crew. Now, I'll go read about all of yours! :)

Debra

[ArwenA]

I was A on the old board but didn't post much on the accelerated board. I hope to be more active here.

My Arwen, 28 year old mom to three girls, 9,6 and 3.

Chelsea, 9, is the accelerated one who loves math, reading, writing and history.
Megan,6, is an auditory learner which means that I have a lot to learn (Chelsea is visual). She loves animals and really, really wants to play violin.
Cassidy, 3, is my super cute preschooler. :) She loves listening to stories and being a "big girl".

We're in our 5th year of homeschooling and are loving it!

[Mom2legomaniacs]

I am Melissa, Mom2legomaniacs. I haven't really posted on this board, but am on a couple of the others. My ds's are 6 and 9. Both are working ahead of their grade/age in a couple of areas.
One thing I am coming to realize with my little one is that I need to dig deeper to find ways to work with him more. He is an insane little reader. He can read high levels with great ease and speed. He has a deep understanding of what he has read and is extremely intuitive. And I just don't know what to do with that! He has surpassed me in ways already due to abilities that are natural to him that I do not possess.
So, I will likely be lurking around and asking a bit from time to time to see what I can do for him.

[snickelfritz]

I have 2 dd's: 4 1/2 and 2.

The oldest loves dance, gymnastics, kittens, and babies. She loathes her swimming lessons. The youngest, of course, loves swimming.

My oldest tends to be ahead of her age group in most areas (physical coordination, reading), but she still has lots of potty accidents. :confused:

The youngest likes to keep up with her sister, so we'll see how all that turns out.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

I didn't post much on the old board and still probably won't much since my kids are still very young. I have a feeling that I'll be using this board a lot in the future though.

My oldest dd is 3yo and loves to talk and make up stories. She is always amazing me by the things that she says and understands. She enjoys being read to and is dying to learn to read herself. We'll probably start some informal things once we are settled in after our newest is born. She has an amazing memory and could tell you the color lollypop that someone gave her 9months earlier. Her motor skills are more average for her age, and I know that everything I do with her will have to be adjusted because of that.

DS is 22mo and he is even more vocal than his sister was at this age. He wants to do anything that his sister is doing. He is more practical than his sister and enjoys building things and figuring out how things work. He loves ladybugs and could find a picture of one anywhere.

Baby is due in 1 1/2 weeks and we are just waiting for him or her to show up.

[Kalah]

Hi All!
Still trying to figure out the new format, but I'm sure I'll get it. I, too, am grateful for no spam.

I have 2 boys. "Huck" is 7 1/2. He's ahead 3-5 years in most subjects, the hightest being math. He loves science and latin too. "Tom" will be 5 in a couple weeks and has very little interest in school related subjects but loves reptiles and amphibians and came name many species I have never even seen before. He's flying through Singapore EB so I have a feeling he's more gifted than he's letting on. Either way is fine with me.
Except for the year Huck spent in preschool, we've always taught at home.
We love SOTW but have taken a break as we're in the 4th year and many kind people on this board gave me a head's up that it was a bit on the violent/sad side. So, we're spending this year reading and learning about interesting and notable figures of the last century and having a blast! LFC has been a hit in our house too.
Glad to see you all here! Once I figure out the picture thing, I'll try to get mine up there. It's nice to connect faces with names.
Cheers.

[Cadam]

This is our 4th year of homeschooling. These are my kids:

10 yo ds pretty average in academics and doing advanced work in "poor attitude". Dx with verbal apraxia and SPD

6 yo dd Who is a little advanced in reading and blowing me away in maths. She is twice special and has been dx with SPD and fine motor delays. There is something else going on as well that we have not nailed down yet. maybe it is just quirkiness but ADHD, NVLD and ASD have been tossed around.

2 yo dd Doing what 2yos do. Climbing, jumping, dancing and destroying her way through life. She desperately wants to be included in school but she won't even really be 2yo for 3 more weeks so even coloring has to be closely monitored.

6yo might be gifted but we simply don't know, can't afford the testing and her other issues would affect testing at this point anyway. I attempt to keep her challenged and thank God she is 4 years younger so there is very little chance she will catch her brother up in maths.

[nitascool]

Hi. I'm Nita. I live in Ohio with my dh, three boys, baby girl and our cat. I have two and a half homeschooling right now. We started hsing when my oldest was 3. We are on our 4th year.

My dh is a Mental Health Specialist at the local Hospital. He is going back to school in the fall for Nursing.

I am a SAHM. I like to write poetry and have written a couple short stories as well.

My 7.5yo ds enjoys reading adventure/fantasy books, swimming, Lego's and taking care of his cat. He's outputting on a 2nd grade level in Math and 5th/6th grade level in everything else. We had ds tested and he is considered a gifted underachiever with mild ADHD (non-hyperactive).

My 6yo ds outputs on the 1st/2nd grade level with everything except writing, which is at about a high preschool level. We had ds tested and he has ADHD with hyperactivity, SPD, and a vision development problem which we haven't gotten a dx for.

My 3yo ds does school when he feels like it. He can do all preschool things except cutting and writing. He knows his shapes, colors, letter names and sounds and numbers. He can also site read some words.

My 8mo dd isn't doing any school right now. I'm hoping that she will take her time. At least until the others are doing school a little more independently! She is currently keeping us busy with trips to a GI and PT. She is a very active, happy, and small little girl.

The cat's name is Jr. We realized that Jr. was an inappropriate name when she gave birth to four kittens.

[3flowers]

In the past I've just been a lurker. I have 3dds and this is just my second year of homeschooling.

My oldest is just your average 4th grader. She's a science nut though and wants a career with animals.

My middle daughter is 3 (4 in April). She's still young so I'm not really sure if she's 'advanced' or what not. But she is the reason that I'm a lurker on this (old) board. :) She is currently reading. We're on lesson 30 something in 100ez lessons and she's doing ETC 1. She just got Saxon Math K for Christmas. (she was asking for a math program just like her sisters) =) She's flying through the first part of that. Well, very first part of it. She's on lesson 16 now. But she's been doing 3 lessons at a time. (the beginning ones are really easy).

My youngest dd is just 1 1/2 and her main interests tend to be making a huge mess of everything or wanting to be held. :rolleyes:

Well, I guess that's it. (Who's next? :D)

[freethinkermom]

I used to post on the WTM boards as 2wackyboys, then I took a break from posting for a few months (maybe a whole year). I just started posting againa as freethinkermom. My real name is Terry (or Teresa depending on my mood).

I have two sons ds10 (11 in three weeks) and ds6. Both are homeschooled, although on some strange whim none of us have quite figured out we did try the public school this year for the first tri-mester. They insisted on placing the boys by age then doing testing (with lots of insuated insults towards dh and I that there is no way we were we being honest about the boys giftedness). Ds was placed in the 5th grade which is middle school here. They did some testing... WISC-IV, standardized tests, etc... and comfirmed that he really is profoundly gifted like I said he was. The school counselor and the psychologist both confidentially (like please don't tell the Principal we are saying this) told me that ds10 was better off being homeschooled as I could provide him with a better education than their system could dream of. Ds6 was placed in K, but tested at a 4thgrade reading level and 3rd grade in math in the informal testing they reluctantly gave him. We pulled him out before they scheduled the WISC-IV that was planned.

So except for that brief couple of months, which we all look at as an entertaining experiment, we have homeschooled.

For ds10 we are using Kinetic Books Algebra I (thanks to a recomendation from the Curric. board), History Oddysey Early Modern Level 2 (this is very easy for him, but we like it anyway...no stress and he gets a good overview of the history), literature reading from WTM 7th grade list, Vocab from Classical Roots A, Rosetta Stone French combined with some podcasts, and self-directed science until he has enough algebra to start the Kinetics Physics. I expect to go through all of these programs and the next level of each (Jacob's Geometry after Kinetic Algebra) by the end of 2008.

Ds6 is doing Mammoth Math Grade 1 because while he has the arithmetic down he needs the money and time telling skills reinforced, we just switched from Singapore because we like the MM better. He is moving through it pretty fast, but not like his brother. At this rate I expect to be started with grade 3 by the end of the year but not done. Other subjects we are pretty much following WTM year 1 but I have him do almost all of the reading himself. We are adding in Growing With Grammar and Minimus latin soon. He spends a lot of time on Cosmeo.com and pokemonlearningleague.com researching subjects he is interested in.

[Donna]

I posted over there as Donna as well.

I am homeschooling 3 accelerated children...

12yo ds who loves wrestling and martial arts and also plays drums.

10yo ds also loves martial arts-taekwondo and Judo and also plays guitar.

5yo dd who is very talented in violin and Celtic fiddling.

I work 2 days a week as a physical therapist in Early Intervention for children under 3yo and teach taekwondo.

[Elizabeth in Canada]

I have two boys, aged 10 and 12, both homeschooled their whole lives.

My 12 yr old, J., is very musical, playing violin and piano, and now has joined the church choir as well.

My 10 yr old, T., loves gymnastics and is more physical than his brother.

Both boys are gifted (yes, we tested) and we have chosen to go both deeper and faster to accomodate. Both are accelerated in just about everything, but their writing skills lag behind the rest, even though vocabulary, phrasing, etc. are all excellent. I wonder about 10yo ds sometimes as he could have "stealth dyslexia", but he is so able to cover up a lot of the time (hence the stealth...). His reading is good, though I think he reads for the "whole picture" and not for the details.

I am now in the middle of trying to decide if 12yo ds should write the SAT's this year or not. It would give us a bit of proof to substantiate the level that he's working on. Because we have to register with a home education school board here in Alberta there are some hoops to jump through, one of which is dealing with bureaucracy because the boys are challenging some high school courses for credit, and the principal isn't thrilled. Long story... Any advice on the pros and cons of early SATs? Do people prep for it? Write it blind?

We are using Sonlight this year (core 6, with extra reading) for the first time and we're really enjoying the reading and the discussion that comes out of it. This is for our history, and lit. studies. We're almost done Rod and Staff Grammar 6 (and this is very accelerated grammar in Canada!) and will move on to 7 soon. They do some writing every day, but it varies--everything from dictation/narration to reports, essays, lap-books, novel logs, book reports, outlining from Kingfisher, etc. Neither is into creative writing, but I'm planning to blindside them with poetry in the spring. (They enjoy reading/hearing it, but I want them to WRITE it!) 10 yo has started NEM 1, and 12 yo is into NEM 2, but we just took a two week break to go through the Teaching Company Algebra 1 dvds which they really enjoyed.

Both boys are doing Latin Grammar (after finishing Latin Primer 1, 2, and 3), but 10yo is doing a bit of review using Latin Prep because he just doesn't focus on the details. DH is teaching them science this year using a program he wrote up himself: they are covering earth and planetary sciences (including geology, cosmology, atmospheric sciences, and astronomy). Sounds good to me!

My biggest struggle is trying to fit it all in, while still giving them free time to play, think, and dream. Is this a stuggle for others?

This is probably much too long, but I don't post often, so you won't get this much from me very often!

Elizabeth

[Plaid Dad]

I'm hs-ing one dd, age 6. Her current obsessions are unicorns and drawing...and drawing unicorns. ;)

[Lorna in the boonies]

I'm another Lorna, and, though I've posted infrequently over the years on the general board, I've only lurked on this one.

My primary reason for lurking is my 14 year old, who spent K-5 in public school before things got so bad I pulled her out. At 10 months old she pointed to the clock on the wall and gave us a very clear "what's that?" -- we spent the rest of the evening teaching her the words for all the objects she could find, and we've gone from there. She was the youngest child in the history of our district to be admitted to the GT program (which met for an hour a week and was basically useless). We pulled her out of ps after 5th grade, which is when the 8th grade science teacher (who was also the GT teacher) decided my 10 year old would be the perfect person to demonstrate experiments and explain concepts to children 3 years her senior. (Let's just say that young teenagers don't appreciate that type of thing very much, and this put an end to her social life.) Since she had been miserable since Kindergarten anyway, pulling her out seemed like the way to go! She has been much happier since we started homeschooling!

I also have an 11 year old who was in the ps gifted program, as well (just for K-1, as that is the point where we pulled them out of ps), but did not qualify with the off-the-charts scores his older sister had -- his were more 'normal' gifted scores. Our 6 year old has never gone to public school and we've never had her tested, but she appears to be somewhere between her brother and sister in the area of giftedness.

I'm looking forward to being involved over here now -- I am really enjoying the new format!

[nancypants]

Normally I just post on the k-8 general board. I have read on the accelerated board several times as my oldest is ahead in all subjects. I may ask questions more now in the new format... but I don't have many answers so I'll probably mostly lurk. :)

[Karin]

I typed this on my second try and saved it. Boards were too busy before.

I'm keeping this short as the last time, I went to a lot of trouble and was told I couldn't post! Must have run out of time or something.

Same Karin as old AL board. I was on there for the past 4-5 years, so many of you already know who I am.

3 kids. 12 yo dd visual spatial/auditory learner. Hates academics, but still is accellerated because she is gifted. Artistic. I was told in Sept she is talented and am seeing it. I'm not a mother who loves everything her kids draw and only compliments when I like it (for better or for worse.) The first time she showed talent in art, I was horrified. She was 3 and it looked like she'd drawn a terrifying monster, but what she'd done was draw a face with teeth, eyelashes, etc, etc, etc. She's an avid swimmer and is improving in her first full year on a team.

9 yo dd very vs learner who loves history, being silly and physical play. No sense of time and draws on her work when I'm not looking, but spelling is her only real challenge other than learning to follow oral instructions (she's improving at both.) She dances and is also on the swim team; she enjoys them but it's much more social for her right now than serious.

7 yo ds. Not interested much in academics, but is interested in asking lots and lots of questions and exploring topics in enormous depth, particularly if they relate to physics or religion. Learning to swim and draw. First he drew only airplanes, then airplanes and sharks. He draws more things now, but not people. He's very consciencious and considerate most of the time (he is only 7!) and I think he's going to be a real gentleman when he's grown (not that I'm in any way biased!)

[EKS]

I have two boys ages 11 and 5.

The 11 year old is pretty good at math, started algebra in 5th grade, but sometimes seems to forget everything he ever knew about math. He has dyslexia and his inability to read by the end of first grade is what prompted us to homeschool him. He now reads on a high school level. He likes to have higher level texts but is a basket case when it comes to output. I just recently gave up on the high school biology text (something he requested that we use in the first place!) we were using because he was using the high school level of the text as an excuse for his inability to answer any questions about the material. Now he is doing the K12 Life Science course for middle school and is still unable to answer questions. Can you tell I'm frustrated?

My 5 yo has been reading since he was 2, just started Singapore 2A, is doing the K12 Grade 2 language arts course, and mostly just breathes in everything I try to teach him. Most of the time it's like he knew it already.

[dangermom]

I've always been dangermom, but it's been a while since I posted.

I've got two daughters: a 7yo in 2nd grade and a 4yo in pre-K. Both of them are into horses and unicorns right now.

7yo loves to read and make things out of paper, fabric, and whatnot. Her favorite subject in school is Latin (LC1), and she also loves CW Aesop and science. And history. She's a very enthusiastic kid, but inclined to perfectionism and gets easily discouraged when she makes mistakes, so I'm always telling her to relax and that mistakes are good. She's slowly getting there.

4yo is learning to read and likes to do "kindergarten math" but mostly goes to a small preschool group 4 days a week, which she loves. She likes horses, knights, and bloodthirsty fighting with knight and horses.

I sew and read a lot, besides trying to squish in all the school and activities and play.

[Arch At Home]

I have always been Arch At Home. I work part-time as an architect and my firm allows me to telecommute part of that time.

I have 3 dc. My oldest, 8 yo, is accelerated. She is into Shakespeare, ballet, and historical fiction. She doesn't like math but it pretty good at it. She has many of the personality characteristics of a gifted child.

My second, 6 yo, is trying to figure life out. She definitely has a mathematical brain. It is amazing to watch the concepts click and her manipulate numbers. She is starting to show an interest in sports and is currently eagerly following the Patriots. She also really likes flower fairies.

All of my children have late summer early fall birthdays. We officially termed the fall they turned 5 their kindergarten year. The girls were definitely ready. My third, 4 yo, is coming along nicely but I am not sure that he would be ready emotionally and perhaps even academically this next fall. He is really into vehicles and wants to be a truck driver, motorcycle driver, and a train driver. He also likes to do anything his sisters like to do.

Arch At Home

[elizabeth]

Greetings, We have hsed since 1st grade . TWTM has been our guide and inspiration for the 5+ years we have been on this journey. I am mom to an only child who loves to read, play chess,design clothes and draw cartoons. We are a catholic-jewish family who reside in the hills of Iowa and find life here to be everything we could need or want.Although I am an attorney I do not practice law but work as a research assistant for my dh when needed to keep me on my toes. I post rarely but read frequently . I was and remain simply ,Elizabeth.

[Country Girl]

I used to post as Carrie on the old board but saw quite a few with the name Carrie so I just changed to Country Girl.

I am officially homeschooling my 6yo ds and I have posted on the old board asking for help on how to accelerate him in math as well as other areas. I would say science is his passion but he also loves to read and is pretty good with numbers. He is a smart boy and I have a feeling he will be a challenge to keep up with. I'm so glad to have a group like this to come to for support.

I also have a 4yo ds and a 2yo dd. I do a little informal work with my 4yo and he is beginning to learn how to read. Mostly must short vowel words but a few more advanced words as well. My 2yo, what can I say, she's 2! But she can say the ABC's:D.

Looking forward to posting more and getting to know everyone better.

[earthmother]

I'm earthmother...used to be just plain old Peggy. I am presently "after-schooling" as my ds8 was accepted into a "challenge" program which is a gifted/blended program at the local public school and we thought we'd give it a try. So far, he says its "too easy" but he loves it so I'm happy with that. Not so sure on next year as I haven't heard great things about the 4th grade challenge program. My ds loves to read and scooter, and be adventurous. He's reading at a high school level which challenges us because of finding appropriate content.

I also have a ds4 who loves to draw, read, and play piano. He can hear a song and play it on the piano within a couple of tries...pretty neat!

And to round out the bunch is my dd16 months. She is my crazy climber and loves to be with her brothers.
earthmother

[Kristiana]

But I'm still Kristiana.

I have 3 boys and we pretty much follow WTM recommendations in all subjects, though at an appropriate level for math and reading.

7yo is my accelerated one. He can read just about anything put in front of him and loves number and logic puzzles. He's ahead in math and generally loves to learn. He also has beautiful handwriting for a 7yo boy, always has.

4.5yo is doing FIAR for some one-on-one time with Mom, and works hard on pencil control and writing--he's a lefty and hasn't nearly the physical fine motor skills his brother has but wants to do well.

3yo is right there with us in all that we study.

All three are absolute train fanatics, and take Kindermusik classes where their teacher tells me they all have a good ear and some musical ability. Thank heavens they take after me and not after Daddy!:D

[Sue in TX]

dd6 loves reading, legos, math, history

dd4 loves math and seems to enjoy "doing" school, even though I don't require her to participate, yet...

ds2 loves Matchbox cars and playing outside

We have had dd6 complete a round of testing (achievement & cognitive) to help me figure out where she is at and how best to be her teacher. We found it very insightful.

Sue in TX

[PariSarah]

Clearly there has been a gap between the first crawler and the second crawler. Don't you remember what happens when they start to crawl? Life as you know it is OVER.

Your proper response to all attempts to crawl or walk is "STOP IT! What are you THINKING!"

Miss Pam, you are a troublemaker.

You know, it's not so much that I've forgotten as it is that my first crawler just wasn't that bad. We didn't even need to babyproof.

But that's okay. I'm ready to be a real parent now. ;)

[Virginia Dawn]

I have graduated one who is now 21 and married. She was my artistic, musical, and creative writing child. She was seriously math disabled.

My 17yo ds is my most obviously gifted child who absolutely hates anything to do with art and creative writing. He is currently attending community college and made straight A's last semester, complaining that it wasn't challenging enough. He was slightly obsessive compulsive when young, alphabetizing and putting things in straight lines, and working 1000 piece puzzles. He could remember the day of the week of most significant events in his life, and had most of the globe memorized by the age of 5. He is extremely self motivated, I didn't have to do much teaching. He corrected all his own work and made lists of books for himself to read.

My 14yo Is my tinkerer, inventer, trouble shooter, and is obsessed with military history. He loves practical and wierd science, and often surprises us with the depth of his knowledge.

My 8yo is a mystery to me yet. He is now reading The Fellowship of the Ring, after having read the Hobbit, and he hates to read books that I assign as literature, so I end up reading them to him. He picks up concepts easily and speeds through his work so he can spend most of his time in imaginary play.

The 3yo is currently trying to rule the world. :)

[Testimony]

I have been on the K-8 boards for the last 3-4 years. I love the WTM boards. I mostly post on the K-8 curriculum boards. I use to be Karen's testimony. For a long time, there were sooo many Karens on the K-8 curriculum boards. I dropped the Karen and left Testimony.

I love homeschooling. I was called by the Lord God almighty to teach these children. I have been ever since they came out of my womb. You see, my husband and I were not able to have children for years. When God blessed us to have two, we knew that they had to be raised for Him. I love teaching and they love learning. My older one is very intelligent and is above grade level at least in reading. He does well in mathematics too. He scored in the 94th percentile in his IOWA tests. He is a determined young boy.

I love reading what others are using. I have read the Well Trained Mind. I have stopped using it as my guide. I continue to follow many of its principles and my son can't get enough of Story of the World.

Blessings!

[naturalmom]

I have 3 dc:

ds 13 (nearly 14) in 8th grade; He was my early reader (age 3). He's currently doing Omnibus I, finishing NEM1, just starting Apologia Biology, and is improving his German (fluent receptive, weak in speaking) His real love, though, is piano, and that's where he likes to spend his free time.

dd11 is in 5th grade; She began reading later, but is my book devourer. She's currently using Ambleside, just starting Year 6. She's in Singapore 5A, having despised math for some time, but has sped up lately because of ds5. She's doing Rod and Staff English 6, no formal science. Has a sudden interest in horses and is now our resident expert. She's in her 4th year of piano, but only plays when required.

ds5 is in kindergarten: After trying him out in K math, he has moved forward to 2nd grade. We are using German 1st grade materials for his schooling this year, except for math, which we've changed over for Singapore.

[Txmom]

I have been homeschooling for years now, dd in 7th gr.
We use a varity of curriculum. Dh teaches her math and some of the science since that is what he majored in in college.

We live in NE central Texas. In a small , or what used to be a small town.

I like to crochet, I sell afghans of any colors a person wants if I can find the color for 75.00 each. Large very nice afghans if anyone is interested. I make them for Christmas and birthday gifts.

Been married 19 yrs.

Been on this site just a few months.

Linda

[chai]

This is my fifth anniversary of being on these boards. On the old board, I posted as Donelda. I started homeschooling my dd 5 years ago. I used this board a lot then when I didn't know what to do with a 3-yr-old who was reading. I haven't been here nearly so much lately as I grew more comfortable with homeschooling an accelerated child. We moved to another state this year, so I was here very little over the past several months. I expect to be back much more now that we have a board without all of that SPAM and my dd has gotten more challenging again--especially emotionally. Do 8/9 year old girls turn their brains off?

DD will turn 9 years old in two weeks. She still devours books--she will read them over and over again. She loves D'Aulaire's Greek Myths and Chronicles of Narnia. She is a horse fanatic. We just started horse back riding lessons this fall and she loves it. I thought it would be a phase, but I'm no longer sure of that. She is quite musical and performs in two choirs.

School has become a bit more of a challenge because she no longer loves it. She used to beg to do more school; now I get the groans. I hope it is the age and not my teaching. :( She does well in math, but doesn't like it. She is a good writer, but does not like handwriting. We're starting to hit our stride in Latin. She is typical in this group in that her input level is much higher than her output. I've slowed down in many areas to work on the output--more writing, more discussion, etc.

We use:
Singapore Math sometimes supplementing with Horizons
Latina Christiana
Classical Writing
Misc. grammar and spelling books switching to Harvey's soon.
SOTW and Guerber history

[Jenny in Florida]

I've been Jenny in Florida since I started hanging out here a couple of years ago.

I started homeschooling when my daughter was about 4, adding in my son when he was old enough. The older one, who turned 13 in December, is now in college in another state through an early entrance program for gifted girls. But, somehow, I'm just as busy with only the one left to teach at home.

My son is now 9 and accelerated to at least some degree in all subjects. He's probably farthest ahead in math, although we've yet to find a ceiling on his reading level. We follow TWTM fairly loosely, with lots of "tweaks" to accomodate his learning style and our family's goals and budget.

In addition to "the basics," he is involved in lots of extracurricular activities, primarily dance, choir, theatre and model rocketry. He loves to read and is currently obsessed with samurai.

--Jenny

[Laurie in VA]

Wow! Love the new boards :) My name is Laurie and I am happily married to my DH of almost 12 years and homeschooling my two DDs, 6yo and almost 4 yo.

We figured out early on that DD#1 was well ahead of where all of the books said she should be, and once I heard about WTM we knew that it was a perfect fit for our family. DD#2 is following in big sis' footsteps and is actually 6-12 mos. ahead of where DD#1 was at this age!

I enjoy knitting and crochet (both new hobbies) and also volunteer my time at church and with our local La Leche League.

I Ka Pono (Cultivate the Goodness)
~Laurie in VA

[King Alfred Academy]

Hi there. I only posted on the old board a couple times, but found it to be very informative as I lurked :). I am new to this and reading about it as much as I can so I can give my boys the advantage my dh and I did not have due to slippng through the cracks in ps. I am trying to find a balance between supplying them with the input they need yet, not making it too much of a challenge that they then begin to lose interest.

Ds 6.99 (7 on 1/25) came out of the womb talking. He loves to read (I think around a 4th grade level), play with playmobil, draw, and learn.

Ds 4.5 is very physical. He loves to build things with just about anything, numbers, cooking, and making up songs.

Here's to our journey!

[M.Z.]

I was MZ on the old board, though I posted only a handful of times in the 2.5 years I’ve been lurking. I’m working on being less shy. :) I am a children’s author and would love advice on getting more connected with the homeschool world. Our children are quite young and we are learning as we go.

DS (4) taught himself to read at 2 and enjoys language arts, math, and geography.

DD (2.5) is showing signs of reading readiness and enjoys language and fine arts and tea parties.

DS (0.5) is working on crawling and enjoys giggling and listening to poetry and music.

I have greatly appreciated all of your insight and encouragement. Thanks for letting me participate,

MZ
www.BeowulfTheBook.com

[Peso]

I'm Peso, homeschooling two daughters, eldest (gr 4) accelerated 2 or 3 grades in LA and history, youngest (gr K) accelerated 2 grades in math and even more in science (of course, it *couldn't* be the same subjects!) - we've always homeschooled, except for a brief time in K with my eldest, who turned 10 yesterday!

We're headed the LCC way, but not necessarily with LCC recommendations - math, for example, will never be a rote/drill program for us, the more games the better! We do love SOTW, but on audio, and we do the projects but not the written stuff. My girls write copious amounts of imaginative work, so I haven't stressed it - I will look at SWB's writing program though, since it spans such a wide range of ages - I'd probably use it for prompts without the workbooks... I'm also looking into bravewriter, which might suit us better...

The youngest plays violin, the eldest piano, they both swim and goof around quite a bit :)

It's a pretty great life, all in all...

Thanks for sharing!

Penny

[JennW in SoCal]

I'm Jennifer, homeschooling mom of two sons. My oldest is 16, as of next week, is learning how to drive and is on track to graduate next January. He works at our church a good 10-12 hours each week as a "techie", designing and running the lights for 3 services, schlepping amplifiers and hooking things up to the sound system. He is active in a local youth theater troupe, either on stage or off, and is going to pursue lighting design as a major in college. My youngest is 12, in 7th grade. He is an avid reader of all things fantasy, still loves legos, loves to draw, is on a robotics team and is your basic Dungeons and Dragons, World of Warcraft geek. We are starting our 9th year of homeschooling -- hard to believe its been so long!

I mainly hang out at the high school board, but I stop by this board on occasion as I remember what it is to have young, accelerated, non-traditional learners. We were very "unschooly" until the kids each got to be about 4th or 5th grade, with school becoming more and more formal with each year. It has worked well for us.

[JeanM]

Well I typed up one intro, but somehow lost it. I'm homeschooling 2 boys, ages 6 1/2 and 8 (almost 9). I'm a biologist and I was working part-time at-home until last year when I lost my job. I just interviewed for another part-time at-home job, but am not sure if I'll get it. I'm not sure I want the job anyway, although we could use the money.

My oldest ds loves history and science, and is fairly good at math although he doesn't like it. He really struggles with handwriting and spelling. He has had fine motor problems and sensory issues for most of his life. He had a hard time with reading, but now reads very well and says that he loves it. He likes sports, although he is not very good at them, and loves legos and most of all loves "pretend" games.

My younger ds had no trouble with learning to read, although he claims he doesn't like to read. He has a harder time with math than his older brother and he doesn't really like history. He also loves legos, hot wheels and board games. He sometimes likes his brother's pretend games, but not often enough to please older bro.


Jean

[danielle]

My activation email went straight to the spam folder, so I'm late re-introducing.

I've been around here for 6 years now (wow!), since I pulled my then 2nd grader from school, then went to the library looking for what to do! Luckily, I immediately found WTM and have been happily modifying it ever since.

My dd, now 14, is profoundly gifted and loves the verbal side way more than the math (altho math is pretty strong too). She has studied French and Latin since early on, and now approaching high school, this is really paying off. Up until this year, I'd have sworn she'd end up as a classics, literature, or urban design prof, but now harp has really come on strong (due to attracting favorable comments from a harp prof at a recital). Okay, enough bragging.

Me, I never expected to homeschool, and am not sure I've made my peace with it yet. I had her at 40, expected to return to my work as a freelance writer as soon as she went to school. She was such a demanding baby/little kid that I couldn't do anything when she was little!

Anyway, I did manage to crank out First Start French for Memoria Press, am working on a second volume, and have become very interested in writing on home schooling (previously I focused on health care, architecture, real estate, and social policy issues).

My interests are legion, but include travel, Japanese and French culture, needlearts (hubby once made a list of 35 that I've at least attempted), gardening, sumi-e, our too-many pets, environmental issues and participation in our Quaker meeting.

I have learned so much from the diversity of opinions on this list, and am so grateful for the support you all give.

Danielle
http://www.memoriapress.com/descriptions/first-start-french.html

[Jill]

Hi all,

I'm Jill. I'm here. I am homeschooling a 6 yr old son. I'm loosely utilizing WTM in more of an unschooling way right now though we do go through the SOTW chronologically. Thank you for all the many ideas and links I have gleaned from the old archives!

Jill

[nutmeg]

Hi! I was an infrequent poster on the old boards, but I'm looking forward to using this new format!

I homeschool our 12 and 10 year old daughters. It is my younger child who is advanced. I can't quantify her abilities really in levels or years, except to say that she has a photographic memory, an insatiable curiousity, and comprehension beyond her years. Additionally, she is extremely sensitive, an independent learner, and a homebody. She gets it, whatever 'it' is, the first time she learns it, but will continue to ask questions about it, rephrasing questions days later, repeating entire conversations as she plays it over in her mind. She cannot do math silently, but will disappear into a novel with nary a peep. She can spell words she cannot define or pronounce.

My 12 year old is perfectly typical, and tolerates her sister's quirks. :p It isn't unusual to hear the elder asking her little sis for spelling help.

Thanks for letting me hang out here.

[cin]

I'm cin(dy) and I'm homeschooling my 2 girls. Piper was reading at 3 1/2. She is 6 and is currently doign R&S math & reading, 2, grammar, & SOTW 1. She loves problem solving stuff, so I am working her through Primarily Creativity, Thinking and Logiv, 2 word game books that I found and Mind Benders 2. I do one page from each per week. She also loves spelling, but doesn't need it. I have spelling power, and each week we have a 'pre-test' where I go through the page having her spell words. WHen I get around 15 that she miss spelled, I have her spelling list. I've tried to discontinue spelling, but she REALLY loves it (I think it strokes her ego).

She also LOVES reading, and I've been really working hard to find books AT THE LIBRARY that are appropriate for her. She's VERY sensitive and still has night terrors/mares so we have to be somewhat careful. In addition to the fact that alot of the books are just twaddle :rolleyes: I'm goign to turn her lose on the LIttle House books soon.

If you've read this far, THANKS!!! I know she's not as far ahead as some of your kids, but it's still nice to be able to share with others who are in the same boat, and won't think I"m bragging.

[Ailaena]

Hi

I was gone all weekend and when I came back... BAM!! Different board!

I mostly lurked on the last board because, well, I have no good reason, I just really love knowing other people have similar experiences!. I will try and participate a bit more in the future.

I have a 12yo dd who used to be considered 2e when she was little, but not anymore, I think she's just a regular e now;) We have homeschooled since halfway through 3rd grade and she wants to continue through HS. She is considered accelerated by everyone but me (I think plenty of kids her age are capable of higher level work than are receiving higher level work, she is just lucky) and is also taking classes at the local CC for French and Physical Geography. She chose physical geography this semester because it had a lab and, "I thought every 7th grader took Earth science!" It has, fortunately, been a really great experience for her.

Thank you all for sharing!

[Pajama Mama]

Same name from old board. I actually just posting so I can be a "larvae"-LOL I posted on the accelerated board occasionally and special needs. My son has asperger's so he fits in both categories. I usually posted to find suggestions for math and science which are my son's interests. the folks on the boards were always so helpful.

[Nan in Mass]

It isn't as easy to read as the old board was. I like seeing the whole thing at once, which you can't do here without openning a post, and the format gives me a headache. Very sad.

[Jill]

It isn't as easy to read as the old board was. I like seeing the whole thing at once, which you can't do here without openning a post, and the format gives me a headache. Very sad.
Hi Nan - This is Jill as in Jill in ND which I failed to mention in my first RollCall post.
You might want to explore the User Control Panel:Subscriptions sometime. I think you can set up some options for the forums there. "email digest daily" or "weekly" or no email notification but the threads will be stored in your personal folders - I like it for keeping up with threads from multiple areas on this kind of board that has many useful areas. I don't know if there are other viewing options, sorry but I thought I'd throw this out there for you and others. You can also see all posts by one author or of your own and the search functions are good. A Thread can be "Stickied" so it's always at the top of the forum. This is great for late-comers like me to go thru old subjects and read the history of subject which was pretty tough to catch up on in the other format. But I don't throw this out to argue, I swear! I just wondered if it might help your use of it all. :) Jill

[Baseballmom]

My name is Dorothy. I live in Central Texas. I have a 12 yo ds and a 8 yo ds. My 8 yo ds is the accelerated one. Although he doesn't seem to be as accelerated as many others on this board. He has never been tested for giftedness. He started reading immediately after he turned 4. He basically taught himself to read. But he really doesn't like to sit still to read. He is really more accelerated in math and science. He was doing multiple digit multiplication and long division by the end of first grade, and remembers everything he learns in science. What makes me think he may be gifted is his logic skills. He loves the mind trap game and makes up his own mind traps. He has a very advanced sense of humor and loves word puns. My 12 yo ds has learning problems (another story for another board) and my 8 yo is quickly passing him up. Glad to be here and meet y'all

[Jenny in Atl]

Greetings, I would not call my kids gifted but they both are ahead in a number of areas for their age, especially my youngest. DD 12 loves to read and her comprehension has tested on a college level. We are already using high school level LL as the SL readers are good, but she flies through them. My youngest dd seven is the one ahead in almost everything but writing (on grade level). She is flying through math (almost done with Singapore 3), reading on a 5-6 grade level, doing middle school science :eek:. I hope I can keep up with her. So, my question always is... are they gifted or is it that in homeschooling them, they are getting exposed to resources and opportunities that they would otherwise not have in public school?

[coloradostef]

I live just north of downtown Colorado Springs -- have been here for almost 3 years now. Before that, we lived in Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana and Kansas. We homeschooled our boys using an ecletic mix based around the Well Trained Mind, but unfortunately both kids have moved on to other opportunities.

My oldest is completing his first year of a two year IB program at the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales (full scholarship for all kids accepted). He absolutely loves it -- and his unique background from homeschooling really set him apart.

My youngest is completing 8th grade at the local middle school where he is at the top of his class in a middle years IB program. Homeschooling was not a good fit for this kid (he is definitely extrinsically motivated!) but the years that we did homeschool set an excellent foundation and I would change a thing. It seems like the IB middle years program here takes quite a few kids who were homeschooled for elementary. He is applying to attend a boarding school for high school -- so we really don't know where he will be next year.

I enjoyed reading the forums and I pop in every now and then to catch up -- I am now back in school to get my elementary education degree and teaching license, so hopefully I can be one of those "homeschool friendly" teachers in the future.

Stef

[Ellen Redsax]

I used to be Ellen in Ft. Lauderdale, and for a while I was Ellen from Ft. Lauderdale in CA, or something like that.

DD 8 is great with languages. We're doing Elementary Greek 1 this year, and Spanish with La Clase Divertida. She loves to read, play the piano, and draw.

DD 3 likes to play Barbies, or with any kind of dolls and stuffed animals. The dolls act out fairy tales and such. She's not as bothered by big bad wolves as her sister was at that age, so we can read lots of fun stories.

[Colleen in SEVA]

Hi... I was a couple of different names on the old boards, I think I tried just "Colleen" when I first joined in early 2003, but quickly realized there were already several others. Then I was "Colleen in VA" until someone else joined and took that name. I've been "Colleen in SEVA" (as in from Southeast Virginia) for a couple of years, and to my knowledge nobody else has used that name.

I first joined when my oldest was 19 months. I remember posting a question something like "what games do you play with your toddlers" and several people posted that their kids already knew their letters at that age and played letter/word games. I was astounded! As a former 1st grade teacher, it had never occurred to me to tell a 1 year old what the names of the letters were. So I tried, and he knew all 52 letters by name and sound within a couple of weeks. He started reading cvc words about a year later, and took off from there.

Blue is 6.5 and is currently working at various levels of "above grade level". I did have him tested this past summer, and while the results didn't tell me anything I didn't already know (or at least suspect), it was a real confidence boost to know that what we are doing is working for him. He enjoys math and science, he tolerates history and reading, and though he professes to hate writing, he will often create lists of rules for his younger brothers. I am still able to meet his needs at home, but I am exploring options for his future education (Davidson Young Scholars, EPGY, CFGE@WM, etc).

Green seems to have a real gift for math, he "gets" math and can sometimes answer math drills quicker than my oldest. He has known all of the letters and sounds for a long time, but tells me he doesn't want to learn to read so we haven't started officially working on it (little does he know that when he asks me how to spell a word and then writes it, he is learning to read! *evil laugh*). He is also my little computer scientist -- he can log onto his own account, go to websites, and then enter my oldest son's username and password just by having watched him type it in. It is a little scary for a soon-to-be-4-yo!

Yellow is an early and non-stop talker. He has no interest in letters, or in potty training, and has no concept of number other than "one" and "not one" (as in -- hold up one object and he can tell you it is 1, but hold up 2 or more and he might say it is 7). He is my little cuddlebug, and has these big, bright, blue eyes that can melt your heart. He wants to "do school" like his big brothers, so he cuts and glues and colors to his heart's content.

Red is newly-turned-one-year and helps us all by taking long naps so we can do schoolwork. He has his own little corner of the school room with toys that don't make noise or have small pieces. He is our last, so I am not really in a hurry for him to leave the baby phase.

[Ellen Redsax]

Clearly there has been a gap between the first crawler and the second crawler. Don't you remember what happens when they start to crawl? Life as you know it is OVER.

Your proper response to all attempts to crawl or walk is "STOP IT! What are you THINKING!"

When my second one was born, I refused to put her down on her tummy, thinking if I didn't give her the chance to develop her muscles, I'd have more time before I had to baby-proof the house. Didn't work. She crawled even earlier than her big sister.

[Soph the vet]

I post mainly on the general board but occassionally I get over here too!
I have always homeschooled.
dd9 is the artist, gifted in reading comprehension, vocabulary
ds7 is the engineer, loves legos, great at math, logic
dd5 is the musician, perfectionist

[fishnoises]

10 yo dd 5th gr.: is on preteam gymnastics and dance ministry at church
8 yo ds, 3rd gr.: Wolf (cubscouts), Upward basketball
6 yp dd, 1st gr.: gymnstics and loves High School musical!
3 yo dd, preK: gymnastics and loves to sing (HSM of course)

We have always used Saxon math and I love it. Studying Latin with LC.
Started Greek with Hupogrammon, CW-Aesop A & B, Memoria Press' Christian Studies, Roman History and Copywork (for the 6 yo), SOTW 4 and Vocab. Roots (5th grade). Currently reading (in order of each child): The Hobbit, C.S. Lewis Perelandia series, (starting Bridge To Terebithia with 6 yo.)
the youngest wants to learn to read so bad. Her attention span is not ready, but I expect her to learn starting in the fall. (100 Easy Lessons)

[Mama Anna]

I'm a registered newbie but have been gleaning from these forums for the past 10 months or so - ever since I was beginning to seriously consider homeschooling for my (then) 3yo dd and came across WTM in the library.

We presently have two kids. Dd1 is 4 years old, happy, hyper, and talkative, cruising through OPGTR and Saxon Math K and willingly doing handwriting (ZB-K), if not enthusiastic about it. Her biggest gifts right now are vocab and reading. My husband and I used to try to talk over her head by using big words. Doesn't work anymore. ("Ha!")

Dd2 is 1 1/2 years old and exploring the basics of stripping. When does this stage end?!?!?

My outside interests are music (voice), worship, handwork, and baking. We're presently in MO, but that tends to change frequently, so don't depend on it.

Just at the beginning of the journey and appreciative of all your wisdom!! :)

[Luanne]

and just recently started posting some. I have a 19 year old daughter who was homeschooled since fifth grade. (See my other post for more information about our situation). I am also educating myself due to a poor public school education many years ago. I have been a single mother for most of my daughter's life and have been a cashier at Wal-Mart for three years and five days now.

[Mandy in TN]

DS 16yo/ 10th grade grifted, dyslexic under-achiever :confused:
SL 200 Lit, Toolbook for Prose and Poetry, Journalism tutorial, Kumon LA; MUS Alg2; Apologia Marine Biology; World Geography; Latin

DS 14yo/ 9th grade lovebug, not-so-average joe :rolleyes:
McDougal Littell Lit, Fairview Comp, Steps to Good Grammar, Apples 2 Spelling; MUS Alg2; Apologia Physical Science; Holt Biology; Power Basics World History 2; Spanish Culture and Conversation tutorial; Art Classes

DS 5yo/ PK driven, motor-mouth, wiggle-worm :p
OPGTR, Bob Books; lots of math (because it is his second love right after running fast)- Kumon Level A, MUS Alpha, Singapore PM finishing 1A, Kumon Workbooks Telling Time and Money, Flash Cards, Worksheets based on What Your First Grader Needs to Know; children's books for science; social studies based on What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know; Farsi Appreciation; 1-day/ week homeschool enrichment

[LisaK in VA]

I lurk around the boards... but have been gone (due to heavy work load) for a couple of months. Wow! a lot can happen in that time.

We have four children:

DS8/ 3rd grade. Works 1-2 years above grade level in core subjects, at grade level in non-core. Not self motivated, easilly distracted -- but when he wants to do school, MAN can he breeze through it. He is easilly my most frustrating student only because I know what he can do, and hate it when he won't apply himself. Currently using K12, Latin for Children, Vertias Bible, Piano Lessons

DD6/K. Working 1-2 years above grade level in math & reading. Is our little artist, and we are working to encourage that as much as possilbe. Abeka Reading, Abeka Penmanship, Abeka Math, Veritas Bible, Piano)

DS4/Pre-K. Working on K-level materials easilly, and will be grouped with older sister for the next few years on history/science/latin, etc. Abeka Reading, Penmanship & Math, Veritas Bible

DD1.5/Toddlerhood. She's all about vocabulary.

[Testimony]

I am Testimony here too.

My older son is age 10 years old. He tests well. He tested in the 94th percentile in the IOWAs. I don't know if that makes him accelerated, but he seems to breeze through his topics. We use for him Singapore Math, He reads the Plutarch, Tales from Shakespeare, and Story of the World all on his own. He does Building Thinking Skills and Mind Benders for logic. I am using the internet to teach grammar, but I must change it.

My younger son who is 8 years old struggles. So, I look here mostly for my older son.

Karen
www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[Seeker]

I have not been active on this board before but that may change. ;)

I have one daughter who is 6 1/2 and doing mostly 3rd grade work, I suppose--if I was into grade levels. She began reading at 3yo and taking piano lessons a couple of weeks after she turned 4yo. She is quite at ease in performing--in fact, performing for people is when she really shines.

She is people oriented in her studies also; she would recognize the presidents on coins before she knew the names of the coins. She also loves geography and forces of nature--well, just about anything with science really.

I don't know if she is actually an accelerated learner or just has an amazing memory and desire to connect things with people and animals. It seems the subjects that rely more on memorization and communication are the ones where she excels, so she is easily learning French, Latin, Greek and Sign Language simultaneously. Math, being more conceptual, was a bit more challenging for her last year, but now she is doing very well in it also.

[Soph the vet]

We have 3dc, dd9 the artist, advanced in reading (9th grade level), ds7 has a head for math and Lego structures, and dd5 gifted in physical coordination and a deep thinker - writes really well but cannot read well yet. (opposite of other two)
We've always homeschooled. I spend most of the time on the general board as the subjects are so interesting or amusing.

[Kanga]

I occasionally posted on the old board as Ann, however I found that there was another Ann, so now I am Kanga. I have have always homeschooled my 3 children.

Kangatwo (17) is thoughtful, imaginative, and sarcastic. She has been taking classes at the cc for 2 years and has recently been hired by the college to tutor math. She will be majoring in Biochemistry at the local university next year.

Tigger (15) is bright, entertaining, energetic, and ahead in every subject except math. My dh (who has advanced degrees in Math and Engineering) tells me not to worry about my son's math ability because he hated math until he took Calculus in college.

Roo (1) has kept his New Year's resolution to give up napping.

[pixelroper]

it never occurred to me to do a hello post & I now know I can jump into an open thread & add:)

dd is working several grades ahead in most subjects, a music nut and quite possible more clever than I

started hs formally w/WTM in '04, one dd now 8, I've gleaned info from this forum since settling on the WTM. I can not remember who has helped me (sorry). I've only posted 2 or 3 times in the last 3 or 4 years- I have no idea who I might have posted as... always forget to write down passwords & user names- --most recently posted here last fall with what I'm sure was a serious question and it was thoughtfully answered promptly--

so, HELLO & GREETINGS & Thank you for your thoughts.

[Heather in Canada]

hrathech on the other board.

I have a 10yo dd, whom doesn't like being in "grade 5" and thinks I should let her skip a year...I tell her she's not leaving home for college when she's 15 or 16, so what's the point? She's never been to PS, except to participate in the orchestra program.

We're using Sonlight 6 this year, she's working in Singapore 6B, using Apologia General Science, Henle Latin 1st year, Wordsmith, God's Gift of language for grammar, we do spelling from the internet (Scripp's), Vocab from Classical Roots B, and a bunch of other stuff. She's a violinist and came 2nd in the regional spelling bee this year. An avid reader (presently entranced with LOTR), and still playing with dolls, which makes me happy.

She tests really well. We've used CAT tests. I will try testing her with the grade 8 level in a month or two; grade 7 test proved to be not much of a challenge.

I'm a pharmacist, my dh is a SAHD, and between HSing and my job, I have no time. I should not be taking so much time on this board!;)

[czechdrum]

I'm new to these forums. Our homeschooling approach is eclectic, but includes a lot of the classical resources used in the WTM method.

DS8 has never been in school and is profoundly gifted. He works at the middle/high school level in most subjects, and was recently accepted into the Davidson Young Scholars program.

Most of our local homeschooling friends are age-peers for DS but are working on 1st-3rd grade level for lessons. It helps to have internet resources where I can research and seek opinions on various curricula and learning approaches (I just posted a question about algebra on the HS board) because my friends are using early elementary curricula.

I'm looking forward to being part of this community and learning from all of you.

Tara

[Christina in ME]

Hi,
I am still Christina in ME. Took a break from the boards for awhile, and came back to new boards.

I have 9 children, 8 still at home. Oldest is clepping her way through college. Loves literature and history and politics.

Findurin, 17, still needs to get his license. Loves history, and Star Wars, and Star Trek, and LOTRO. He is basically figuring out what he wants to do with his life.

Oldest 2 have been tested. None of the others have.

Durfin, 15, is very V/S. Reads very slowly and doesn't do it often. Favorite books are Eragon and Eldest. He loves LOTRO and anything to do with the computer. He is doing AO/HEO Y9, MEP, and Greek. And loves sports.

Bedoc, 12 almost 13, is doing AO/HEO 7/8, and Singapore math and science. He is in CAP, and loves science fiction and LOTRO. He also takes ballet.

Aereleth, 10, is my next girl (oldest is girl, all others are boys). She is doing Singapore math, and AO Y5 for the rest of it, although she is doing Galore Park for French. Still working on Latin. Loves to sing and dance, and is taking ballet.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 are 8. They are struggling with reading, and doing AO Y3 for everything else. They love legos, playmobil, and everything their older brothers like. They do ballet and ski.

Next comes the 6 yo and he is doing AO Y1, follows his brothers around is learning to read. He also loves legos, playmobil,.....

Finally our little Noobie, who is 3 going on 4. He loves to play War with mom, and keep up with his brothers. He wants to do "school" and sometimes we sit down and do something with him. Nothing formal for him yet, but he keeps us on our toes. Spoiled rotten and loving it.

Christina
Who is very seriously considering using Thinkwell for uppper level math and science courses, since I have a hard time making those part of our reality - Dh is the science/math guy and he needs to unwind when he comes home (back to the computers....)

[Harmony]

Hi everyone,

I have been reading the forum messages occasionally, but I have not posted any message yet.

I have been homeschooling my 2 kids for almost 4 years. I was born in a different country and educated there until I moved to USA about 10 years ago. Please excuse any grammatic error you may find in my posting since English is my 2nd language. Yes, I took the challenge to homeschool my kids. Fortunately my husband was born here and educated here.

My older one is DS8 who loves math, history, chess, reading and any sport.
My younger one is DD6 who loves reading, playing voilin, singing, acting, and creating things with her hands.


Harmony

[babysparkler]

Hi! I have 4 kids (ages 2,4,7,9).

My 9yo is the reason I began homeschooling 3 years ago. He was in PS for K and 1st, but could not stand it any longer. The K teacher was wonderful at giving him individualized instruction - both acceleration and enrichment, but the next year the staff decided that he was far too advanced for them to make the effort, so they told me that the kids would eventually catch up and that he should try to fit in. Not acceptable, so I pulled him out. This is the first year I am hsing all of the kids (my 7yo was pulled for social reasons starting this year). I was previously a teacher in PS, so I don't know why it took me so long to realize that homeschooling was best for my kids, but now my eyes are opened and I am loving my 3rd year of hsing and hope to never stop :)

ds9 is (obviously) gifted. He is my "mathy" kid, loves chess & soccer, and is one of those "all-around" kind of kids... much cooler than Dh and I were at that age!

dd7 is artistic, verbal, and the most intuitive person I have ever known. She has the most loving heart, and loves Jesus more than anyone or anything. Dh and I believe that she will probably end up on a mission field someday like her Godparents!

ds4 is a boisterous, fun-loving, tag-along who loves attention! He loves doing "school" especially science projects... He IS "Sid the Science Kid".

ds2 is independent, self-sufficient, and very sneaky. He looks up to his big siblings and learns VERY quickly. He loves puzzles just like ds9 did... we suspect he may also be gifted.

[melmichigan]

Hi! What a nice thread to get to know everyone. I ended up over here in a cross post to another forum regarding the EPGY program. I also was learning a lot in my second year of homeschooling and decided to stay. :) I currently have five children at home, and am schooling four of them.

My oldest DD9 is my science buff. She is also very good in math and loves anything related to animals, insects, pokemon, and recently discovered fiction. She has an AS diagnosis and receives related speech and language services from the PS each morning, she homeschools all her other subjects at a middle school and high school level. Needless to say, mom is 'back in school' too, in order to keep up. :lol:

My twin DD6's are next in line and opposites in almost every way. The 'older' is a lot like her older sister and into science, reading, animals, and pokemon. She is on the spectrum, but is also young so we are just watching her. She is an avid reader and the one to question everything.

Her sister is my artist and my outside thinker. She struggles more than the others but tests just as advanced as them. Both twins have mild CP but are doing great so we are just monitoring her for any learning disabilities. She is my fine motor child as she had the most gross motor delays when younger.

My DS4 is my youngest in school and is all boy right now. :) He of course loves everything boy, dirt, cars, trains. He is also advanced academically but attends the PS for speech services each morning.

My soon to be DS2, is busy getting into everything, coloring on all his sibs school work, and otherwise talking up a storm, usually to give his sisters a piece of his mind.

What we are using is below.

[Jrae]

Hi. I'm Jenny.

I'm homeschooling 2 girls. They've never been to school and they are both accelerated, but the oldest is a much quicker learner than her sister. I've been lurking on this board and occasionally posting for years. I've never posted in the other forums.

My oldest is 9, she is into reading, writing stories, fashion design(she is a Project Runway fan) and anything to do with science.

My youngest is 7, she loves to write and illustrate stories, anything to do with animals and dress up. She excels at math, but would skip it if I let her.

[radiobrain]

Korin here....

attempting to HS my 2 boys, obviously TaGlets, but as I am not a "tester" I will never know just how far outside the realm of normalcy they are. :tongue_smilie:

I have been HSing since the beginning and plan on doing it as long as possible.

I also am on the board of a gifted enrichment program in my town, www.supersaturday.org, which starts again tomorrow, so I really should be getting all my stuff together for that!

my younger is the outwardly obviously more gifted of the two, but you never know with those intense, quiet (and often, angry) ones.

I come from a long line of weird, smarties who like to do things VERY outside the norm.

I wish I had time to read through all these posts!

[galtgrl]

Hi, ,I've been a :lurk5: for the last year and have learned alot here.
We have homeschooled since the beginning. Our 4 dds are 13,12,9,and 4. We only realized about a year and a half ago how advanced our girls are - we thought what they were doing was *normal* ( I still think they're not that unusual for hslrs).

Thanks to all of you who've BTDT for the advice on testing/etc. It's been really helpful.

I hope to get to know you all more this year - I'll also be over on the high school board quite a bit :001_smile:.
-Jen

[Truscifi]

I only have one ds5-about-to-turn-6. He went to a Montessori preschool where he got so far ahead that when the owners closed the school to retire there was no way I could put him in public school. Especially since he missed the age cutoff, so he would have been put in pre k when he was doing 1st grade work. :glare:

We are now in our 2nd year of homeschooling and are currently working on keeping up with everything we want to do. :D We are also a MMA (martial arts) family - ds, dh, and I all take classes at the same dojo. I have the highest belt. :tongue_smilie:

Glad to meet everyone! I have been on this board for a little while now, but it can be hard to keep track of who is who sometimes.

[LittleIzumi]

Hi!

I have two gifted little girls. Well, I don't know if I'll do any official testing, but I'm mildly/moderately gifted (right on the line, lol), and from the Hoagies lists dd1 is right there, too. She's 4, loves to read, is happily learning ASL & French, loves dance and music (has perfect pitch/rhythm), and is currently addicted to anatomy study. We unschooled until she turned 4, and now we're relaxed but doing much more and she is absorbing it like a sponge, remembering and applying after the first explanation.

Her little sister is 2, and might qualify as 2E. She has "severe sensory issues" and has been in therapy almost all year, and is still speech delayed/signs a great deal. However, when she does learn it's explosive. No signs to hundreds in 4 months. No letters to all letters by name, upper and lower, in 2 weeks. No letter sounds to all letter sounds in a week. No numbers to counting 1-10 (into the teens now) in two weeks. That sort of thing. And she retains all of it. It's kind of scary. She is addicted to Starfall. If she had her way we would sit on it all. day. long. every. single. day. Or building tall block towers over and over.

And I work full-time right now so they keep me busy :D.

[Arch At Home]

Hi! I have been Arch at Home forever. Arch is short for Architect. I work part-time and on a good week I work over half my time from home.

We have 3 children, dd 10, dd 8, and ds6. They all have late summer/early fall birthdays. Two out of the three technically miss the local school cutoff and the third just makes it by 3 days. We have chosen to put all three in the year ahead thus qualifying them as accellerated. We have not tested.

Dd 10 loves Shakespeare, American Girl, and Girl Scouts. She all takes ballet.

Dd 8 pursues interests similar to her sister's without the ballet. She tends to be more of a tomboy but is struggling to find her own interests.

Ds 6 likes to create. All trash and recycling put together with duct taper or glue is fair game. He also really likes vehicles.

The kids are all in a homeschool bowling league.

We are a family of visual spatial learners. It took awhile for us to hit our groove and figure out curriculum that works but things are going well now. I am on the look out for logic stage programs and am struggling with English and History in particular though Math will be a problem after we finish Singapore 6.

[mktkcb]

I'm the same name everywhere. My oldest is in college now, and zipping along swimmingly. She was my first crazy semi hyper/spd kid (not my last - ha!). Very intense. We never radically accelerated her, but she kept me on my toes, and became very self motivated in high school. Extremely analytical person. Like Spock. Middle dd is differently gifted, and not accelerated in any way. She is VERY gifted with her hands. Arts, crafts, violin, jewelry making, sewing, embroidery.....she *lives* to do all that stuff. Very creative. She only tolerates academics because she knows she has to. Nothing wrong with her brain mind you. Also, she loves reading and is very well read on the whole. Youngest son, 13, is my most obviously gifted one. He is similar to oldest dd in temperment, but much more emotional. Very musically gifted. He plays piano, sings in choir, very involved musical theater etc. Perfect pitch, yada yada. He loves math, and is finishing up Alg. 1 this year with Kinetic Books. He is also semi hyper/spd, which makes for challenging days sometimes, with occasionaly meltdowns. I go back and forth between this board and the special needs board with him. Sigh. He is definitely has high input needs, but struggles with output sometimes. So there it is. My quirky sort-of-accelerated-sort-of-gifted zoo.
Kayleen

[AnneC]

I'm Anne and I've been reading these boards for a couple of years but I only started posting last year. We haven't tested our kids but they are all working well ahead of grade level. Oldest dd was reading before she was 3 and one of the older boys was reading at a college level before the age of 5. They are all accelerated in Math as well and the other twin (not the reader) is passionate about numbers. My brain however is in a fog at the moment from lack of sleep so forgive me if this doesn't make sense:tongue_smilie:

[Dinsfamily]

I just started lurking on this board and think that I will start browsing/posting over here more often. I have so many questions!

I have 3 little boys, the oldest two are definitely accelerated, but in different areas.

D-Man (5yo ds): This is my little math whiz. He completed Horizons K in 4 months and could have done it faster if all that writing hadn't gotten in the way. He tested into Horizons 2 at the beginning of June, but I didn't feel comfortable starting him there. He's almost finished with Singapore PM 1A, we're also using Horizons 1 and CWP 1 just to satisfy his math cravings.

C-Monster (3yo ds): This guy's my 3yo reader. I'm VERY relaxed with preschool, so he's taken upon himself to teach himself to read. He's pretty close to his older brother's level. My 5yo can tackle harder words, but my 3yo can read more fluently. He is my osmosis child who learns everything just by being around. He can also memorize easily after hearing it a couple of times.

Little-J (1yo ds): Way to early to tell if he's accelerated, but he can climb anything and has no fear of heights. Of course, grandma thinks he's a genius.

I'm glad that this board is here as I sometimes feel lost when it comes to the best way to teach my boys.

[TechWife]

If you posted under a different name over there, include that, too!!
Where is "over there?"

[Dana]

Where is "over there?"

I think that was "the old boards".
Note that the first page in this thread was in Jan 08. I think that was when there was a switch to this format from old message boards.

I'm Dana, teaching my 7yo son. He's gifted but not profoundly so. I'm having fun with him, but probably push him too hard as well. It's a tough balance to find.

[cdgni]

I'm actually not sure how two introverts ended up with such an extrovert, but it's an interesting journey!:)

It stretches you!. I am an introvert and I have had to make some changes to my own likes and dislikes to accommodate my DD's extrovert needs. Some times it is very stressful when I know that I must make internal changes, other times, I'm pleased with myself when I've overcome a hurdle.

[MissKNG]

I'm going to chime in and say hello! I have read and posted on this board previously...

DD is almost 3.5 and is working at least a mid K level. When I buy more books and such, I find myself buying K/1 stuff. (we are "into" Evan Moor stuff right now!). She seems very bright in math - spatial and intuitive. I having a hard time with this because I'm sequential! She was "unprofessionally" WPPSI-III tested by a friend of the family for his Master's class and scored very well. Her verbal score was in the gifted range.

Baby DD is my screamer! Her favorite activities include making a mess, pushing her baby walker around and following me around! She LOVES being read to. She gets so excited when I read to her, it's really funny.

My main "issue" right now is figuring out at what point oldest dd knows the stuff and is bored when doing math. We are cruising through Earlybird B with Critical Thinking Company Level A as a supplement. I have Horizons K next on the "docket" before beginning first grade math. I hope to get her closer to 5 years old before going to 1st grade math.

So "hi" to everyone!!!

[Dinsfamily]

My main "issue" right now is figuring out at what point oldest dd knows the stuff and is bored when doing math. We are cruising through Earlybird B with Critical Thinking Company Level A as a supplement. I have Horizons K next on the "docket" before beginning first grade math. I hope to get her closer to 5 years old before going to 1st grade math.


I'm trying to figure out this line as well.

[bluemongoose]

I mostly lurk here, but post occasionally...

I have a 4yo DD (5 in Dec) who is accelerated (gifted?). She is a very driven learner who is doing 1st grade work, but will be starting 2nd in most subjects in Jan. She is one of those that must know right now and stretches me to learn many things myself. She also is challenging in that she is very sensitive to sound and over stimulation. She also can act as if she is ADHD if she has not sat down to school that day. She cannot behave if her mind has not been challenged each day.

I also have a DS 2yo (3 in Jan). He is very different than his sis. He is very mechanically inclined and is slowly tearing apart my house. He has unscrewed the hinges off his door and drilled a hole in the wall with his finger and lots of spit and many other fun things. He is also wanting to learn to read now and loves to count. I am not sure where he is academically as he is very quiet about what he knows. I get a feeling that he knows a ton, and I will be surprised someday to discover just how much.

I also have a 10mo DS who is learning to walk and is a smiling joy.

[skaterbabs]

Yacko (13) and Wacko (11) are both twice exceptional, on the autism spectrum. Neither is accelerated at all, too many years in public school for that. Yacko is VERY behind and is still working on grade 6/7, Wacko less so (CLE 500 math & language arts, 7th grade Lightening Lit). Dot (6) is fairly advanced at this point. She's technically a kindergartener (Oct bday) but is halfway through CLE 100 math and 1/4 through 100 LA. She wants to learn French & Spanish, but finances have prevented us from getting her the materials. She reads on a 3rd-ish grade level, but moves up so quickly that this changes often.

Yacko has been hs'ed for three years, this is Dot & Wacko's first year.

[LisaK in VA]

I'm LisaK in VA -- my name really hasn't changed (at least I don't think so).

I have five children, three of which are currently enrolled in K12's VAVA (first year).

Legomaniac (10) is in the 5th grade, doing LFC B/C, K12 Pre-Algebra A, K12 LA 6, Advanced Earth Science, History 5 (American History through the civil war), American Art A, Exploring Music, and Explorers OT: The Beginning. I'm trying to help him rediscover some of that perfectionism we worked so hard to eliminate in K/1/2... Nothing worse than, "well I passed." GRRRR!!!! He has beautiful penmanship, though.

Ponygirl (7 1/2) is in the 2nd grade, doing Math 4, LA 3, Science 2, History 2, Art 2 and Beginning Music.

Bionicleman (6) is in the 1st grade doing Math 2 (will start Math 3 soon), LA 2, Science 1, History 1, Art 1 and Beginning Music.

Lizard Breath (3) isn't really in school, but she thinks she is. She's working on letter sounds, can count to 20, learning to print her name, and how to add. She loves dancing and singing -- and doing history, science and Latin with her older brother.

Abbywail is 9mos old. She's mastered climbing the stairs, on top of boxes, shelves, and cruising quite handilly. Don't tell her she could walk if she wants to. I'm having a hard enough time keeping her safe!

Bionicleman and Pony Girl will begin having flash card races on math facts. I have to be careful... because Bionicleman's memory is like a flash card, and Pony Girl's brain is much more complex and methodical... so hoping this is a good thing.

[MaMa2005]

Hi - I'm new to WTM and love all the information I am gaining.

I am a retired SPED teacher and am having the pleasure of homeschooling our 3rd child - the other two are in their 30's and doing well with their careers, families, etc.

Our DS is four. We adopted him 2 years ago from China. When we adopted him, he had no expressive language :confused:. Guess he didn't find anything interesting to say in the orphanage. We came home, I taught him sign language, and he grasped it immediately. After being home for 6 weeks, he signed thank you and I told him to try to use his words. Out came a very clear 'Thank you, MaMa'. My mouth dropped open and I asked him if he could talk. His reply, 'Sure can Mama!' and he hasn't been quiet since!!! I knew at that point we were in trouble.

DS loves to read and is good in math. Very social. We contacted a private school this year and after their evaluation of him, we were told the best place for him was homeschool as he was already reading (he is a super phonics reader) and well ahead of his peers socially. As the principal told us, "You've done him a disservice by teaching him so much and now you've backed yourself into a corner!":lol:

Love homeschooling and enjoy being kept on my toes by our last little guy!