Morgan was in K last school year at the PS. He was labeled as gifted because as a 6yo in K he was reading above the 98th%, at a 3rd grade level.

We decided to HS this year, for several reasons, one big one being that he was too far ahead of his peers in PS to get what he needs.

I am struggling this year with him. Should he be in a regular phonics program, like advanced phonics? He can't spell and has a hard time with endings (ing, for example). I have tried traditional spelling with him (writing words over and over then quizzing once a week) and he HATES it. It takes him HOURS to write 10 words 3x. And it's not because he can't do handwriting-he just spaces out and stares into space. His handwriting is fine-very neat and legible.

So I got him a spectrum book-that's some better but still bores him silly.

I also feel like he needs do be doing some regular "english" work, like grammar and punctuation, but it's like pulling teeth to get him to do those books. He hates workbooks and just stares into space for long periods of time, not getting his work done.

Obviously our method isn't working. I do saxon for math and he's nearly done with saxon 2, loves it. I use k12 phonicsworks for his younger brother (in K now) and have the advanced level, which is for grade 1. Should I try that? I just have no idea what level he's really at.

He LOVES to read. Should I just give up all the above and let him read for hours a day, plus do math and some art? He totally digs reading whatever I direct him to. BUT for example, I tried having him read a book on King Arthur (LOVED it-finished it-all 70 pages-in about 30 min) then write a small report on it-by report I mean write one sentence per page and draw a picture above it depicting the sentence. He did a couple pages but then I realized he was truly clueless and was just copying each sentence out of the book. "main idea" or "summarize" was just beyond him. He's like that when he talks too-he goes into every detail to the point where you totally zone out listening because he won't get to the point...

I'm going to look at mamaxt's Story of the World later this week. Would that be better? We have KONOS volume 1 now and I love it-but I'm not too organized and I tend to put that stuff off. The boys love it when we do it-but to be honest we don't do it as often as we should.

Will a child learn grammar and spelling on their own by just reading? What about when we put him back in school in a couple years? He needs to know parts of speech and such-not the most interesting parts of learning but essential nonetheless. I would have loved to get through school w/o grammar-but I do feel it's important. But right now if I push it I feel I'll be hurting him rather than helping him.

HELP. I'm open to buying something else, but we aren't religious so I need something non-religious.
:juggle:

Am I expecting too much of him? Do I go by age or ability? ???

We had the same trouble with spelling. Try Phonetic Zoo. No endless writing of words, it's all on audio cd. Works very well for kids who just can't "get" spelling by copying words over and over.

http://www.writing-edu.com/programs/spelling.htm

For grammer I love "First Language Lessons". It's recommended for grades 1-2. Very easy, mostly oral work, lessons are short, you could do 2-3 in one day if you wanted to.

http://www.peacehillpress.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=10

that looks great! i just read the sample lessons-wow! he'd totally go for that. thanks!

anyone else?

that website also has Story of the World, which I'm considering instead of KONOS.

It has the book, an activity book, child consumables, tests, etc. How much do I need? I can get the book and activity book at overstock for super-cheap. Do I need consumables (or are they in the activity book and I just go copy them?) and does one really need the tests?

Thanks!

I ditto what Kelly said.

Exactly what Kelly said!

We're starting Phonic Zoo soon, and it looks wonderful. I want ot start right now, but we are in the middle of getting ready to move. ;) If you go to the website above, make sure you listen to one of the audio clips to hear what it is like. THAT sold me. Oh, and while you are there, look at the writing workshop. We also invested in that, and I am so anxious to begin. Andrew Pudewa is very high on my admiration list! lol

Also, First Language Lessons is WONDERFUL! It's a few minutes of sitting with your child and reading/talking about it. It is for 1st - 2nd grade ... a two year course. They are supposed to be coming out with Second Language Lessons which will be 3rd-4th grade in 2006 (spring). I can't wait!!!

Story of the World is wonderful, too! We only have the book and the activity book. The consumables are in the activity book and you have permission to make copies for your family. They also sell the books on CD, which I think I may invest in soon.

FWIW: Both Story of the World and First Language Lessons are published by Peace Hill Press which publishes The Well Trained Mind. The authors of Well Trained Mind wrote those other books (it's a mother/daughter team). The mother wrote FLL and the daughter write SOTW.

ALSO... there is a new book out: The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. It's also written by Jessie Wise. We are still working on partso fi t with Austin (3rd grade) and Nate (1st grade). Adam is working on the beginning. EASY conversational style - similar to FLL. It's a good $30 for help with phonics instruction.

They are supposed to be coming out with Second Language Lessons which will be 3rd-4th grade in 2006 (spring). I can't wait!!!


Really?? Darn! I'm always about 1 year behind LOL. I wish it was out now!!!

I know, Kelly. I wish it was out now so that I could use it with Austin. Although, I probably will still get it and use it with him. He's actualyl about 1/2 school year behind the regular school year, so I don't think it would be *too* awful bad for him. ;) We're going to work through English for the Thoughtful Child 2 this coming school year for grammar. I decided to not use Sonlight's LA.

Am I expecting too much of him? Do I go by age or ability? ???

My oldest sounds rather similar to your ds. He struggled with similar issues for a long time---being gifted, reading at a level well beyond his age and not really knowing grammar, etc. We pulled him out of public school in 2nd and I have learned soooo much since then. We belong to a gifted homeschool group and the most important thing I have learned in the last few years is that reading level is NOT indicative of learning level or maturity level.

Regardless of IQ, a child is still a child. Gifted people think quite differently than the average person. As the IQ goes up, this becomes more and more apparent. They also learn differently. So while he may read at a higher level, he may not be ready to read the works available at that higher leve. Here are some things that are designed for gifted children...and a few that work great with all kids. Most are written on a higher reading level while still understanding the age/maturity issue of those reading the material. So for instance something designed for a gifted 7 year old...2nd grader might have a 5th or 8th or even 12th grade reading level with the material still being appropriate for someone who is 7.

http://www.greatbooks.org/programs/junior/
Great literature program
http://cfge.wm.edu/curriculum-materials.php
College of William and Mary has wonderful materials for gifted children

http://www.mcgee-keiser.com/
Academic enrichment programs
http://www.giftedbooks.com/
All kinds of material for gifted families
http://www.awpeller.com/
General catalog of items for teaching gifted children
http://www-epgy.stanford.edu/
gifted program at Stanford
http://www.greatsource.com/store/ProductCatalogController?cmd=LP&nextPage=GreatSource/gsMainTemplate.jsp?displayMainCell=index.jsp&displayRightNav=home&division=G01
An amazing writing program that teaches writing and gramar all at the same time...quite wonderful

These are the things I would use if I didn't use Calvert.

HTH

My 7 year old is also gifted in reading, but doesn't spell very well. She is getting a lot better since her little brother is learning to read and loves to spell by sounding out. She's finally figured that part out. We tried Sequential Spelling for a week, and she liked that a lot better than Spectrum. I'm not doing to much with grammar etc. yet as I don't want to spoil reading and writing for her at thil juncture. I did buy Easy Grammar 3-4 for next year, as its supposed to only take 10 minutes per day.
I am seriously considering Learning Language Arts Through Literature Yellow for next year as well. The reading should be a little on the easy side but the concepts seem grade appropriate. This would make my life a lot easier as it covers spelling grammar, etc.

My oldest is also a heavy reader, I would say him and I are reading on the same level for the most part but his spelling is HORRID! (he's nearly 10) we started Learning Language Arts Through Literature this last fall and like it for grammer. It's very simple, not much writing if you don't want it to be. Ds usually does a weeks worth of lessons in a day but it's meant to be done in small 15-30 min lessons. It starts with a short passage for copy work and then talks about it grammatically. The passages are mostly Christian.

We're using Making Math meaningful for Math. Very little "drill and kill" mostly teaching concepts with a small bit of review. When we see that he's having problems in an area we print worksheets from http://www.superkids.com/aweb/tools/math/ or dh makes up some for him