Well what I mean is, like the examples I used in public school my oldest HAD to wear tennis shoes on PE day. And in PS Kindergarten they really pushed for them to tie their own shoes. But, since we homeschool and DS8 has SPD and can't stand to wear anything but Crocs, we let him wear Crocs EVERYWHERE all year long. He's hiked in them, plays 'sports' in our yard in them, etc. So with no one forcing him to wear tennis shoes he's had no need to learn to tie them... With my youngest, in PS they teach the kids the Alphabet song, so he'd probably learn it in preK or K (I don't really know as my oldest knew it by 1 1/2) but because we homeschool, I choose not to force him to learn that one song because I don't see the point...I find if funny because he LOVES music and sings along with lots of songs, he was humming a Cher song today, he likes to make up his own songs, but he just doesn't like the Alphabet song... Like PP, my kids often forget what grade they are in...heck I often forget what grade they are in! LOL And when people ask the inevitable "are you excited school is about to be out/start back" They look at them like they are CRAZY because we don't follow the PS schedule so it's never timed with our start/end! LOL The oldest will answer that he is homeschooled but the youngest just gives them a weird look like "What planet are you from?" LOL I agree that one thing that makes homeschoolers 'odd' is they usually don't have the age segregation issues most PS kids do. The other night we were in the hotel pool and a little girl came up and started playing with my oldest. I think she thought he was very close to her age (He's 8, she was 11 but he's very big for his age-people used to think he was 'slow' and ask what was wrong with him because at 3 they thought he was 5 at 5 they thought he was 8, etc so he seems 'behind' normal for the age they perceive him to be) My 5 year old tried playing with her too but she just sorta ignored him...
DGS is tall enough to be mistaken for older, too. At 5 he looked 7, at 7 he looks 9. He's at the 95th (or slightly above) percentile for height, but not quite at the 50th for weight. Pair that with the rising 4th grade girl at school with us, who is 9 but looks (and acts) 6. Her mom and her aunt still carry her around on their hip like she was 3. I held my DS back a year before starting him in ps kindy because he just wasn't ready. He was (and still is) the most H of any ADHD kid I ever knew! Just that in itself made him "odd" compared to the other kids in his class at school (he was there through 4th grade). He learned just fine but remained about 3 years "younger" than his age until he was an adult. That meant a 15 year old whose best friend was 12, and they still enjoyed playing with Hot Wheels and stuff, and weren't worried about driving or girls (yet). DS didn't catch up to that until he was 18. He was born with that, so homeschooling didn't have anything to do with it. He also had some "issues" because of a poor start in life before we adopted him at age 2 1/2, and homeschooling didn't have anything to do with that either. Both of those things contributed to our decision TO homeschool. His DS is a clone of his dad, only he's somewhat less hyperactive, and without the "issues" because he had a very loving, nurturing environment from the beginning, which his dad didn't have.
My son doesn't write in cursive unless asked to and he has a hard time reading cursive, especially sloppy/fancy cursive. He is 17.
My kids are the same with cursive, but so is my dh who went to ps (his view of cursive greatly affected my teaching & not repquiring it's use). I found cursive in things like birthday cards harder to read when I was a younger adult. I think it's that I know the common things that people say, and can decipher them.
Yup, my kids, too. It's kind of funny to see the looks people give when the kids have to ask me what grade they are. That would qualify as odd! I usually just mention that as homeschoolers, we don't necessarily stick to one grade, that they work within a range of levels depending on the subject.
My DS's handwriting borders on dysgraphia. He says he can't read it himself, after it "gets cold." I had to work with him a lot in the primary grades to get his printing up to par. By the time we brought him home to school after 4th grade, he could write in something resembling cursive, and I could decipher it mostly, but I was never able to "fix" it. Now he avoids writing anything for other people beyond his signature, if he can help it, but he keeps notebooks/journals for himself, such as ideas that he'd love to see made into a movie (or make himself as director!). No one else would be able to read them - I've seen some.
interesting thread The abc song seems to be quite a trend, same here with my 5 yr old who has never been to ps. The older two have, so they did learn all those nursery rhymes. My kids stand out, I think, in that they ask a LOT of questions and expect hanswers...Also, they will argue with adults about ideas and theories. At their own peer level, I think they are awkward, often not knowing what the other kids are talking about (Disney characters, newest latest toys and shows, etc). They also love to play elaborate pretend games that other "regular" kids find weird or odd.
My almost 7yr old and 5yr olds can't tie their shoes either. It really bothers DH that I don't work on it with them but they have velcro shoes and we have a million and one other things better to work on right now. My kids consider anyone regardless of age their friend. "he's my adult friend" they've been heard saying. Friendship has no age to them. Colton has some quirks but those are his and have nothing to do with his schooling. :lol: Oh and my daughter can identify stars - as in the shape. I think it's from watching Dora though because I haven't really worked on shapes with her.
Reading this I was thinking about my kids and their cousins - 12 in all, ages from 8yrs to 6 mo and it's interesting to watch who plays with who the most. Yeah they don't have to go far to find a same aged peer - in fact I was pregnant with my sister three times so my oldest three and her youngest three all have birthday buddies. My youngest has a birthday buddy too as I was pregnant as the same time as my other sister. And it's interesting that my oldest and my sister's oldest - the 8yr old seem to get along better than my oldest and his birthday buddy (though they get along fine too) but my 3yr old and her 3yr old play all day together. My 2nd and her 2nd tend to buddy up and her 5yr old is kinda a loner amongst the kids. So it was just interesting to consider that dynamic.
My 15 DD, like Shilman's twins, has no interest in boy-girl drama at the moment. She is content to wait awhile before jumping into dating. Also, she doesn't listen to much current music (unlike her sisters, lol!), but prefers to listen to Nat King Cole and Doris Day with me.
My daughter watches very little TV and doesn't feel the need to watch any of the pre-teen pop culture shows out there. Case in Point: This past weekend, we were in Baltimore, MD for a national track meet. We went to the Inner Harbor and there were hundreds of people in costumes. DD asked what was going on. One of the costumed characters told her it was an annual anime convention. My daughter turned to me and asked, "Who's Anna Mae?" LOL!!
My children are extreme inventor's. I never realized it before but I was doing hair cuts yesterday in the kitchen for a neighbor of mine. She looked at me and said your children are amazing LOl...... My daughter was mixing ingredients in bottles for thing she bought from the market aloe, flowers, creams, etc... She bottles them and sells them to my mother. Sorta funny. My son is the wood worker makes bird houses, rebuilds motorized airplanes, he is always tinkering in the garage and my husband can never find his tools. tee hee hee..... He just had one of his socket wrenches show up after a year ds had it in his back pack. People are always asking him to fix something for them or set up their computers and electronic stuff. I guess I never realized what my children do and I take it for granted that everyones kids do these things. God has truly blessed me with creative children who follow through on their adventures especially without me helping them....
My 5yo can probably name every type of shark in the ocean, and snake on land! He is fascinated by them and watches Animal Planet and Nat Geo Wild everyday...all day if he could! The same thing with trucks! He also has a bit of a speech articulation problem and it's sometimes hard for some people to understand him, but he isn't fazed by it at all and that doesn't stop him from talking all right! He can talk your ear off! As for my 2yo, he just says and does everything his big brother does!
I'd forgotten about this, but one day when DS was about 12? he and DH were helping a friend strip their roof so they could reshingle it, when they uncovered a huge number of insects under the shingles. The homeowner panicked, thinking TERMITES, but DS took a good look and happily advised him, no, it was ants. Just spray 'em and you're done. He was "the bug man" - used to study field guides of insects just for fun. We even nicknamed him Bug.
They do this one thing that I find funny. If they want something they always say they can make it. Then they do. Right now they are making superhero stuff. Ex: Thor's Hammer, Hulks big fists, and Captain Americas Shield. Not just toys but a bunch of other stuff too. I was talking to my dad about it today and he said that actually that has a purpose. He said it builds resourcefulness in the boys. Wow and I just thought it was cute!
Cally -- my two girls are the SAME way. They need something? They make it. It fascinates me to no end. But it's such a joy and a blessing to see that rather than to have them automatically think, "mom can BUY it!" Lol. When I teach my girls a new skill, rather than try to perfect it right away, they always take parts of it and go off in completely different directions. It's strange to me who likes to do things exactly as told.
Oh these are great! I'm so enjoying this thread. My 5 year old...oh man, if I forget and accidentally throw away a toilet paper roll he'll look at me like I have lost my mind and say "Why did you throw that away? You know I was going to use that!" LOL Every cardboard tube is turned into SOMETHING! My oldest is a documentary and field guide guy. Bugs, reptiles, wildflowers, whatever-anything nature related he's into it!
