As the PP said, there's a lot more to Singapore than textbook / workbook. The HIG has some mental math work at the back that I adore. After SM1B, I find the textbook offers slightly harder questions than the workbook. I tend to use the textbook a lot more from Levels 2 on up, and now in Level 4 I'm skipping the workbook entirely. I use the CWP (although I would skip CWP 1) and IP books a bit behind for some constant review and deeper learning on concepts. Although with my one dd I'm using the IP on level instead of the workbook. I tried Extra Practice once, but it's super-easy (easier than the workbook) and designed to give support to kids who are struggling with a topic. That doesn't sound like your student. You can really make Singapore flex to meet your student. And of course, you can always move to the next level if he's ready for it.

OP, your post struck a chord with me and helped me reflect on my own experience. Thanks for sharing this. I have no solutions! As an academically strong student myself, I found it quite lonely at times. Still do in some circles. Some Christian environments are just more life-giving for intellectuals than others. Honestly, I have found the WTM forums to be one of the best places for encouragement for me as a person of faith who is homeschooling some very bright kids. (That's not to say I'm a hermit, but I'm just careful about who I engage in what types of conversations.) I have learned so much from people who post on this board in particular -- parents who are also trying to find peers with similar interests, faith-based or otherwise, for their gifted kids. They inspire me to think creatively about this and keep me grounded. Because of them, I realize I'm not the only one dealing with this and take comfort in that. I think that there are a lot of similarities between a mama looking for peers for her kid who dreams in numbers or who is obsessed with birds ... or who is going to need to explore their faith at a much deeper level than the average child might. And these forums give me hope, as you mentioned, that there may be more online options for our kids as they grow up. I hear you that when I post here, it's usually about challenges that I have few IRL friends to discuss with. I suppose if someone were reading my various posts they could draw conclusions about my personality traits or neuroses, but they definitely would not be getting the whole picture. As you said, I do have other real life little challenges (how can I get my dishwasher fixed?) and joys (my super-shy dd9 just performed in a piano competition and won!). Not stuff I bring here because I *can* chat about it with my friends and family. I keep bringing the harder stuff here because people here get it. :grouphug: It's a roller coaster.

I agree with this. BA really pushes kids with problems that are *hard* and can't be solved without real work. This has been huge (and wonderful) part of the learning for my perfectionist, bright dd9, but there were tears at times. It was hard for me, to tell you the truth, to back off and not "coach" her through the really tough problems. A younger child just may not be ready to get the most out of that type of experience. If you find it's not working, not to worry -- as SarahW said, just shelve it for a bit.

That hasn't been my experience with dd9 (4th grade).

This is such a good idea. My dd would LOVE these.

Confession: I'm a chronic, bordering obsessive, math supplementer. I probably couldn't use a single program if I tried. So with that in mind ... I use Singapore as our main spine and Beast as a supplement. With Singapore I'm using the textbook, Process Skills & CWP, and IP. We do about half of the problems in each book on any given topic; however, if my dd is finding one section particularly challenging, we do all of the problems.

I'd agree with others that 3A is a good place to start. Beast has a very different approach to topics -- skip-counting in 3A was eye-opening for me! The pace for us depends on the unit. We use it as a supplement here and I think we go through around 3 books in a 12-month cycle. I know that some use it as a spine or stand-alone, but for my student (bright, not gifted), we need a bit more review of skills on an ongoing basis. (I wish Beast had the equivalent of Singapore's Intensive Practice!)

Congratulations!!!!

I use Process Skills, CWP, and IP here. As others have said, Process Skills provides explicit instruction in problem-solving that CWP lacks. It is structured so that it introduces a type of problem and accompanying strategy, and then provides several problems for the student to practice using that same approach. CWP doesn't provide much instruction, but because the problems in it are ordered by mathematical topic instead of problem-solving strategy, students are forced to figure out what strategy to use for each problem. To make the most of these two books, I try to lead into a level with Process Skills and follow with CWP. (We don't try to do every problem in both books.) I use Process Skills on level and CWP a year or half-year behind level. That said, I skipped CWP 1 with my second dd and just did Process Skills 1 and 2 with her. I didn't find that CWP 1 was worth the time and effort. My plan for next year (Gr. 3) is to do Process Skills 3, CWP 2 with her. For my one student, I use IP instead of the workbook. For the other, I use IP a half-year behind as a review of skills.

I agree with the PP -- I treat spelling and writing as separate subjects. When it is time to do dictation in WWE, I provide all help with spelling so that my dd doesn't write any (okay, many!) misspelled words. If your child is not able to spell comfortably yet, then I would just use copywork from his narration instead of dictation.

I just showed this one to her, and she's completely excited -- this is right up her alley. Thanks! (My poor budget.)

Listening in ...

Thank you all for the great recommendations! I have a full amazon cart and have copied all of your ideas so that I don't lose them in the future.

I used RS4K (then Pre-Level) when my kids were pretty young, and then stopped. It was enjoyable and usable. I found it expensive and I remember being dissatisfied with the approach to geology in particular. (I can't recall specifics -- I just remember deciding to bail when I encountered geology and re-evaluated my budget!) My impression is that it was fine for elementary science. As a compulsive planner and researcher, I hear you on researching science options now. I started planning ahead when my kids were 3 & 4 y/o (still do ... I lurk on the High School boards now that I have a dd about to start Gr. 5! :lol: ) but I have often had to reevaluate my well-researched plans after some time of actually implementing them! It seems that science is a particularly fluid area for homeschoolers, and our programs and plans switch up often. You could try RS4K out for a year or even 6 months and if it works, stick with it for a bit longer. If not, no harm done -- your child will have learned something great, and you'll be better prepared to assess other science programs based on your own instructional approach and your son's learning style.

Thanks, Rose and sbgrace, for explaining how you're using WWaT. That's incredibly helpful. I've copied and saved it all ...

I know I've seen threads here containing recommended books for kids who want to read math books for fun, but I can't find them right now. So ... if you have a 9 y/o bright math student who wants to ponder math concepts, what books would you get her? She takes Beast Academy with her for her bedtime reading. She's already read and loved the Penrose books. She has enjoyed Life of Fred. Any favourites for me?

I don't want to hijack the thread, but I'm curious: at around what grade / writing level would you consider Writing With a Thesis appropriate? Post WWS1?

I didn't use the audio until this year. My kids just needed to hear a voice other than mine during the day! I loved reading the books aloud with them -- SWB's writing has a lovely tone that works well out loud.

I agree. We're in our 4th year of consistently using SOTW and have found it very budget-friendly and fun. I get a hard copy of the textbook and the PDF version of the Activity Guide. All supplemental books come from our library.

I've used both WWE and W&R and like both, but at different stages. WWE 1, 2, and the first part of 3 provide gentle, thorough writing instruction. I sometimes had questions about it -- it seemed too easy sometimes -- but it worked. WWE2 is gold as far as teaching a child to summarize a passage. I switched to using W&R halfway through WWE3 because I was getting bored with the routine of narration and dictation. She thrived on the change of pace with W&R Fable. I supplement with Killgallon and MCT, which combine grammar and writing in unique ways. All that to say that if your student is in Gr. 4 and isn't enjoying W&R, I don't think WWE is going to be your best solution. (And I'm saying this as someone who loves the program.) I feel that the benefit of WWE is in the lower levels, and your son is likely to be bored at those levels.

Thank you! That helps!

8FillTheHeart, I hadn't connected this program with you! It looks delightful from the samples, and I've been reading all of the positive reviews. May I ask what the challenge is with purchasing from Canada? Is it just the issue of a credit card? For example, if I could locate someone in the States to purchase this for me and download it, could they just send me the file? What if they are currently abroad, but are using their US credit card -- any difficulties foreseen with that? I'm glad that it should be readily available by the summer, but if at all possible I'd love to (legally) get my hands on it sooner! My girl is in Book 3 of W&R, and the outlining in TC looks like it would be perfect to help her get the most out of that. Thanks for letting me know what's going on -- I appreciate that!

This is truly horrifying for me: I have just discovered Treasured Conversations, thanks to these forums. I want to use it with my daughter, but from what I can read it's not sold to those of us living outside of the States? :svengo: I'm sure I'm just overlooking something obvious. Surely we Canadians won't be excluded from all of this goodness. Any advice for me?

​ Goodness, your Natural History plans sound just amazing! I'm looking for the part where you say, "And then I will share all of these plans in gorgeous detail so that you can replicate them." :001_smile: I'm also drooling over your Big History work. I need to back out of this thread quickly. There are just too many great ideas!

We've been using Artistic Pursuits here. One of the things that I like about the program is that it walks students through an overview of art history over the three books. It includes some instruction in technique, but it's very gentle. Some of the lessons might feel a bit young to a Gr. 3/4 student; that said, my Gr. 4 student is happy when we pull out the book for a lesson. The questions range from really simple to rather thought-provoking. The books are structured so that one lesson introduces an artist or type of art, and the next a specific piece of art by that artist. We often combine the teaching part of two related lessons and just choose one project to represent them. I've also substituted projects when I felt they were repetitive or not that interesting for my girls. (There were a lot of watercolour painting exercises, for example. I had to switch some of those up or go insane.) The examples of student work are drawn from the respective age ranges, so your older student may not find those particularly inspiring. We've also relied heavily on Discovering Great Artists by Kohl & Solga. If I only had one year to devote to a survey of art history with some great projects, this is the book I'd use. It's cheaper, and adapts to a range of levels more readily. There's less direct instruction about the artist and their work, but with a good art encyclopedia, that's not hard to add in.