Mom's Reading-Creative Home Schooling: A Resource Guide for Smart Families

I just finished reading Creative Home Schooling: A Resource Guide for Smart Families  by Lisa Rivero. I enjoy reading it every year. It contains so many reminders to keep the joy alive. I find it very motivating and it helps me focus on the needs of each of my separate children. After all, that's a major reason we decided to homeschool.

*Why I like it:
-It helps me understand the behaviors that my children at times exhibit that seem to be related to their giftedness (although neither have been formally tested for it). Some of these behaviors include precociousness, intensity, sensitivity, drive, and divergent thinking, (read "always coming up with new ways to do things" and "trying to talk their way out of a corner").
-It's a good reminder to gradually introduce more self-directed study into our school as my children mature. For us right now, this means asking my children weekly what else they'd like to learn more about and trying to help them find out about it. It might also lead me to look for a community program I otherwise wouldn't have thought about exploring.
-There are practical ideas for anyone to use in order to make their schooling proceed more smoothly.

*Some of my favorite points and quotes:
-"One does not homeschool gifted children. One homeschools with them." Over these past couple of years, I've learned that there is a lot that I don't know about quite a few things. I've learned so much by helping the kids find answers to their own questions. They are more eager to take facts to heart if they've generated questions themselves, too.
-"Some gifted children end up underachieving. The student actively "not learns" exercising perhaps the only avenue of self-determination available. These may be letting us know that they need more, not less control over their lives." I've found this to be so true of ds8. We can often achieve the same end goal if he has even a little extra say in the path we use to get there.
-"Asynchronous kids are different ages at one time." Have you ever noticed that with your kids? That hits pretty close to home for me. It's important for me to keep this in mind. A child may be age 8 but have a reading level and speaking skills of a 12 year-old and the self-control of a 6 year-old.

Yes, this book is largely for homeschoolers of gifted children. But it's also for homeschoolers of any and every child. Why?

It's a book about that encourages a tailor-made learning environment based on the needs of each individual child. Does that sound like a lot of work?

Maybe, but in other ways, not really. For example, I don't use different math programs for my kids with different learning styles, but I might use different ways to approach the topic or reinforce what we've learned.

If it takes a little extra planning time but results in less argument during lesson time the method has its place in our homeschool.  

I'm looking forward to trying some of the ideas in this book for the upcoming school year. I'm also looking forward to re-reading the book again spring 2012.