Successful Gifted Homeschooler Stories Needed

A Word from GHF, the supporting-member newsletter of the Gifted Homeschoolers Forum, wants to hear the stories of successful gifted homeschoolers!

What makes a homeschooler "successful"?
One who, through homeschooling, is able to follow his or her passions. Those passions might be early college entrance, highly focused studies, community service, entrepreneurship, self-expression, etc.

What makes a homeschooler "gifted"?
While all people have gifts, it is a small segment of the population that qualifies as gifted. To learn more about giftedness, gifted and talented, or high potential, please go to http://giftedhomeschoolers.org/definitions.html.

What age range do we want?
Preferably mid-teens and above. Basically, the successful gifted homeschooler should be able to write his or her own article (more on that later) and have some insight as to how homeschooling allowed him/her to become the person he/she is.

What writing is required?
A brief article, no more than 500 words, about the benefits of homeschooling. The article doesn't need to be perfectly written, as that's my job as editor. It simply needs to be sincere and thoughtful.

What about photos and links?
All our contributors are encouraged to include a photo of themselves and any relevant links. Has the successful homeschooler started a business? Send us the link. Does the successful homeschooler work for a charity or non-profit? Send us the link.

Do they or their families have to be GHF supporting members?
No. Although, now that you mention it, why don't you check out how easy it is to become a GHF supporting member? http://giftedhomeschoolers.org/why.html

Who are you and what do you do?
In addition to writing this blog, I am the GHF Newsletter Editor. I work with writers to get their pieces submitted, then prepare those pieces for publishing. You can reach me at sarahw [at] giftedhomeschoolers [dot] org.

I look forward to hearing the many stories of successful gifted homeschoolers.

Article by Sarah J. Wilson

Homeschooling Gift Idea: Consumables

Homeschoolers go through a lot of consumables and supplies.

What are consumables? Anything that can get used up: paper, pens, paint, glue, glitter, craft sticks, and so on.

Just like traditional schools, these supplies are needed for a multitude of projects, and they need replacing often.

While a ream of paper may not sound exciting for a present, what about a roll of butcher paper with crayons? Or packs of colored paper and pens?

Check with the parents to see what is needed and what is appropriate for the children's ages and interests. Then head to your local art or office supply store and go nuts.

Some ideas include:
Watercolor paper
Pastels
High-quality paint brushes
Spiral notebooks
Easels
Whiteboards and dry-erase markers
Stamps and ink pads
Pens
Scrapbooking scissors
Watercolors
Oil paints
Sketch pads
Stretched canvas
Hole and shape punches
Rolls of paper
Chalk
Glitter
Glue
Dried pastaCraft sticks
Fabric and carpet remnants
Cheap shower curtain liners (to use on tables and floors)

If you are artistically inclined, you could include a one-on-one lesson with your gift. Or you could also offer to pay for an ability-appropriate art class. Ask the parents if they could use art or graphic software. Including a book about art, drawing, or cartooning would also be welcomed. Add in a trip to a local museum or a special exhibit. You could also volunteer to take the children on a nature walk with the roll of butcher paper and crayons, and do rubbings as you discover interesting leaves and textures.

If the gift is for a budding writer, you could include a book or two from a favorite author. Or, you could include a style manual, submission guidelines to magazines of interest, or a book on journaling. If you are comfortable with writing, you could offer to be a gentle reader of their work. Software or online programs geared to young writers might be useful. Also, check for any age-appropriate writing classes in their area.

A little imagination is all it takes to turn a seemingly ordinary gift extraordinary.

Article by Sarah J. Wilson

Prompts for Writers

We all want to encourage our children to write, to learn the value and satisfaction of self-expression through the written word. But many children push back when given writing assignments.

Just like any other learning, writing is only interesting when it has value. Most school assignments are dull, completed only to finish them and get a grade. While the student ideally learns the mechanics of writing through these exercises, he rarely learns the love of writing.

One way to inspire your writer is to give writing prompts. Prompts are suggestions, ideas, or even just a word or two designed to get the writer thinking and writing. The final product need have nothing to do with the original prompt. The purpose of the exercise isn't to get the "right" answer, but to simply write.

The blog, Prompts for Writers, offers ideas for fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and dramatic writing. With suggestions stemming from the seasons, current events, literature, random words, music, and more, your budding wordsmith will find plenty inspiration, as may you.

You can also follow Prompts for Writers on Twitter @WritePrompts.

So, get comfortable, read some prompts, and write away!

Article by Sarah J. Wilson

Games for Writing

Peggy Kaye's book, Games for Writing: Playful Ways to Help your Child Write is a treasure trove of easy activities to get your kindergarten to third grade child writing. The activities are especially appealing to reluctant writers and many work well for mixed age groups (i.e. the typical homeschooling family).

Part one of the book focuses on the act of creating letters. There are some fun ways to approach the eye hand coordination required to write text.

Parts two and four and packed with great activities to get kids creating text. One of our favorites was the "Monster Cafe" in which we created different dishes a monster might eat as an appetizer, main course, drink, and dessert. My daughter got inspired to go on to make a slightly less gruesome monster children's menu and wrote more words than she had in a long time. I guess she has internalized the the children's menu is usually a little more bland than the adult menu! We also really enjoyed trying to outdo each other and a couple of friends when we played "Bragging Contest." For many of the games I pre-cut strips of paper to write on so we could put our results on display by sticking them to the wall.

Part three has activities to work with the conventions of writing and part five has some inspiring ways to make interesting books.

The activities in the book are designed for one on one practice, although many can be done with a small group. Kaye is great about giving a short vignette about each one that shows how a "real" child might approach the activity. As a parent, I can browse the activities and then suggest them as a "what if we do this" on the spur of the moment. I can enjoy a fun time with my child, but I know that I'm teaching important skills, too! 

Article by Heddi Craft

Making Grammar Fun

While certain people find English grammar fascinating, many people cringe at the prospect of diagramming a sentence or explaining the purpose of a semicolon. Add a discussion of prepositional phrases into the mix, and apoplexy may ensue.

A wonderful way to truly grasp a concept is to correct someone else’s mistakes.

Start by reading Philip B. Corbett’s articles Wandering Phrases and Prepositions on the Loose. Both contain fine examples of the confusion a misplaced prepositional phrase or poor word choice can cause. A person reading these aloud may quickly hear what is wrong, and can then come up with an alternative writing. Consolingly, knowing top-notch writers for The New York Times can go astray gives hope to aspiring writers and grammarians.

Of course, other daily newspapers are not without guilt. The larger the newspaper, the more frequent the errors, simply because of the amount of writing that requires editing on extremely tight deadlines. First, look at the headlines. The need for catchy writing combined with limited space and the desire to be clever leads to questionable phrasing. How about “Include Your Children When Baking Cookies” (“Soylent Green is people!”), or “Iraqi Head Seeks Arms” (what about a torso or legs?), or “Red Tape Holds Up New Bridge” (who knew it was so strong?).

Next in your newspaper reading, go through the articles. More immediate stories—those about current events or breaking news—are more likely to contain errors than human interest stories, as writers usually have more time to review their work prior to publication. (This is not a damnation of journalists, just a result of the deadline-driven and limited-space issues of the business.)

For even more grammar fun, read Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, by Lynne Truss. Ms. Truss also has a children's version of her book, Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference!, which will have the younger set laughing at the drastic changes a comma or two can make to a sentence.

Be honest, we would all much rather find someone else's errors, than have our own pointed out to us. So, check out your local paper, pay close attention when reading your next book, and see what hilarious grammar blunders you can find together.

Article by Sarah J. Wilson