I don't know the answer to your question, but I'm kind of in the same boat. I "gave up" attempting to challenge in this area. Instead, I'm focusing more on engagement and making sure he gets challenged in other areas. We do multiple foreign languages as well. He finds one of the foreign languages to be challenging.

Yes, I believe it is true. At the same time, I think it is fine if the challenge isn't in every single subject. My son has some easy subjects and some that are challenging. As for your son's case, I guess it would depend on his future goals. If he is interested in STEM subjects, I might make his math one of the more challenging subjects. If he is interested in history or english, I would make those more challenging.

I'll doing something somewhat similar. We started a late middle school/early high school text in 4th grade as part of our science studies. We are finishing it this year in 6th grade. I like more informal studies, but my knowledge was too limited for the topic. I needed something with a teacher's guide to help me and my son needed something with a bit of depth to it. My son has learned a lot with it (so have I). It covered physical science, chemistry, and earth science. He is starting a high school biology text with labs later this school year, but I'm not doing any formal assessment or grades until high school. I have made long term plans and posted them on my blog, but need to revise them because the recent text has awakened an area of interest. We focused mostly on life science in the younger years with an emphasis on discovery and engagement. My son was naturally interested in astronomy so he did lots of self-study on the topic too. He wants to go into a science field, but not sure which one yet. My other son is a totally different kind of learner. Because he wants a future in a STEM field I plan to use the high school texts before high school, but use them more creatively as a content-guide rather than a textbookish way to learn.

Raising global kids is very important to us. It helps that my husband and I are globally minded. We have been learning several foreign languages (from cultures quite different from our own) since Kindergarten and will continue to make this an important part of our homeschool. Geography is focused on cultural geography and it is a subject that we do every year. We also teach our children that people are people and that the life of a person in one country is no more or less valuable than a life of a person living here. We teach them that they shouldn't love one bit of dirt (country) more than another either. Living in different parts of the world can help too :)

Youtube often has something if you haven't checked it out yet. My library also has tons of DVDs in other languages.

Loop schedules allow me to get to more fun things while still having a focus on the academic side of things. I've found that if I don't schedule the projects, they don't get done. I include them in our regular school time. So we may have a cooking project come up, but it isn't so often that we get behind in our regular work.

I'm doing 4th grade now with my visual-spatial learner. I have what I have been using posted on my blog. Just scroll down past my 6th grader's stuff and you can see all of his at this link.

I think that all parents should become aware of the built-in comparison culture of today's parenting. People compare. Talking about something that your child does that is ahead of the game can be perceived as bragging by others even if it is completely true. There is also a belief that a child is advanced (physically, academically, whatever) because of something the parent does. I try to do my part to dispel that idea. You can do the same thing with multiple kids and have very different results. At the same time, it is a difficult situation to be in. Where is the line between sharing and bragging if your child is advanced? I've found that it is best to share among parents who share your journey or with family (possibly). As far as reading goes...I never know what people mean when they say "started reading" because the meaning is quite subjective. I don't even know what to say for what ages my kids started reading. What I don't like...is when people say things to or in front of your child that cause your child to think that he/she is somehow better than others who don't have the same skills/talents. I hate that. I value effort. I value individual differences. We all have strengths and weaknesses and I have to work against this comparison culture to help my kids have healthy attitudes about their strengths and weaknesses. It is okay to be good at something. It is okay if you are not good at something. It is okay to be yourself. It is okay for others to be themselves. The end.

My 10 and 12 year old run a mile on the treadmill every day - an adult-sized treadmill. I can't imagine that they would fit on a smaller one though. However, my 5 year old would love the treadmill at the link in the OP. She loves going on the adult one, but I need to be right next to her the whole time. I don't think young kids will really get into calorie counting for dieting purposes unless there is some other influence telling them to do that. My daughter likes to wear a step counter when she is running around simply because she likes to watch the numbers go up. I live in a big city. Outdoor exercise isn't so full of nature around here. I live in a winter climate as well. There aren't too many winter sports in the city, unless you count the sliding I did from my front door to my car this morning. You should have seen me the other day just trying to walk down the sidewalk with my daughter. We had to figure out a way to get through several icy patches without falling. And windchill? Seriously big windchill factors sometimes. My kids would get no exercise if we had to rely on going outside.

5th grade visual-spatial learner Math: Art of Problem Solving Pre-Algebra Science: Cells – Ellen McHenry, Engineering Everywhere units – Urban Landscapes, Insulated Homes (with older brother), Engineering Adventures units – Rockets and Rovers, Bubble Wands, Aid Drop Packages, Earthquakes, Recycled Racers, Invasive Species (with younger sister), Chemistry – Ellen McHenry Computer: Codeacademy, Typing (up to 50 wpm) History: Documentary-focused early modern world history with McDougal Little Modern World History book and the A People’s History of American Empire by Zinn. Geography: Africa (countries and culture) unit study Language Arts: Classical Writing Aesop B, Rod and Staff English 4, NaNoWriMo, Handwriting, AVKO Individualized Spelling, Sadlier Oxford Vocabulary Workshop Grade 5 – Blue, Movies as Literature (with brother), Practice visualizing chapter books (Trumpet of the Swan, Old Yeller, Tuck Everlasting, Anne of Green Gables, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Cheaper by the Dozen, Wizard of Ox, I Am David, The Call of the Wild, Black Arrow, Little Women, War of the Worlds, The Prince and the Pauper, Around the World in 80 Days, Return of the King) Foreign Language: Alif Baa, New Practical Chinese Reader 1, Contacts by Valette, Learn French with Vincent on Youtube Unit 1, DuoLingo, Athenaze 1 PE: Running, Swimming, Nutrition and Fitness study Fine Arts: Mel Bay guitar, Music Ace Deluxe, The Phonics of Drawing Bible: 52 names of God study, OT types and shadows study Logic: Orbiting with Logic, Grid Perplexors, Philosophy for Kids

I'm using it with a kid who is slightly advanced in math. He is hg, but math is not his thing even though he plans a future STEM career. As a perfectionist, he really needs lot of practice struggling through difficult problems. He needs to be okay with getting something wrong. AOPS is a great tool for that. It is a struggle and we typically do it together, but he is seeing how much he is learning. I am very happy we went with it.

Math: Art of Problem Solving Introduction to Algebra Science: Miller Levine Biology (finish) and Hewitt Conceptual Physics. Engineering Everywhere units with brother. History: Documentary-focused early modern world history with McDougal Little Modern World History book and the People’s History of the United States by Zinn. Geography: Africa (countries and culture) unit study, Human Geography by Norton Language Arts: Classical Writing Poetry for Older Beginners, NaNoWriMo, Harvey’s Elementary Grammar 2, Classical Writing Diogenes Maxim, Movies as Literature, Excellence in Literature as a literature guide only. Reading: Autobiography by Ben Franklin, Poor Richard, Julius Caesar by Shakespeare and Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare, short stories, Robinson Crusoe, Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Around the World in 80 Days, Prince and the Pauper, Little Women, Last of the Mohicans, Call of the Wild, Great Expectations, Pilgrims Progress, The Man in the Iron Mask Foreign Language: Arabic for Life, Introduction to Spoken Standard Arabic a Conversational Course on DVD, Sahlawayhi 1, New Practical Chinese Reader 1, Athenaze 1, Contacts by Valette. PE: Running, Swimming, Nutrition and Fitness study Fine Arts: Mel Bay guitar, Music Ace Deluxe, The Phonics of Drawing Bible: Read through Bible (1/2 way this year), 52 names of God study, OT types and shadows study Logic: (finish) The Examined Life Advanced Philosophy for Kids, Perplexors, Traditional Logic 1 Computer: Typing until 50 words a minute, Codeacademy

I didn't find it necessary for my son, but AOPS Pre-Algebra has been slow going. AOPS is a bit different though. It isn't providing enough practice for automaticity. It is providing hard problems so the child has to learn to think through what he is doing. So it isn't like you are practicing a bunch of similar problems.

I highly recommend AVKO Individualized Spelling. I started using it a little over a year ago. My son could read well, but spelling was not close to his reading skills. I've seen so much improvement! Before that I used Sequential Spelling and Rod and Staff Spelling. I actually wrote a bit about it and took some pictures of what it looked like on by blog earlier this school year. If interested, you can see it here.

I'd just work with each one separately. Once you finish with one, start with the other. As far as alone time, I'd either view it as good practice for finding something to do, or give him independent projects/work to do while you are working with the younger child.

We are using Athenaze. I don't know about it being difficult because it jumps and is muddled. It is just plain difficult because of the subject matter ;p We used Hey Andrew, but jumped ship in book 3. It taught forms through memorization and repetition which did not work well for my kid. The reading approach of Athenaze is a better fit even though it is difficult.

I work for an online business that I used to own. I do writing and work on the shopping cart.

I'd mostly treat it as no big deal. It is the right level for him. We talk about strengths and weaknesses a bit around here and I let my kids know that it is okay if they are strong or weak in an area. Everyone is different. Everyone is special. They know they use materials beyond their grade level and they are fine with that. They know some areas come easier and some require a bit more effort.

I'll have a 7th grader, 5th grader, and 1st grader this coming year. We tend to go wide and deep in our approach to learning. Here are our tentative plans: 7th grade Math: Art of Problem Solving Introduction to Algebra, ZomeTools Science: Miller Levine Biology (finish) and Hewitt Conceptual Physics. Engineering Everywhere units with brother. History: Documentary-focused early modern world history with McDougal Littell Modern World History book and the People’s History of the United States by Zinn. Geography: Africa (countries and culture) unit study, Human Geography by Norton Language Arts: Classical Writing Poetry for Older Beginners, NaNoWriMo, Harvey’s Elementary Grammar 2, Classical Writing Diogenes Maxim, Movies as Literature, Excellence in Literature as a literature guide only. Reading: Autobiography by Ben Franklin, Poor Richard, Julius Caesar by Shakespeare and Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare, short stories, Robinson Crusoe, Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Around the World in 80 Days, Prince and the Pauper, Little Women, Last of the Mohicans, Call of the Wild, Great Expectations, Pilgrims Progress, The Man in the Iron Mask Foreign Language: Arabic for Life, Introduction to Spoken Standard Arabic a Conversational Course on DVD, Sahlawayhi 1, New Practical Chinese Reader 1, Athenaze 1, Contacts by Valette. PE: Running, Swimming, Nutrition and Fitness study Fine Arts: Mel Bay guitar, Music Ace Deluxe, The Phonics of Drawing Bible: Read through Bible (1/2 way this year), 52 names of God study, OT types and shadows study Logic: (finish) The Examined Life Advanced Philosophy for Kids, Perplexors, Traditional Logic 1 Computer: Typing until 50 words a minute, Codeacademy 5th grade Math: Art of Problem Solving Pre-Algebra, ZomeTools Science: Cells – Ellen McHenry, Engineering Everywhere units – Urban Landscapes, Insulated Homes (with older brother), Engineering Adventures units – Rockets and Rovers, Bubble Wands, Aid Drop Packages, Earthquakes, Recycled Racers, Invasive Species (with younger sister), Chemistry – Ellen McHenry Computer: Codeacademy, Typing (up to 50 wpm) History: Documentary-focused early modern world history with McDougal Little Modern World History book and the A People’s History of American Empire by Zinn. Geography: Africa (countries and culture) unit study Language Arts: Classical Writing Aesop B, Rod and Staff English 4, NaNoWriMo, Handwriting, AVKO Individualized Spelling, Sadlier Oxford Vocabulary Workshop Grade 5 – Blue, Movies as Literature (with brother), Practice visualizing chapter books (Trumpet of the Swan, Old Yeller, Tuck Everlasting, Anne of Green Gables, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Cheaper by the Dozen, Wizard of Ox, I Am David, The Call of the Wild, Black Arrow, Little Women, War of the Worlds, The Prince and the Pauper, Around the World in 80 Days, Return of the King) Foreign Language: Alif Baa, New Practical Chinese Reader 1, Contacts by Valette, Learn French with Vincent on Youtube Unit 1, DuoLingo, Athenaze 1 PE: Running, Swimming, Nutrition and Fitness study Fine Arts: Mel Bay guitar, Music Ace Deluxe, The Phonics of Drawing Bible: 52 names of God study, OT types and shadows study Logic: Orbiting with Logic, Grid Perplexors, Philosophy for Kids 1ST GRADE Math: Singapore 1B and 2A Science: Microscope exploration, Rock On Geology game, Engineering Adventure units with brother, Magic School Bus unit study Geography: World poverty unit study, Africa (countries and cultures) unit study History: Story of the World 1 audio with activity book Language Arts: Explode the Code workbooks 4+, Write About My World, Just Write 1, Handwriting, Mad Libs, Rod and Staff Spelling, Reading (Sonlight readers) Read Alouds - Stuart Little, Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, James Harriot’s Treasury for Children, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Peter Pan, The Reluctant Dragon, American Tall Tales, Now we are Six, Heidi, Runny Babbit, James and the Giant Peach, Just So Stories, The Jungle Book, Lassie Come Home Foreign Language: Finish Hey Andrew Teach Me Some Greek 1 and start Song School Greek, Arabian Sinbad DVDs and game, Arabic alphabet apps and start Alif Baa, My First Chinese Words, Mandarin videos, and apps. Fine Arts: Music Ace Deluxe, The Phonics of Drawing Bible: OT audio Bible going to sleep at night, OT Bible stories, Participate in Names of God and OT Types and Shadows study with brotherst Logic: Dot to dot and maze books, apps Computer: Dance Mat Typing, Scratch PE: Swimming, Ballet, Nutrition and Fitness They will all do some cooking competitions too. They love anything to do with cooking and baking.

My daughter is doing 1A right now and she is using the Math War game for practice. I also make up a mail delivery game to help her practice math facts too.

We started young and are making slow and steady progress. None of the languages we are learning are similar so we don't have any problems mixing them up.

In short, it is hard and it really makes you think! When I had math it was easy to learn the pattern and follow it. When I had a weird looking answer, I knew that I did it incorrectly. It isn't like that with AOPS. You have to understand what you are doing. There is not pattern to catch on to because they ask questions that require you to understand the concepts in order to answer the questions correctly. And now when I do a problem and get a weird answer, I don't assume that it is incorrect because many answers may look something like 23/7 rather than something that looks a bit nicer. We have even had questions where the correct answer was "it is not possible", lol.

We are using Athenaze, but it is going much slower than a rate of one book in 2 years. My boys are learning several languages and say that Greek with the Athenaze book is the hardest. It is slow and difficult, but I'm pleased with my children's progress.

Thanks. If this is the belief, I can understand why some make that statement.

I've heard unschooling parents discuss one of the great things about unschooling is that the child is learning 24/7 all year long. Does the unschooling philosophy believe that children who do some traditional schooling aren't learning outside the classroom? Don't all children learn 24/7?