Home Schooling: Tailoring education to your child

[Shiroi Tora]

First, I realize not all families, for a variety of reasons, cannot home school. For those you can...the gains will be tremendous. There are a some great home schooling programs out there....we use Plato as my son's (9 yrs. old - Aspie / Profoundly Gifted) main teaching platform. We supplement with other computer / Internet based teaching programs as well as through books / workbooks - DVD courses. The courses are self paced and have micro tests as well as comprehensive ones. The micro tests are so important as it ensures mastery of concepts before allowing one to go on. I have more information on the supplementary programs on my blog at my signature.

You may fit the pace and courses to your child's strengths and weaknesses. There are no distractions or stress. True learning may take place. The Plato learning system is accredited for use for home schooled children and is used by many gifted students. They have it from K-6th / and from 6th - 12th.

Many Aspies will learn so much more and much more quickly at home. We are having great success with them. My son LOVES home schooling. He gets his socialization through structured play times and through sports. He is so happy - and he is learning so much more.

 

[Shiroi Tora]

My Blog: http://2echild.blogspot.com

 

[Firnafth]

I was homeschooled, and it was good for me. I do not know how I compared to other students (e.g. gifted or whatnot) because I never knew, being homeschooled, what everyone else was like.

There was no work on the computer in my case except for writing papers in high school. My mom managed the curriculum but I think she based it off of recommendations from somewhere. We (my sister and I) used Saxon Math which is what I remember the most - math always took me longer; it was never my strength. We used grammar books early on, did history/social studies, had an hour of reading time and had to write a page-long journal entry every day. We did nature outings and I did a couple of science books before moving on to take lab science at the junior college in high school.

The math and writing practice (journal) were the hardest but I appreciated them the most, because they enabled me to become decent at math and general writing which are my weaknesses. It was a good preparation: I was a successful undergraduate when I went away to college. Unfortunately, I can't compare my early education with anything because I never knew anything else.

My social life was OK as a kid (I always had a friend) but was nonexistent while I was in high school. I will never know whether being lonely then was worse than attending high school would have been, where I might have been excluded or bullied.

 

[Shiroi Tora]

The fact that you were a successful undergrad tells of how successful your home schooling was. Many never go...or drop out once in University because they were not prepared.

Loneliness is good for the soul. Solitude allows you to see what is important to you. What you crave...you learn how to fulfill. It is the lack of craving for true human contact that allows people to be so shallow. You learn true socialization through team sports and the like. The focus is the objective and on the welfare of others.

Merely playing with your peers is essentially the blind leading the blind. You learn from the learned...this is true in most other endeavors....although not strictly necessary...it is so frequently the most effective and efficient path.

You were fortunate to have such a good mom.