Gifted Children in Mensa

I'm looking to connect with other gifted children and parents.   A lot harder to do than I thought.  At first I thought, there has to be a lot out there, but as I searched, it's actually a very small percentage of the population.  As I looked harder, I realized why being tagged as "gifted" is not a pretty thing.  For one, I met some gifted kids who clicked well with my kids and they were awesome.  Then I met their parents and they were snobs.  That's where it ended. 

Then I held a gifted playdate through meetup and they were really cool.  It's hard though when everyone is from different parts of San Diego.  I personally don't like to drive down south, which makes me the snob. 

Then I tried to find the gifted kids just at my kid's school....only two people responded, and they're boys.  My husband won't approve of that for too long. 

So, now I'm thinking about joining Mensa.  I'll call the gifted children coordinator Victoria Fogg at San Diego Mensa (858-602-2494) and see what's up.

Bloom's Digital Taxonomy

To aide me in differentiating my daughter's homeschool curriculum, I was provided with the Bloom's Taxonomy and advised to allow my child to make choices on how she wanted to express her understanding of material.  So I took the Bloom's verbs and prompting questions and put them on colorful popcicle sticks.  Upon further research, the Bloom's Taxonomy has been revamped to include the digital age.  So, now I have to add more popcicle sticks to include the digital verbs like Glog, or post a blog or vlog on what she learned.  I like Kathy's ipad apps categorized by Bloom's taxonomy, very clever and efficient, love it!  http://www.schrockguide.net/bloomin-apps.html
And they have a rubric for blogging.  Yikes!  I better keep this blog private! http://www.evenfromhere.org/2010/02/16/blogging-rubric/

Already thinking about Summer School

I find myself already thinking about what we'll do this summer.  Trying to keep up with my daughter's intellectual curiosity, I've looked into two online programs with free one to two month trials, perfect for the summer months.

For reading, we'll try:  http://www.texthelp.com/North-America/Our-products/Fluency-Tutor

For math, we'll try:  http://www.dreambox.com/why-dreambox

I figure it's a free trial, and who knows, we might like it!

If they turn out a flop, then we'll go back to time4learning and signing up for UCSD's Reading Institute summer program.  I like time4learning because it's only $20 a month and there's no contract.  I like UCSD's program because she excels in class and her reading learning-curve shoots up. 

OR we can do a gifted summer camp.  I'm considering Keystone Academy in Solana Beach http://keystone-school.com/?page_id=106 or Renaissance Village in Mira Mesa (they say Scripps Ranch but whatever), for their summer camps.  http://rva.us.com/Events-Open-Houses/index-rva-activities-events.html.

I'm stilling deciding if she should go to fourth grade next year or continue with her chronological age and go on to second grade.  We'll see how she does the rest of the year....

Christmas Gifts for the Gifted

Shopping for Christmas this year is quite different from the years past.  Being limited on time and resources, my gifts need to be selected with care and quality in mind.

Here's # 1 on my list for gifts for our gifted children:

A science magazine subscription. http://www.cricketmag.com/ODY-ODYSSEY-Magazine-for-Kids-ages-9-14 It's a gift that keeps on coming!  It's very similar to National Geographic for kids but without the ads.  It's also listed as a winner of a 2012 Parents' Choice Gold Award.  The digital format for the ipad comes with the print subscription which has free shipping!  I just think it's the coolest gift  AND it helps build my library for homeschool use.  I'm comparing it to the alternate, but cheaper subscription of Kids Discover:  http://www.kidsdiscover.com/.

I know, I know, not many kids go crazy about education, so for obvious reasons, the #1 ultimate Christmas gift for under the tree is ....the ipad mini (to go with the subscription, of course!). http://store.apple.com/us/buy/home/shop_ipad/family/ipad_mini

My daughters (and I) would love the ipad mini because of it's versatility for entertainment and education.  The only thing is we have rules, #1 they only get to use it when sitting down (at a desk or table preferably), and #2, when I take it away there is absolutely no whining, crying, or complaining or they'll never see it again.  Period.

To wrap this gift, I'll use the Christmas Dora Explorer gift wrapping paper my daughter spotted at the 99 cent store and do a little origami deer to top it off! http://make-handmade.com/2011/12/02/christmas-crafts-origami-reindeer-video-tutorial/

Video: Peter Walsh discusses office organizing and answers an Unclutterer’s question http://bit.ly/cK2BZg

Summer camps for your teen http://bit.ly/cHgUOG

Mother's Day cruise in Fort Myers http://bit.ly/a9Ak8K