Yes, we do afterschooling, too. I have DS read to me at his challenge level every day and practice math facts. He does his Singapore math books, Flashmaster and HWT while we wait for DD to do her gymnastics class on Tues. and Thurs. We also do Descartes' Cove together on weekends. DS also has Taekwondo, swimming and now Cub Scouts.

Plus, of course, there are the endless questions (this morning he wanted to know all about sledgehammers!? )

I can't really fit anything more in. I don't want to take away from his free play time.

Descartes' Cove is on our list. We just want to wait until DS is a little bit older.

I agree about the schedule crunch. We feel it too.

JB

Cathy and JBDad, it's really the not wanting to take away from DS's free time that makes me hesitate to afterschool. He barely has enough time to run around the backyard. But I guess I'm defining afterschool as more structured, effortful learning where he would struggle a bit, KWIM? DS challenges himself in many ways - plays chess, piano, sports, reads voraciously, does puzzles, etc. What he's missing is the academic struggle (maybe concentrated effort is a better word than struggle here). E-beth, it's helpful to get your perspective - it certainly is easier to prevent bad habits than to fix them! Do you think your DS would have benefitted from something like online learning or workbooks in 1st or 2nd grade? Can anyone see any negatives of doing a workbook or online learning once or twice/week if the kid would rather be kicking a ball around?

Well, this doesn't really apply to your DS, but there IS an obesity epidemic in this country. I must admit, if given a choice between sending my kids into the backyard for some exercise and sitting with a workbook, I'm pretty much always going to pick the yard!

Then again, it really doesn't have to take much time. Maybe think of brain-challenging games or conversations that take 5 minutes instead of giving him workbooks? That way it's family time (and fun) and not just MORE work.

Though maybe he already gets that with what he's doing now...

Hmmm...

That's a good idea, Kriston -- ds6 loves math games. They're learning ordered pairs at school and they sent home a "game" to play -- a big 6x6 line grid. We rolled the dice and used the numbers as our ordered pair, and graphed it. First player with three dots in a row won.

It really nailed the idea home, and ds loved it -- even though I won both times we played.

Games like that can be really mathy, and really fun. We just got a dice game at Barnes and Noble that included two 12-sided dice and three regular six-sided dice. You roll the 12 sided dice and multiply to get a "target number." Then you roll the 3 regular dice and try to get as close to the target number as you can with those numbers, using addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponents, etc. It's a lot of fun; ds really likes it.

So that lengthy intro was to say I agree! There are lots of fun ways to afterschool without making it a chore.

Another option is to work the afterschooling into your nightly schedule -- 15-20 minutes after dinner/bath is really all it takes to spread those little minds. We've taken to doing ds6's homework and playing a mathy game (Yahtzee or a "tricky math" worksheet or Timez Attack) between shower and bedtime, and it's working out nicely for us.

We're with you on that. DS5.5 had a total tired-induced melt down this evening. Both boys were in bed at 6:30 and asleep by 6:35... And there was no time for anything.

Most of what we do is indeed informal and unstructured. But he's generally learning something new. It's not the same type of thing where we study something and then take a test. During the weekends when we have more time we might do something a little more structured like read from a geometry book or biology book. Before school started it seemed like we had TONS of time to do this. Now we barely have any time at all.

I know this will change though. He is only 5 1/2 and he's never fit that "doesn't sleep much" GT type. Quite the opposite. So we don't get as much outside time as we did during the summer. He does get gym and recess at school and we usually play a lot outside during weekends. Probably about the best we can do.

No worries on obesity with my kids though... I was skinny as a bean pole until I was about 25 and it looks like they have my genes on that one. Pretty sure they got their brains from their mom tho

JB

LOL JB my DS5 is the same. He needs his sleep so we get very little time after school compared to when DS8 was the same age and need 2hrs less sleep each night.

I to prefer to head outdoors when possible so our more formal stuff picks up in winter when it's dark outside. Mostly more organized read alouds where we discuss the book etc as opposed to a quick story before bed.

Mia..........nice.........aren't you glad you made the switch.

DOK!

'Neato -- ummm ... YES. I can't say enough about this school (private gifted). He's having to *think* to do his homework! I love it!

I know it's not for everyone, but it's honestly been a godsend for ds6, since his public school wasn't inclined to do any differentiation anytime soon. He loves going every day. He comes home happy and tired (in a good way) and thinking new thoughts.

Yes, I'm glad we bit the bullet and made the switch!