Curriculum for an Advanced Child

[Guest Techett]

My 6 year old (kindergarten age) is reading at a 5th grade reading level and has a reading comprehension of 4th grade. The ability to read well and understand what you are reading is fantastic, but she still needs to learn the basics. I'm trying to find a balance of challenging curriculum that still works with the fact that she should be in kindergarten and sometimes wiggles like she is. We have been doing a range of curriculum from first grade to forth grade depending on the subject, but she's still very bored with most of it. She is particularly bored with FLL (way to repetitive), WWE (just bored), SW (doesn't seem to teach her how to spell she just memorizes), and the Story of the World. I'm looking at what I can get for next year to make it more enjoyable for next year. Any help would be great. Thanks.

[EndOfOrdinary]

Sequential Spelling worked for my son.  It was like a game for him.  Next year we will finish with the last book.  It had done a lot for us.  I do not have him write the words.  He spells orally so he can adequately wiggle all around.  Though he is now 9, he is a wiggly kid.  Some libraries even have the DVD's.  Worth a check.  The book is only twenty bucks if they don't.

[AK_Mom4]

It's been a while since I looked at early elementary materials LOL, but I remember clearly at that level needing to pick and choose from curriculum to keep DD(now 12!) happy.  We did very little repetition - once she "got" the lesson and could show me, we moved on.  That meant doing one or two problems usually and then moving on.  Lots of work was done aloud or on the white board to match up with her age-appropriate writing skills.  I had to "let go" of my idea that doing all the problems on every page was something we "HAD" to do for school.

 

Since DD is the crafty one around here, I would google for craft ideas to go with whatever lesson we had and turn her loose painting cardboard and spreading glitter around while she made a poster about parts of speech or a book she had read or crocodiles.  Having the fun stuff thrown in kept things from getting boring for her.  She was (and still is) always working at different grade levels for different subjects, so I ended up buying pieces and parts from different publishers and cobbling them together.  Lots of times I would end up throwing it all away and just following her interests for a few weeks while I got reorganized. 

 

HTH!

 

[Cottonwood]

Check out Moving Beyond the Page.  It's project and literature based.  Fun activities too.  I haven't used the level she'd be in but it might be a good fit.  There's a facebook group, "Differently Schooled Using Moving Beyond the Page" that you could join and ask questions if you considered using it.

[CrunchyGirl]

What level of WWE and FLL are you using? I found we had to jump way ahead to introduce challenge.

[Tanikit]

I have moved my DD6 now to writing on her own - she does narrations, I make sure she can hold what she wants to write in her head and then she writes it down and draws a picture. But I have spent the last year teaching handwriting and spelling to make sure she can do this. We have a phonics chart on the wall to help with spelling as she spells phonetically but often knows it doesn't look right - by looking at the chart (which I copied from IEW Pals) she can try things til it looks right. She is working through the Dolch list of spelling words now (phonetically) which ensures she can spell the basic words but at the same time teaching the phonics has opened up most words to her with very little effort.

 

I have found no English curriculum that suits us - she reads from books of varying levels and I just make sure there are books she can choose from that are good, emotionally approriate and will extend her reading - but mostly that she will enjoy.

 

Until the handwriting came along we had to do a lot orally - now she is doing traditional reading comprehensions at about a grade 3 level where we can work on vocabulary and writing at the same time. 

 

My biggest investment for homeschooling has been books - good literature and good non fiction books at the correct level for her - I also use openlibrary a lot to keep costs down. I use BFSU for Science and SOTW for history which both use additional books to teach. Geography we do only through read alouds and books she reads herself.

 

My 6 year old is extremely wiggly - I split the day up into very short chunks so she is never sitting for more than 15 minutes at a time - and she can prance around and stand on her head or turn cartwheels while I read if she wants to - and she does and she always remembers what I have read to her no matter how much she seems not to be concentrating. As for her reading - we just worked on that - slowly - I kept her place for ages and have gradually slid the marker under a few lines at a time to a paragraph at a time and finally handed the book over to her and she can keep her place now herself wiggly or not - I think just expectations and age have helped too. Yes, a child can be able to read everything and yet not be able to hold the book herself because she is jumping around so much.

 

What does your child enjoy - what sparks her interest - go with that - is it literature, hearing good books, science, history, historical fiction, gymnastics, animals - what does she love - could you bring that into her schooling and then limit the time spent on things that are more basic. LOF works better for my 6 year old and having done that she will tolerate some Singapore even if she thinks it is boring.

[ElizabethB]

You can use this for combined phonics and spelling, it goes up to 12th grade level phonics:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/WellTaughtPhonicsStudent.html

 

I did MCT LA early with my daughter, she enjoyed it. We did it lightly in 1st grade then more in depth in 2nd grade.

 

http://www.rfwp.com/package/mct-level-1-basic-homeschool-package

 

I also like Singapore math and RS4K Physics and Chemistry.

[Gratia271]

I used MCT LA early on as well, and my children really enjoyed it.  There is no overkill or excessive repetition.  I discovered (with all three of my children) that I needed to piece things together in a sort of non-curriculum way, drawing on many living books, much socratic dialoguing, and other more interactive learning opportunities.  At least for us at that time, there were not many curricular options available that were not also mind numbingly repetitive from their perspective.  Basically, what they enjoyed was

(1)MCT ELA

(2)Singapore Math; Hands On Equations

(3)Critical Thinking Co. Books

(4)History and Science based on books/materials suited to their interest and ability level

 

ETA:  we also began foreign language studies young since they were fluent readers early.  It worked out well, as they were able to begin a second foreign language in sixth grade, and a third language in 9th grade, providing ample opportunity for mastery of each.

 

 

[DandelionPrincess]

It's hard to do, but don't be afraid to drop curriculum if it's not working.  It took me a long time to drop FLL and WWE because i *wanted* him to love it.  He likes Winning with Writing, Soaring with Spelling, and Growing with Grammar a lot, and even though there's a lot of repetition, it's quick and easy, and super easy to move ahead if needed.  We also use KISS grammar, which is pretty advanced, but he's moving along nicely with it.  

 

Singapore math has less review sections, and we love it.  We have the Intensive practice and challenging word problems books which we use as review.  

 

A good suggestion i got last year (K) was to start foreign language and cursive.  Both provided something different for him to do and was challenging.  

 

For science, BFSU is good, but requires quite a bit of prep.  He's our only, so it's hard for me to do the lessons.  We're waiting on RSO biology level one, which i'm hoping with actually get done around here lol.  

 

Have fun, and don't be afraid to move ahead in books or lessons if necessary.  

 

Also, if writing is very difficult, you will run into the problem of higher level books requiring more writing, but don't be afraid to do the pages together and have your kid dictate the answers.  We do this only rarely now, but when we first started this year i was doing about half of the writing for him, mostly for the sake of my own sanity.  

[Runningmom80]

I'd definitely try mct grammar island. My DS begs for it. Maybe a foreign language?

[k8c]

I have a wiggly almost 6yo daughter who is also reading somewhere in the 4th/5th grade range, with equal comprehension.  Our struggle has been that though she reads that well, she still lacks the fundamentals (like phonics) to spell or write on her own.  So, we use Explode the Code books, which she loves because they are short and simple, but really is giving her a good understanding of phonics.  We also use Critical Thinking Co.'s Language Smarts for grammar and whatnot.  The colorful pages and small amount of physical writing are good for her, and really reinforce the need-to-know grammar stuff without being boring.  I had asked about MCT at the beginning of this year, but was told that even for gifted kids to wait until about 8 years old to start it because it could be overwhelming.  Finally, we use All About Spelling to work on her spelling (and more phonics) skills.  

 

We read Story of the World, but use the History Odyssey program that has tons of hands-on suggestions, so she will sit still while I am reading it to her.  She also thinks Singapore is kind-of boring, but if we do a few pages of Critical Thinking Co's Mathematical Reasoning first, for some reason she takes the Singapore better.  I think it has to do with the amount of color on the page, so it may be a sensory thing for her personally.

[happycc]

LOTS of card and board games! Prufrock Press and Timberdoodle

 

Jacob's Ladder

 

Logic of English

 

MCT

 

The Great Courses maybe?

 

All about Spelling 

 

Junior Analytical Grammar maybe

 

Lots of books and books on tape

 

Singapore Math or Righstart

 

Start foreign language of some sort

[freerange]

You might find Galore Park's Junior English a good fit. There are good sized samples on their website & you can get free delivery through The Book Depository.

[HelenNotOfTroy]

I think that understanding what is the curriculum teaching and knowing if the child understands it is more important than following it as written. SWB has written and said a great deal about writing and understanding the point of WWE for example is very helpful to me in deciding whether it is worth slogging through the book or if there is another way to make sure the child is learning those skills. I am really liking All About Spelling for learning why things are spelled the way they are, I think WRTR and LOE and several other do the same. My son loves FLL 1, but if the point is to learn what is a noun, pronoun, or verb and to recognize them when used in a sentence then that is all that your child needs to get from it. Many people skip the repetition.

[Guest Techett]

Thanks everyone.