Over the last few weeks I've noticed that Zoë has started showing signs of complete disinterest in school. I've been struggling with ideas trying to figure out how to get that spark back. I thought she might be motivated by watching Aiden plow through, but it seems to have the opposite effect. So we're trying something new for a while. I've told her she can do an independent research project. I want her to be able to draw on her strengths and show her what she's capable of doing on her own.
We sat down this morning and started brainstorming ideas of what she wanted to study and how she was going to show me what she had learned. She's decided to do a more in depth study of Greek Mythology. Her goal is to have a "Greek Night" at our house where she will teach everyone what she has learned (and apparently we're all going to have to wear togas). Today she made a worksheet for everyone to do that matches the Hero with the monster they fought. She's also going to have an art project where you create your own monster by combining two things. She has ideas for games, a set of hero trading cards, quizzes, and all kinds of other things.
It was an absolute delight to see her so excited about learning again! She pulled book after book off the stacks at the library and spent most of the day reading. I'm excited for her to have something to do that is just her own. Aiden was a little sad that he doesn't get to do the project too, but she really needs this. We haven't set a date yet for Greek Night, but it will probably be sometime at the end of July or beginning of August.
Since he didn't have any books from the library to read, Aiden kept to his schedule and worked on our explorers unit and a lot of math. He started his new level on Monday and is already 50% complete. My head is spinning at this point! I don't mean he's halfway done with his week of math. I mean in 3 days he has completed half of an entire YEAR'S worth of math. I can only hope that the second half has harder material and he slows his pace a little. Either way it's just more reinforcement that in a few years we're going to have some major schooling issues to sort out.
I'm sure this might sound ridiculous to some, but I'm starting to be scared stiff of the pace that things are going. I never thought about how quickly we would cover required material. They are both so young, and I'm not quite ready to think about what will need to be done pretty soon. This issue is only compounded by the fact that I don't feel like I can even discuss this with many people. Most people view it as bragging (or simply don't believe me), and they have a difficult time realizing that it's actually a problem for us. I don't know what the best solution is. I have a few years before it becomes a major problem, but I can't just pretend it isn't there or keep thinking "we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." I can see the bridge ahead now, but I have NO idea what lane I'm supposed to be in!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Ad Camp and a Math Level Complete
We had a great week learning about the tools advertisers use to get people to want to buy their products. Hopefully none of the children will ever watch a commercial the same way again. At the beginning of the week we asked them if a commercial ever made them angry. They all thought that was an odd question and said no. Yesterday, one of the children made the comment that they thought it was horrible that some school districts were selling advertising space on their buses. Of course we mothers were proud and pointed out that they just expressed anger toward an ad!
Today we wrapped up the week by recording their own commercials. It was great to see the different techniques they used. They all did a fantastic job!
Aiden spent the week either at Ad Camp, playing piano or doing math. He diligently worked hard all week, and last night he finished his level and earned a gold prize. At about 8:30 last night he finished what he thought would be his final assessment only to have 7 objectives put back onto his pie. He was so distraught! We had a discussion about perseverance, and plowing ahead despite difficulties. He took a big breath, and went back to work. By 9:15 he'd finished everything and was doing a happy dance around the kitchen. We're all so proud of him! I am absolutely amazed at how focused he was and all that he accomplished. He learned 30 objectives this week and spent 13 hours doing math according to the report I get emailed weekly.
Today we wrapped up the week by recording their own commercials. It was great to see the different techniques they used. They all did a fantastic job!
Aiden spent the week either at Ad Camp, playing piano or doing math. He diligently worked hard all week, and last night he finished his level and earned a gold prize. At about 8:30 last night he finished what he thought would be his final assessment only to have 7 objectives put back onto his pie. He was so distraught! We had a discussion about perseverance, and plowing ahead despite difficulties. He took a big breath, and went back to work. By 9:15 he'd finished everything and was doing a happy dance around the kitchen. We're all so proud of him! I am absolutely amazed at how focused he was and all that he accomplished. He learned 30 objectives this week and spent 13 hours doing math according to the report I get emailed weekly.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Twitter and advertising
This week we're doing a unit on advertising with the kids (including 4 of their friends). They've been learning about the different ways companies try to convince you to buy their products. They've also enjoyed making their own cereal boxes, doing a print ad for the fictitious "Burp Cola", and designing a travel brochure for a place they picked.
The rest of the week will be spent learning about Public Service Announcements, more dissecting of commercials, and culminating in them making and filming their own commercial. Zoë and Haley have already decided that they're going to have their commercial be a PSA about the benefits of home schooling for gifted kids. I can hardly wait to see how that turns out! Aiden is going to do a commercial for the cereal he created called "Super Singers."
Yesterday I finally broke down and got onto Twitter. Tom's been periodically extolling the virtues of it for several months now, and swears that it will be a great tool to connect with other people working with gifted kids. Perhaps once I figure out how it works that will be true! You can follow me at @rcarpenter74 if you're interested.
The rest of the week will be spent learning about Public Service Announcements, more dissecting of commercials, and culminating in them making and filming their own commercial. Zoë and Haley have already decided that they're going to have their commercial be a PSA about the benefits of home schooling for gifted kids. I can hardly wait to see how that turns out! Aiden is going to do a commercial for the cereal he created called "Super Singers."
Yesterday I finally broke down and got onto Twitter. Tom's been periodically extolling the virtues of it for several months now, and swears that it will be a great tool to connect with other people working with gifted kids. Perhaps once I figure out how it works that will be true! You can follow me at @rcarpenter74 if you're interested.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Rats, Math and Piano
This week went by very quickly. I was expecting a lot of whining and complaining. As usual the kids surprised me with their desire to accomplish things, and we managed to finish everything with no complaints at all! The literature unit was supposed to take 3 weeks, but we finished it in just one. I was amazed at how far the kids have actually come in the last year with their reading comprehension! Between having to share the piano and the computer for math, they both ended up working on the literature at different times. It was good to hear their own answers to questions instead of the normal Zoë answers and Aiden may or may not add something.
Everyone is nearing the end of their math levels. They're both above 90% completed. Zoë had an assessment early in the week and improved 7% (that's really high for those of you not knowing how to score-- 4% is normal). She was thrilled, and diligently worked the rest of the week. For now I still sit with her while she does math, but I'm hoping that soon she will discover her own confidence and that will no longer be necessary. If only she could see herself as the brilliant young lady that everyone else sees! I'm sure my family is thinking "Hello, kettle" right now. It's funny how your own flaws appear so clearly when you see them in your children.
Aiden only has 22 objectives left to finish before he'll move up to middle school level 2 math. This morning (yeah it's a Saturday) he decided to do a few problems. I had a brilliant idea to help curb his problem with trying to do everything in his head. He was working on finding the area of a trapezoid and was taking forever to do one problem. I told him that we were going to run an experiment. I would time him doing a problem in his head, and then the next problem he had to work out on paper, and we'd see what the difference was. When he does them in his head he ends up making simple math errors and becomes unfocused. He did the first problem and spent over 2.5 minutes working on it only to have the answer wrong. He was very frustrated, but I explained to him that it was actually perfect, because that way we'd only have one thing different in our experiment...the way he was doing the problem (the program makes you complete the problem correctly before you can move on). So he sat down and did the problem, using paper this time, and finished it in less than a minute with the correct answer. He did a total of 3 problems in the amount of time it took him to do 1 in his head INCORRECTLY! He was so excited, and I'm hoping that now he understands for himself why I keep asking him to write things down.
We seem to have also had a breakthrough with piano. Zoë has practiced every single day for about an hour for the past 2 weeks! She's learned how to play her most difficult song, and has started on a new one. In addition, she's taking some extra lessons from Ms. Heather, and has been doing all of the things for that. She has decided that she wants to get 100 practice days in a row. I'm hoping it's a spark of confidence that will only grow! She really plays so beautifully.
Aiden is flying through book 2 material. He already knows the first 2 songs and is over halfway through learning the third. He is CONSTANTLY at the piano. He can't pass a piano without sitting down to play at least one song. It's a blessing and a curse. Nothing like being woken up at 6:30 on a Saturday to him playing. I'm feeling like I might have to make a new rule that he can't play from 10 pm to 7 am, but I really hate to discourage him from practicing.
Right now I'm just trying to enjoy the fact that things are going so smoothly. I think having a vacation really helped everyone refocus their energy. As with everything in life, there is bound to be a valley looming ahead, but for now it's a great ride.
Everyone is nearing the end of their math levels. They're both above 90% completed. Zoë had an assessment early in the week and improved 7% (that's really high for those of you not knowing how to score-- 4% is normal). She was thrilled, and diligently worked the rest of the week. For now I still sit with her while she does math, but I'm hoping that soon she will discover her own confidence and that will no longer be necessary. If only she could see herself as the brilliant young lady that everyone else sees! I'm sure my family is thinking "Hello, kettle" right now. It's funny how your own flaws appear so clearly when you see them in your children.
Aiden only has 22 objectives left to finish before he'll move up to middle school level 2 math. This morning (yeah it's a Saturday) he decided to do a few problems. I had a brilliant idea to help curb his problem with trying to do everything in his head. He was working on finding the area of a trapezoid and was taking forever to do one problem. I told him that we were going to run an experiment. I would time him doing a problem in his head, and then the next problem he had to work out on paper, and we'd see what the difference was. When he does them in his head he ends up making simple math errors and becomes unfocused. He did the first problem and spent over 2.5 minutes working on it only to have the answer wrong. He was very frustrated, but I explained to him that it was actually perfect, because that way we'd only have one thing different in our experiment...the way he was doing the problem (the program makes you complete the problem correctly before you can move on). So he sat down and did the problem, using paper this time, and finished it in less than a minute with the correct answer. He did a total of 3 problems in the amount of time it took him to do 1 in his head INCORRECTLY! He was so excited, and I'm hoping that now he understands for himself why I keep asking him to write things down.
We seem to have also had a breakthrough with piano. Zoë has practiced every single day for about an hour for the past 2 weeks! She's learned how to play her most difficult song, and has started on a new one. In addition, she's taking some extra lessons from Ms. Heather, and has been doing all of the things for that. She has decided that she wants to get 100 practice days in a row. I'm hoping it's a spark of confidence that will only grow! She really plays so beautifully.
Aiden is flying through book 2 material. He already knows the first 2 songs and is over halfway through learning the third. He is CONSTANTLY at the piano. He can't pass a piano without sitting down to play at least one song. It's a blessing and a curse. Nothing like being woken up at 6:30 on a Saturday to him playing. I'm feeling like I might have to make a new rule that he can't play from 10 pm to 7 am, but I really hate to discourage him from practicing.
Right now I'm just trying to enjoy the fact that things are going so smoothly. I think having a vacation really helped everyone refocus their energy. As with everything in life, there is bound to be a valley looming ahead, but for now it's a great ride.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Summer fun
It's been a week since we all got back from our various vacations, and we're starting to settle back into our rhythm. The kids were able to spend a week with their grandparents in Ohio and went to Niagra Falls. Tom and I relaxed in Jamaica.
Last week we did a Greek mythology unit with the Nuerhings. We had a great time learning about the various gods, deciphering code using the Greek alphabet, summarizing myths, writing a 13th labor for Heracles, and putting together a talk show where the children played the god they had researched. As soon as I get the copy, I'll post it on YouTube and link it here for you to watch. It was a riot.
This week we're reading "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH." It is the literature book that goes with the work unit. We'll have that done by Friday and then have Science Camp next week.
I spent the evenings last week reorganizing some of the cabinets in the kitchen to keep our school supplies. We never seem to be in the basement room anymore, and since everything is going to be on the computer this year, we will never be down there. I think we'll enjoy this set up much more. Now if I could just get through the foot high stack of filing that has compiled, I'll have everything in order. Unfortunately, that will be a weekend/evening project because all of our weeks off this summer will be spent on vacations!
Last week we did a Greek mythology unit with the Nuerhings. We had a great time learning about the various gods, deciphering code using the Greek alphabet, summarizing myths, writing a 13th labor for Heracles, and putting together a talk show where the children played the god they had researched. As soon as I get the copy, I'll post it on YouTube and link it here for you to watch. It was a riot.
This week we're reading "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH." It is the literature book that goes with the work unit. We'll have that done by Friday and then have Science Camp next week.
I spent the evenings last week reorganizing some of the cabinets in the kitchen to keep our school supplies. We never seem to be in the basement room anymore, and since everything is going to be on the computer this year, we will never be down there. I think we'll enjoy this set up much more. Now if I could just get through the foot high stack of filing that has compiled, I'll have everything in order. Unfortunately, that will be a weekend/evening project because all of our weeks off this summer will be spent on vacations!
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