Christmas Gifts

Christmas came this year and we just had to share the gifts that our 2 boys gave us. Our oldest made a 2009 calendar filled with a poem he wrote for every month. I read these poems and was surprised. At first I thought he had just compiled different poems he found in a book or something, but it came to be that he actually wrote them himself. One example for the month of March:

What's as beautiful as butterfly wings?
Lapis laxuli that's sparkly blue,
A topaz that shines so goldenly true,
An opal that shines like rainbow fire
And and emerald that people admire.

I've never even heard of a lapis lazuli.

And then our 1st grader wrote a whole 5 page story entitled "My Funny Family".

I won't quote the whole thing, but I thought it was pretty impressive a kid who was in preschool last year, was now writing 5 page stories with things like:

"My mom is extremely fun on vacations." and,
"My dad is exhilarating."

Pretty big words, and he spelled them all right too.

I was so proud and loved both their presents.

vc

Too Much Homework, Too Much Busywork?

Our oldest seems to be overloaded by tons and tons of homework. Since school started this year he is home doing tons of homework every day. It seems to me that his teacher thinks, "Oh, gifted students--they need to have tons and tons of work all day and night to keep them busy!" And during the day is no different. It seems like the day is full of busy work all day doing workbook page one right after another.

I used to think that it was just our son that had the worst of it because of his Asperger's maybe he wasn't getting things completed in school and so seemed to have more work, but I started asking some other parents and heard comments from other kids in his class. One boy we carpool says to my younger son often, "You're going to HATE 3rd grade because you have to work SOOOO much ALL day long and it's TONS and TONS of work!"

Why is it that some of these teachers feel that tons of work or homework is best for the gifted child? It's like they are trying to cram tons of work into the shortest amount of time. Our #1 isn't having the chance to explore, research or go in depth with any particular subject like he used to. Before, he would learn a little on a science subject, or history, and if it interested him, he would go to the library and check out all these books on it to learn more. Now, we're lucky if he's done working just to eat dinner at night. It's like they are shoving vocab and facts in the students' faces and making them memorize, but it's not really learning the way a gifted child learns.

I watch sadly as the other kids in the neighborhood come home from school and are riding bikes and playing around the neighborhood. They come over to play, and we have to tell them no because our kids have homework up the wazoo.

He's only 8 years old for goodness sake! Why can't he just be a kid?! Yeah, maybe before he was reading and doing workbooks all day anyway, but he actually ENJOYED it. It was what he wanted to be doing and learning. Now he has begun to hate school because it is all forced on him and TONS.

We've discussed things with the teacher and she says students shouldn't be working more than 45 minutes on homework and if so just don't let them finish, but then I'm sending him back to school unprepared and having more work to do in school. There is no winning solution. We just continue to work him to death and hope we can be rid of this class soon and in time before our oldest decides he hates school all together.

My husband and I are completely frustrated now and he keeps suggesting private school which I know we can't afford. I know there are good teachers out there, but it seems like a lot of them are just out to get all the tests passed off, sign this and that off, and it doesn't matter how they are learning in between.

Now, I'm not in the classroom, and I don't know everything that is going on, but something just doesn't seem right. All these gifted kids that used to have a love for learning that are now thinking of school like a trip to the dentist. It just isn't right.

Should we just put the boys back in regular school and forget this gifted program that we had so much hope for? Should we do the online schooling thing where they can go at their own pace? Why does public education have to be so frustrating? It is interesting that I have heard several parents have pulled their kids from this gifted program when they get to this 3rd grade teacher's class. Obviously, something is wrong here.

Obsessions

OK, so you've read in our last post how the boys just want to read read read or play the piano all night long. Well, they have this other obsession lately of doing brain puzzlers or working on a comprehensive notebook all day long.

We can't get our oldest to stop reading through this brain puzzler book figuring out all the problems for a moment to do anything else.

Our 2nd son is so obsessed with working on this 2nd grade reading/math/grammar comprehension book, that I can't get him to do anything.

You'd think gee, you've been at school all day long and then you want to come home and do more school type workbook solving problems, answering questions, grammar type things?! Don't you want a break? Gee, I sure would, but then again, I guess I am not like these 2 little sponges.

I suppose I could look at my husband who looks at a computer all day at work, but yet comes home and continues to be on the computer for the rest of the day. I think---don't you need a break? But nope. Obsession.

At least they are good obsessions that the boys have. I should be thankful that it isn't video games or fighting, or whatever else there could be that isn't the greatest.