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. :)

Or the money.

Maiavan would your ds enjoy pairing with a university student/ tutor or lecturer... Someone he can bounce ideas around with. As mentioned by Word - sounds like a good idea. Would it work?

MadamDeathStare clearly the OP is gifted himself if he is able to cater for the needs of not 1, nor 2, but 3 gifted children; bet the wife is too.

Bet life at their's is an absolute hoot.

Sorry was just busy reading the whole thread . I read the OP and the sanctimonious way it came across and had to have my say :).

Yes Marsha it is a brilliant idea! I do think if he had a mentor (who was like him), it would go a long way to making him feel accepted. I feel awful daily for just not having answers and not knowing how best to help him. I will investigate that option.

maivan my friend is in exactly your position and does not have the option to HE. Well not if she wants to house and feed all her DC.

Also, although she loves him dearly he has the brain the size of a planet and can be wearing to be around. A 24/7 arrangement would be debilitating.

However, his state school was simply inappropriate (the teachers accepted this as did my friend)...so she applied for a free place at one of the most selective indie schools in the country and they accepted him. They are highly flexible and allow him oodles of time away at university and in the states.

He finally for the first time has, if not friends, then peers. Boys who though not as gifted as he, are interested in te same stuff as him and are prepared to accommodate his ways.

It's not a case of being as clever, or cleverer than the child though, it's knowing how to help them learn and understand what they are doing.

I should say maiven that though my freind accesses uni etc via his private school, I don't see any reason why this couldn't be somehting you could do yourself. One can but ask.

Great! All credit to wordfactory. But yes I hate to think your ds feels more alone than he has to. There's so much stuff out there, I hope he can.

Exactly Prof and I just dont know. I have tried and we have spent to many hours at psychologists, neurologists, etc They have done assessments, tests, aptitudes and more tests on him. He eventually refused because he said he felt like a guinea pig in a lab.

Oh I love him to bits obviously - he is a character and has oodles of personality but every conversation is intense (if that makes sense). I have 3 other boys and as bad as I feel, I only have so much to give to the 1 (that sounds horrible but I dont mean it in a neglectful way).

Word, I will look into that - thank you so much.

"I am sure you can see why I fear for my son the way I do...Sometimes, it can be a curse rather than a blessing. ..I am not a stupid woman but am by no means on that level."
You underestimate yourself. You, more than any teacher, are the one best placed to "guide his education".

"(teacher) ...who were fabulous with high aptitude children and were prepared to give up free time..."
I know teachers like that too, hearts in the right place and all that. But they are hampered by the system which is designed to average kids out ... and their own lack of training. About the training/reading you go on to say "That's not true of many teachers". How do you know? Have you asked them if they've ever read a book or even a leaflet on this specialist subject? I have. And no, they haven't.

"How do you teach them music skills"
I don't. I can't teach them German either. Or basketball. But a lot of skill sharing goes on within the local HE community.

ZZZenAgain, if you liked that you've got an open mind - open to examining whether schools really are best. I think you won't regret it if you set aside some time to research HE a bit.

"So can mine, so can mine so can mine so can mine, ....is mine magic too ?"
Yes, yes, yes! The point was that phonics isn't indispensible. The "systems" used by schools are used for their convenience when dealing with 30, not because it's the best way individuals learn.

"As an aside, what about the social aspect? "
Oh dear, the dreaded S word!

"Now the words 'like magic' are making me think troll"
Ah, bless, a newbie to the G&T section who doesn't know who I am. :) noddieholder, I'm the resident MN expert on the G&T programme and know more about it than any teacher on here ... or any G&T coord/LT (don't worry if you don't know what those are) for that matter....not that that is very hard - they tend to know very little about the programme as you'll find if you browse past threads! I attended our LA's G&T seminars on their invitation ... the seminars that teachers have to pay for. I've drafted our own LA's G&T LAQS (again, don't worry). That's just on the theory side. I've also been actively involved in raising standards locally (or "was". I've left that since we went HE). I've done a lot for local schools over the years. All unpaid. I believe I know a thing or two about schools.

Anyway, got other stuff to do now so everyone, knock yourself out and enjoy the discussion! :)

Pioneers
Evangelists
Missionaries

Come back and see us some time.

Somewhere, there is a school with champagne on ice, ready to start the new term.

WE ARE NOT WORTHY, DADATLARGE! Thankyou for an insight into your fabulous family!

Goodness me. Your children, your poor children. That's all I have to say.

I'm off to pour a large G&T

POG

I find this really interesting as I've struggled to find a school that works for one of my children who is bright.

At the moment I am teaching two younger children to read and we are using the Jolly Phonics material. With one of the children it is torturous, he so does not want to participate, am keen to have some adice on how HE would work in this sort of situation.
Thanks

'Ah, bless, a newbie to the G&T section who doesn't know who I am. smile noddieholder, I'm the resident MN expert on the G&T programme and know more about it than any teacher on here ... or any G&T coord/LT (don't worry if you don't know what those are) for that matter....not that that is very hard - they tend to know very little about the programme as you'll find if you browse past threads! I attended our LA's G&T seminars on their invitation ... the seminars that teachers have to pay for. I've drafted our own LA's G&T LAQS (again, don't worry). That's just on the theory side. I've also been actively involved in raising standards locally (or "was". I've left that since we went HE). I've done a lot for local schools over the years. All unpaid. I believe I know a thing or two about schools.' AAAAHHHH TAKE A BREATH BEFORE YOU PASS OUT ON THE FLOOR!!!

I am enjoying hearing about DadatLarge's experiences and I wish that Home Ed was more common in the UK such that there was a big home ed community to socialise with and help teach each others kids.

I need to work part time for financial reasons but would love a scenario where it was possible to do part time school and part time home ed, at least at primary school age. I am not sure that I would necessarily want to do home ed at secondary level though.

I think that teaching in large classes is probably a very inefficient way to teach, and would prefer that instead of being in a class of 30, my child attended mornings only in a class of 15, with the other 15 kids form the original class of 30 attending afternoons only. For the rest of the day the kids could go home/do sport/have playtime.

Dadatlarge I think it is great that home ed works so well for your family and that you feel so positive about your kids and their education.

RosemaryandThyme If one of your children is finding learning to read torturous and does not want to participate then LEAVE IT! Clearly he is not ready; all that you will do if you continue in the same way is associate reading=hell.

Fabulous thread. I have laughed the whole way through!

Wishing you luck, OP, but have to say that this thread makes me extremely pleased that my eldest (bright, in top 10% of his year) is thriving at his local state primary, which has a policy of not ever mentioning the phrase "G & T".

DadAtLarge Wed 24-Aug-11 18:01:19
"Of course if we all home educated all our children would be G&T..."
Exactly! That's the point of the OP.

I think you misunderstood, which is rather strange as you are the expert on G&T. If, as many schools do, you class your most able students as your G&T cohort, then someone educating their child at home could classify their students as G&T as they will be the brightest in the setting. I was being sarcastic.

Rosemaryandthyme I would get someone else to teach your child to read if he doesn't want you as a teacher and finds it difficult. One to one tuition would be better than whole class tuition for struggling readers though.

'...[would love that it was possible] to do part-time school and part-time HE?'

School is only 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, 39 weeks a year. Feel free to HE at other times. We all do. Very few parents lock their children in a cupboard when they are not at school.

hocus yes indeed.

I absolutely educate my DC myself and use school as one resource out f many.