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Jun. 18, 2008

Homeschool Q&A - Part 4

Posted in Creekwood Academy

This is the last installment of my series on homeschooling. My friend had one more question, so here goes...

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Question 2:

I do have one more [question]. [Son 2] is one of those gifted children...straight A student, hardly has to study. What types of programs are there for gifted children?

Answers: Part 4

I don't know your son's specific interests, but a couple of authors I have heard mentioned repeatedly, especially for boys [Son 1] and [Son 2]'s ages, are G. A. Henty and R. M. Ballantyne. These two men wrote historical adventure stories for boys. Their books are set around historical events throughout history and all around the world. One resource I know of is Vision Forum. There are also many excellent biographies of godly heroes written for your boy's ages. Providing excellent examples of godly character through fiction or biographies is important to help them develop godly character themselves.

The Summer 2007 issue of TOS (The Old Schoolhouse) magazine covers many aspects of Special Needs, and yes, that does include Gifted learners. You can get a copy of a back issue, but quantities may be limited. Two articles I found helpful are "The Content of Their Characters: Challenges in Gifted Children" by Helene Barker Kiser (pp.117-119) and "Communication Skills and Your Gifted Child" by JoJo Tabares (pp.120-121). Some of the TOS articles are available on their website, but not the most recent ones. One article on gifted learners on their site is here.

As for [Son 2], he may be “technically” gifted or just incredibly bright. Either way, there are challenges to his education. His ability to absorb information may put him learning above his peers, and a challenge will be to make sure the material chosen is age appropriate for him, while still educationally stimulating. He may learn facts and information easily, but his mental understanding and emotional development will not necessarily be at the same level.

Gifted and very intelligent students frequently need extra help learning social skills and developing character qualities such as patience, compassion, discernment and wisdom. Because learning comes so easily to them and they frequently are beyond their peers, many tend to be impatient with others who do not know what they know or do not learn as fast as they do. Another child who learns more slowly than they, may be more wise or understand their material better because they have had more time to absorb it than the child who learns quickly and moves ahead faster.

Whatever [Son 2]'s interests, start with prayer for God's wisdom for his education, then look for things that will interest and challenge him. If he is passionate about science, look for good, Biblically based science programs - Apologia and Answers In Genesis are two great choices. If math is his thing, Saxon math books tend to be more challenging than most and may be right up his alley. If reading and writing are what drives him, let him read great books and write about whatever interests him. If he loves to read but hates writing (maybe he doesn't know what to write), try copywork using great books for fodder. If history is his passion, there is a wealth of Christian historical literature available as well as visiting historical sites and museums. These are just a few ideas.

Keep in mind also, that he may be advanced in many subjects, but struggle with one. This can be very frustrating to a bright child because everything else comes so easily to him. The key is to turn the frustration into an interesting challenge to be conquered. Boys tend to be wired to conquer things and if you come at the difficulty from this angle, it will be to your advantage. You will also want to be very aware of how [Son 2] learns best. Does he thrive with the traditional textbook approach, need to see it to understand it, need to hear it explained, or have to get his hands on it to figure it out? Bright/gifted students can have difficult enough time finding materials that interest them and challenge them at their advanced level, without having to contend with material presented in a learning style different to their own.

I hope I've been helpful. Your boys are at such great ages for learning and doing all kinds of exciting things for learning. Have fun!

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Jun. 18, 2008

Homeschool Q&A - Part 4

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