Wow! I've just realised ALL my kids are academically gifted!

[DadAtLarge]

I've made numerous posts over the years about DS and his aptitude for maths ...starting with my original post as a confused parent requesting assistance because he was bored in school ...and continuing to my more informed posts in the last couple of years speaking as a (now) governor and authority on the G&T programme.

We were delighted with the school's (eventual) response in getting him a secondary teacher once a week for a maths lesson (from the end of Y2) ...and all the other effort they put in to cater for him. The school couldn't have done more. But we decided that best efforts ain't good enough.

Earlier this year we took all three children out of school permanently. There are various terms for it - home schooling, home education, dossing about....

I feel that what we do is more dossing about than anything else. :)

And voila! I find that my other two are gifted as well! The only reason I can think of that this didn't show earlier is because the first one spent more individual time with DW and me while the others had to share our time. Since taking the HE decision we've been able to spend more quality time with #2 and #3 ... and we discover they're just as or even more gifted than #1.

Yikes! I'm kicking myself now that we ever sent them to school.

A common theme in my posts over the last year has been that schools fail all gifted children. My apologies. They don't just fail them. Schools fail them in a monumental way. I know, I know, not all of you subscribe to that view and you believe that a single teacher catering for 30 kids of widely differing abilities, different social backgrounds, different needs, different level of parental support etc., can do justice to your DC. Good luck to you if you do. But ...

If you have the option to HE I urge you to investigate it. It's not as difficult as you may think, you don't need to be an expert in any subject, you don't need to have any teaching experience. From what I've seen of HE children, they are better behaved, more social (yes!) and friendly and they achieve GCSE results on par with or better than their school counterparts. If you're the type who loves having the kids around - rather than the type who can't wait for summer holidays to end - you'll walk around with a big grin on your face all day long.

I do. :)

Anyone else always read G&T as gin and tonic?

Always glastocat!

A very good point MamaChoo-one I hadn't thought of before but very true.

aren't you blessed?
Aren't you fortunate to be in a financial position to be able to afford staying at home to HE.

Well done you!

G&Ts all round.

LOL, and I thought nobody would reply. :)

"two parents at home focusing all their energies on their children rather than leading by example"
Focusing all (our) energies?! Is that what you think happens in HE? LOL

"how long does the G&T label last for?"
I can't be bothered to give you the full lesson on G&T, but I've posted more than anybody else on these boards to explain the programme and how to benefit from it. I doubt you'll do the research, it's easier to pretend you know what it's all about. In short, the G&T programme has nothing to do with giftedness - it wasn't a clever choice of words from the start - and was a government programme to identify higher ability children who were under-performing in the school setting for whatever reason. No titles were issued, no honours betowed and teachers didn't have to genuflect when these kids entered the room.

"Anyone else always read G&T as gin and tonic? grin"
Damn, that's so original. It's only been said a few thousand times. If you're performing at the fringe ...give it up darling!

Sue, home-schooling is a term used here as well, though it rankles for many who are trying to get away from the whole school ethos and who don't like what they're doing to be associated with "schooling". In fact, they recommend "de-schooling" a child before starting HE and getting them out of all the bad habits they pick up in institutions (like their higher dependence on an adult to guide their daily activities).

"Good luck OP, my DD is G&T and it is a challenge with some unexpected pitfalls."
Thank you, POG. I know the challenges and have often written about them in other threads. Trust me, if they aren't going to school it's so much easier!

"They prefer to go to school and doss around....."
Indigo, so did mine! But now they have a taste of HE I can't see them opting to go back: Holidays in term time (for a month or two at a time), no queuing for rides at theme parks, a lot more bike riding and other physical exercise with local HE kids... and a minimum of lessons needed because they can learn at home in a morning more than they learn all week in school. (That's not because of any inherent intelligence, it's just a more efficient form of learning than what's done in the age-based grouping of a classroom so takes less time.)

"I am surprised that you can keep up with the needs of 3 gifted DCs of different ages, aptitudes and needs."
See previous para. Contrary to popular opinion, HE isn't about duplicating in a home environment what others are doing in school. It's a lot about freeing kids to be kids. The formal "education" bit is minimal. I do not know ANY HE parent who does even a couple of hours every day. You just don't need to!

As I've stated elsewhere, most kids are G&T in something or the other, it's the school environment that prevents their talents from really shining. ;)

I was also G+T in secondary school.

I now clean toilets for a living, god damn you mum and dad.

Oh for crying out loud!!!!!!!!!

I hope you private income continues to perform well to allow both of you to continue focusing on your DC.

"Most kids are G&T in something?" Surely that sort of cancels out the whole G&T thing altogether?

Although I must just be being thick, having gone to school and having sent my children to school.

Huzzah for you, OP. But how does it actually work?

I mean surely there must be a point at which they need to know more than you actually know?

As far as I'm aware there isn't a GCSE in theme park queue jumping just yet.

For eg - a 12 year old boy local to me has just got an A* in A level maths. Turns out he was HE. Also turns out he was going to the local high school to sit in on their A level maths lessons. Because his parents aren't maths professors.

Sure the kid is a genius and obviously carried on at home what he had taken from the lessons.

Genuine question. Can you really 'teach' them everything they need to know? Or do they do it themselves?

What is your plan?

This has got to be a piss-take? .

DAL, never thought you would "LOL"; you've gone right down in my estimation.

ShirleyKnot, you are forgiven, I know what it's like, I attended a school too. ;)

Identification under the G&T programme - commonly the top 10% of the class by "ability" (not achievement) - wasn't limited to academic subjects. the theory was that if you look hard enough almost every child in the class is in the top 10% for something. If not English or Maths, it could be in music, football, dancing or something else.

(Now the floor is open for the "original" thinkers here to come up with observations such as how 10% in every class can't be gifted and how it all depends on the cohort etc. )

"I think your evangelical posts areputting poeple off HE you know."
I don't get paid a commission for every convert. I appreciate some parents may be perfectly happy with school, others may not be able to HE for various reasons, but after several years of working with schools, being a governor, advising on G&T issues, having three kids in school etc., I genuinely feel the best thing we did for our kids was taking them out of school and that school .

Merrylegs, good questions.

Actually the answer came to me in a mumsnet thread some while ago when someone - I think it was cory - posted about independent learning.

Prior to that I kept reading up on maths so I could help DS and answer his questions (I studied maths only to GCSE level and that was decades ago).

Then I figured I was doing it all wrong.

I realised my efforts should be directed into helping him teach himself and into providing the right resources; there are tons of those about! So that's what I've been doing for the last year or so. The focus is not on the learning itself but on encouraging the enjoyment of learning... and then largely leaving them to it.

That thread was a watershed moment for me.

To be honest, I think if you'd been my dad I'd have been begging to be sent to school if only to get away from you.

Wow, smug and rude. You're not really selling this to me, I have to say.

So, are you American?

BTW, the whole G&T nonsense didn't come from teachers or schools.
How old are your children, you enthusiast?

I've no idea what America has to do with the price of fish, but I'm not American.

mine too. but they are still at school.

i can't afford to he at the moment, but ds1 in particular would be a strong candidate. we've looked at www.greenlearning.com as an alternative. but can't afford that either.

glad it's working for you though.

DAL - I've seen your posts about your DS and am glad you've found a solution you and he are happy with.

Now it's time for you to relax. You need to stop obssessing about school/education/G&T. It's clear that you've spent your son's school years to date relentlessly researching the G&T programme and gnashing your teeth about it.

But if you've now found a solution that makes you happy then for heavens sake just enjoy it. Don't waste precious time and energy.

As my closest friend (who HE's her six children) always says, 'you do your thing and I'll do mine.'

As long as the DC are happy and thriving then everthing's fine no?

Thank you, now I can occupy my mind with other trivialities.
I do hope it all works well for you, from the sound of it you plan on keeping your children out of the system permanently so I hope you have the time and finances to support them.
Specialist equipment can be very expensive.

'But if you've now found a solution that makes you happy then for heavens sake just enjoy it. '

Exactly.

I would love to home educate, unfortunately I am far too busy failing other people's children.

That was a little mean. seriously if you have found a system that works for you I am pleased. Despite being a teacher I do actually want children to thrive and I am glad yours are.