How and When to Accelerate (?)

[luvatlax]

I'm new to homeschooling. My five-year-old daughter and I just started her official kindergarten year on Monday. She is certainly not accelerated at this point (and I don't plan to accelerate her any time soon), but I am curious as to how and when you accelerated your kids. Did the kids themselves ask for more work? Or did you choose to push them a bit more?

 

A little background on us:

 

My daughter learned to sight-read approximately twenty words before she turned two (I did this just by playing with alphabet magnets on the refrigerator with her) among a few other things (mostly things she learned "early" for her age through flashcards), however, I backed off and dropped "teaching" her as I felt a little crazy (she started walking at eight months, so, naturally, I thought she was a genius and was chomping at the bit to see what else she could do - haha). :)

 

I tried homeschooling her last year for preschool and had a few different workbooks, etc., but we didn't make much progress with anything as we ended up playing and going places (library, parks, rec center) the majority of the time. We just started Logic of English Foundations A (she does not know how to read yet) and Miquon Orange (although I'm almost second guessing this seeing Singapore mentioned so much here - haha) and we spend the rest of the day doing fun stuff. :)

[Dmmetler]

Honestly, I never planned to accelerate. We just did what seemed reasonable and did the next thing, I did panic a bit at age 7 when she was demanding to start algebra, when she started moving into high school coursework, when she audited her first college class, when she went to her first research conference, and so on-but so far, it's been the logical next step. Now she's at a crossroads again-and I don't know what will happen a year from now-there are several possible logical next steps, and she's not sure what she wants. Ask me in a few years now it worked ;)

[HomeAgain]

We just do.  That doesn't sound right, does it?  LOL  I mean, we start at the beginning, as he's grasping the material I get a good feel for his mastery and whether he's able to skip reviews, move ahead, etc.

 

For example: last year he was 5.  We started math at the very beginning - 1+0.  I used MEP, which in addition to being free, it was, well, free, and the budget was tight.  He struggled a bit with some of the work between the 3rd and 4th sections, but by the time he hit the 5th section he knew everything the book could teach him.  He just got it.  So I introduced the 2nd book.  We did some review at the beginning and then he plowed in before he needed time to grasp new concepts again.  So we slowed the pace, slower than the book...and then he sped up.  He knew it.  He didn't need the extra time anymore.

 

It's like that with everything.  Introduce, introduce, introduce...slow down to grasp something tricky.  Introduce...slow down.  I intentionally keep him to my pacing in spelling because I want him to have a firm grasp of rules.  But Spanish, reading, writing, math...they're all at his pace.  History and science are content subjects - he can go as wide or as deep as he wants in those.  Art & music are paced for him to keep in time with history.

[Arcadia]

I did what my mom did. Totally child led and open up your wallets. There might be times where things are shelved and revisited down the road because learning is not a straight path. Plenty of offshoots from just going places. The one thing we did on purpose was to go on many road trips.

 

ETA:

By opening up our wallets, I mean paying for expertise that my parents didn't have. Like a math tutor for me because I exceeded what my teacher could explain and internet was dialup when I was in school.

In the case of my kids, my oldest has an intensity that makes him hard to teach. He is not tired when he teacher is already tired. He is an energizer bunny that just keeps going if he needs to understand something but most people would be exhausted discussing.

Then there are times when Google wasn't perfect so we go often to bookstores to check out whatever books there are because we have exhausted what is on library shelves. So all the gasoline costs :lol:

Edited August 17, 2016 by Arcadia

[quark]

No planning. Just lots of head scratching and realizing how watered down some programs were (realizing on hindsight) and opening up the wallet like Arcadia says (although there are plenty of free materials too, e.g MEP like a PP posted). Google and the Hive are your best friends with a self-accelerating kiddo.

 

After a few years of head scratching, we went deeper and deeper (harder materials, often not homeschool-specific curriculum but books written for the mass market/ older audience) until things felt much harder, he struggled a bit and eventually hit the sweet spots, which then, didn't last very long as sweet spots eventually became too easy.

 

Rinse and repeat. :laugh: And get used to not thinking in terms of grade levels anymore.

Edited August 17, 2016 by quark

[purpleowl]

I teach what they seem ready to learn. I try to pay attention so I can adjust when they want/need to speed up or to slow down.

[chocolate-chip chooky]

When my daughter was young (say up to 7ish), we just did lots and lots of reading and lots and lots of games.

We'd play all sorts of board games, both commercial (eg Monopoly, Pandemic, 10 Days in Africa etc) but also educational print-and-laminate games. We'd watch documentaries and talk about interesting things as a family.

 

I didn't even think in terms of acceleration. I just did what suited my daughter at the time.

 

It was at age 7 that it hit me. We signed up for Mathletics and I entered the grade level she'd be if in school. She hated Mathletics. It was so, so boring and repetitive. So, I upped the grade. And again. And again and again and again.... Needing 7th grade maths for a 7 year old was an eye-opener for me and at that point I realised that I actually had an AL. I was clueless before then. I knew she was bright and curious, but it wasn't until there was a standard grade to compare to that I even thought about it.

 

And now, well, I use this board for all my ongoing crises. I seek ideas for resources here and I get advice and help for developmental concerns. 

 

We follow our noses and hope we're heading in the right directions. I ignore grade levels whenever possible and just try to offer the best resources possible for current interests. And we really don't use much 'curriculum' as such. The only thing we really follow through in a set order is Life of Fred, and that's only one portion of what we do for maths.

 

And like Quark mentioned, we search for the sweet spots and celebrate them while we're in them.

 

 

[Mike in SA]

Honestly, I never planned to accelerate. We just did what seemed reasonable and did the next thing, I did panic a bit at age 7 when she was demanding to start algebra, when she started moving into high school coursework, when she audited her first college class, when she went to her first research conference, and so on-but so far, it's been the logical next step. Now she's at a crossroads again-and I don't know what will happen a year from now-there are several possible logical next steps, and she's not sure what she wants. Ask me in a few years now it worked ;)

 

This.

 

But, each child is different.  In our case, we would have preferred to have the kids lead the "normal" life, but it just wasn't in the cards for us.  Younger DS was begging to get out of 1st grade to learn at what he called "his level."  He was already studying number theory and understood some rudimentary abstract algebra (at 7).  This started after a visit to LoneStarCon on his 7th birthday, and he saw the Doctor Who 50th anniversary exhibit.  He decided to pursue time travel, rapidly decided on Cosmology, self-taught his arithmetic tables and devoured all things Stephen Hawking.  We were giving him supplements for school so he wouldn't be bored, but we had to start home-schooling in 2nd grade. 

 

Up to that point, there were no signs that he needed nor had any desire to accelerate, so we didn't.  We didn't even really teach him anything beyond typical kid stuff.

[Jackie]

Like the others here, I'm trying to keep up with my daughter rather than accelerate her. She mostly taught herself to read when she was 2-3, and devoured books. If I recall correctly, I first posted on this board when she was three, and I was feeling desperate because she wanted a constant flow of input that I couldn't keep up with.

 

By the time she got to kindy age, she could read anything you handed her, was doing math a couple years ahead and understood basic algebraic concepts (though she still hates actually doing procedural math), and had read so much nonfiction that the usual elementary science topics had been pretty well covered.

 

I try to keep her moving generally forward on the basics, starting from wherever she is, and also try to broaden her horizons so her life contains as much variety as I can squish in.

[rdj2027]

nv, accidentally hit the send button

Edited August 18, 2016 by rdj2027

[luuknam]

I am curious as to how and when you accelerated your kids. Did the kids themselves ask for more work? Or did you choose to push them a bit more?

 

I tried homeschooling her last year for preschool and had a few different workbooks, etc., but we didn't make much progress with anything as we ended up playing and going places (library, parks, rec center) the majority of the time.

 

I try to give my kids about the level of challenge that the average kid would have in public school - in other words, I don't want everything to be easy, some of it should be a struggle, but not everything all the time. At the moment, that means my youngest is going to be doing 2nd grade material this coming year (he's pretty uniform in his skills), which is a one year acceleration compared to where he'd be in public school here. He's going to be 1st grade on paper though - if at some point we're planning on graduating him from high school early we'll accelerate him on paper, but I'm not going to worry about that yet - he's not even 6 yet.

 

My oldest is more asynchronous, and I'm still trying to figure him out - he had some massive delays, which are mostly caught up, but still gets OT and Speech, so while he's working a bit ahead in math, and I have tentatively started throwing some reading comprehension stuff at him that's a grade ahead because he scored higher than I expected on some standardized tests at the end of this past school year, but I don't want to push him too hard in stuff he's ahead in because he has enough stuff he struggles with, so the stuff he's ahead in is mostly child-led.

 

Last year (1st and 3rd grade) was my first year homeschooling them, and we played and went places a lot too. I think for younger kids that's more important than a lot of the academics. We obviously did some academics, but we did not accelerate at the expense of play and going places.

[Tumbatoo]

I never planned to accelerate either. I'm starting to catch on with my younger kids quicker though! We just do the next thing. I have started going deeper and broader to keep from going too fast. My oldest taught himself to read (I still don't know when this happened - one day he just could) and read chapter books at 4. My DD that started K level work at 3 did so all on her own, and some begging me for books lol! She used to stay up late at 4 doing first grade math in bed (multiple lessons per night) I never intended her to start then or keep up that pace. My youngest is not even 3 and had already mastered most of K (on his own) I'm getting worried about keeping up with him since I know what's coming!

[StartingOver]

Never planned. Mine just mess up my plans a lot. My daughter will sit all day and read three books. Or do 10 lessons of math. They are pulling me along kicking and screaming.

[pinewarbler]

This answer is in the name for this board... "the accelerated learner".. it isn't the "accelerated teacher". We get clear guidance from the kids when they are not working at the right level. For some kids it is boredom, others exhibit anxiety. As the parent, I live in a perpetual state of feeling like I'm being dragged somewhere, and carefully thought-out plans rarely work for more than 6 months.

 

At 5 years old here, we focused on getting the broadest experiences, spending much time outdoors, reading science books together, singing, memorizing poetry, listening to audiobooks and building anything/everything with a passion :)

[Arcadia]

My asynchronous kids did need prodding from time to time. My firstborn was go go go since he was born but he won't touch anything he deem boring unless hubby and I prod. My secondborn is passive by nature and is contented for things to come to him. It was funny when they were babies because my oldest walk late so he kept crawling and bringing toys and food for my youngest.

 

For example, my youngest likes musical instruments but does not self learn any instrument enough to play beyond Nursery Rhymes level despite ability. I told him to pick an instrument and meet state standards. He is passively doing it as in he will practice diligently daily but only what is assigned. So he needs a checklist and an instructor to prod.

 

So on one hand, kids blast off on what they like. On the other hand, they aren't going to feel the natural consequences of ignoring what they don't like so prod or nag as required depending on your kids needs.

[Cake and Pi]

I just meet them where they're at and move forward as they're ready, however fast or slow that is.  I try to keep them challenged enough that they must use their brains, but not so challenged that they become frustrated.    We spend extra time on things that need more time, and move more quickly when concepts are picked up faster.  Some subjects get picked up faster than others, and some I have to actually push or they won't get done at all (like handwriting!).  

 

We have lots of jumps and pauses here.  In K, my DS#1 both finished an entire year-long math curriculum in a single month and spent an entire month on a single math lesson.  The net effect has been gradual acceleration for my older two.  My third has a drive for learning that feels more like him dragging me along sometimes (or me running to catch up because he left me behind in the dirt), but he also learns in fits and starts.  

[smily]

Here's what I've discovered about my accelerated learner:

 

Yes, he can quickly move through content subjects like math. But I also have the option of going deeper and not just faster. For example, we are doing Singapore math which includes a lot of mental problem solving and challenging word problems.

Since he loves to learn, he loves books and will happily read anything I give him. So he is experiencing literature, history, and science at a much greater depth than the"norm".

Also ds loves classical music so we listen to lots and he is excelling in his violin lessons. I make sure he has time to play the piano (by ear) whenever he wants.

I do not have the goal of having him ready for college early, bit I am nearly certain that result is inevitable.

 

And my other kid is COMPLETELY different 😊 She has no drive for learning...

[LEK]

Another one who never planned on accelerating, in fact I actually set out to deliberately hold them back as much as possible by really exploring and expanding on topics rather than move on to the next level. Some years my kids did 3 different math programs at the same grade level just to hold them back a little. Well that failed, despite my trying to keep them at lower levels they are working at much higher levels anyway and I have given up holding them back and letting them go for it. both older kiddos (grades 2 and 4) are currently at least 3 grade levels ahead of their age grouping, they can read nearly anything put in front of them and love doing their own research and projects (often using highschool texts) in both science and history. We are still struggling with a couple of areas though, my dd9 (4th grade) is about on target for 4th grade writing so there is a huge difference in her reading/researching and her writing. dd7 (2nd grade) is about 1st grade level in writing and spelling so has an even bigger gap between her abilities. My main goals for school each year for the last few years is to get their writing and spelling more solid, their main goals seem to be to move through 3 levels of math a year and demand harder and harder science books because they have finished them all.