Following this. I signed up my 4yo DS for the free trial when I had my 3rd DS a month ago. He finished the K curriculum and half of the 1st grade curriculum in about a week of playing 1.5 hrs per day. It seemed like the pace slowed down a bit at the end as he hit things he actually needed some practice with. His mental math skills seem to have improved significantly as well. I will probably buy him another month of time on it when we get home from vacation.

A few tangentially connected thoughts about this: Reading silently was actually considered very odd in the middle ages. Apparently, most people read out loud all the time. If internal reading is a developmental stage, it's a fairly recent thing. As far as being a developmental stage of reading (rather than of the mind in general), reading silently is a step to reading faster. I taught a speed reading seminar in college at a part of my job as a writing tutor. I didn't have a ton of training, but picked up a few things about reading. Basically, learning to read faster involves several steps: sounding out words (phonics) reading out loud fluently reading silently but still "saying" each word in your mind reading whole phrases & sentences silently, comprehending the sense of the whole without thinking each individual word So basically, I don't think reading silently is a sign of any particular developmental stage, but it is a developmental step of being able to read and comprehend more quickly. Does that make sense?

Ha, I still do this. :) And I am usually in the middle of at least 2-3 books if not more. It certainly provides interesting synergy--there are some books I've read that are inextricably colored by something unrelated I was reading at the time. I figure, if adults read this way, kids can do it too.

LOL I have to agree that I think standards have fallen, particularly in elementary level. In my ideal world :D, the curriculum would be determined by what that top 5% are capable of. Reality is another matter. But you get my point, right? There's curriculum level + pacing of the curriculum to consider. Grouping students by where they are in achievement doesn't work unless you also account for pace of learning. So unless you can go completely individualized learning (like the Montessori *ideal* but not always reality, or like homeschooling), rough groupings of students by level and pacing is all you can hope for. The top 5-7% (and for that matter, the bottom 5-7%) are in need of special magnet programs at their level and speed, and there are enough of them to justify doing so. But a program at that level won't help the top .5-1%, who could be still served an even smaller program in an effective manner. There is little to be done but individual instruction for the .01%. You have to consider that a child functioning at 5+ grade levels ahead may be the only one in the district at his/her age capable of doing so, and it's just extremely difficult for a district to organize anything around that 1 in 1,000 student (of which there may be, what, 20 in the whole district across all grade levels). There just isn't the economy of scale to make a true peer classroom experience work. But at some of the lower levels of gifted, there is. (And it's just dumb that we don't do something about it!) This doesn't mean we should just let the district off the hook, say "Sorry," and do nothing for the 1 in 1,000 student, but it does make sense that gifted programs don't cater to them. I think our public school are certainly failing their moral obligation by not helping these students in a better way. And of course there's the whole identification process for the programs, which is bound to be a fiasco. :) As the old physics joke goes, "I've figured out the solution, but it only works for spherical chickens in a vacuum."

I really like the idea of a multi-tiered pull-out system for exactly the reason we're running into: gifted is a spectrum, not a one-size fits all. Just as for special education where some kids can be mainstreamed and some really can't. In my ideal world, a school district would have a multi-tiered gifted program as follows: 1-2 grades ahead, fairly traditional pacing: magnet classes at 2-4 elementary schools in the district, students procede together through the curriculum in a traditional manner 3-4 grades ahead, slightly sped-up pacing: 1 multi-grade (say K-3, 4-6, etc.) magnet class per district, teacher teaches small clusters of students, material is mastery-based 5+ grades ahead, extreme pacing: individual tutor assigned by district (not sure how to deal with the socializing aspect here--perhaps include with previous option for subjects like art, PE, music, recess, lunch, etc.) I think the sizes of these options have to correspond to the prevalence of these students in the population. I'm envisioning the first type would be for the upper 5% of the population (maybe level 1&2 gifted by RUF levels), the second layer would cover maybe the top .5-1% (RUF level 3&4-ish) and the third layer would be for students at the very top (RUF level 5). In-classroom differentiation would be used for students who are high-average, "bright", or high-achieving. (RUF levels here: http://www.talentigniter.com/ruf-estimates) My percentages are just guesses at how prevalent these things are, and could certainly be adjusted depending on the demographics of an area. The best way to really find out would be to test all students in the district rather than just selecting the ones teachers think can achieve. According to what I've read, I also think parent evaluations should play a bigger role in the process. Can't find the study right now, but it said basically that teacher recommendations tend to catch maybe half of the gifted students in the class, whereas a detailed parent eval catches most, if not all. No sub for testing, but I think we overestimate how many pushy parents there are who just want their child in the gifted label no matter their abilities.

I kind of got that feeling from WTM as well, that SWB's strong point is not in science and math. It makes sense, given her background. Very few people are well versed on both the humanities end and the math/science end. Very few people even like both. :D I just spent a ridiculously long time looking through the REAL Science Odyssey samples. I really like it a lot! Thanks for pointing me to it. Oh, he still doesn't mind having stories read to him and such. But he really likes non-fiction and it's what's finally pushed him into reading longer items voluntarily on his own. I'm sure he'll come around eventually. I just find it really funny how insistent he is on "real" things. For a while, he would skip all the story sections in SotW (you know, the indented sections that tell stories) because they were "fiction" and therefore not important. LOL Luckily, he got over that.

A rare combo indeed! Glad to meet another! Aaaah! Not Comic Sans! I thought they banned it ages ago. :D I have that same problem with "common household items" in most craft projects I try. Do most people really have brads, safety pins, corks, borax, etc. just lying around? 30-40 minutes of prep doesn't seem too bad to me. Especially since I love science. It sounds like this could be a good option for us. Darn. Leaving controversial information out isn't neutral; it's being conflict avoidant. You are right that this would drive me nuts, probably not more than reading some young earth creationist science book would, but still annoying. (My own perspective is to take all the truth I can learn from science, and all the truth I can learn from religion, and withhold judgment either way and deal with the cognitive dissonance in my mind until I can get a better explanation from someone who was there. :D)

My 4yo DS (turning 5 in November) will be attending a Montessori preschool 5 half-days a week in the fall. I'm planning to let the school handle reading and math progression (except playing RS Math Card Games and doing some AAS), but I'd like to afterschool history, art/music, and science. I pretty much have a good idea of what I want to do with history (SotW) and art (Drawing with Children), but I'm having trouble with planning something for science. I very much like the idea of following WTM's science progression and studying biology, anatomy, and botany this year, but it feels like the first year science ideas are a bit simplistic. My DS would definitely not go for just reading about animals and coloring pictures for half a year. (He shares his mother's disinterest in animals in general.) So I've been looking at a few options. In order of preference: BSFU: I like the depth I perceive in this curriculum--that it uses actual science terms and doesn't dumb things down for kids too much. The Socratic method and lack of worksheets are fun. It seems like it might be a good level for DS, but I don't like the spirally nature of it. DS and I are both systematizers, so the idea of studying one area at a time from beginning to end really appeals to me. It's not that I mind the cross-connections; it's just not what I want to emphasize. Is it possible to rearrange this curriculum to follow only one strand at a time? I've seen the charts that show which lessons depend on what, but how dependent are they really? Could I teach the Life Science strand this year without covering anything else? Or should I really just suck it up and go spirally? I'm also concerned about the prep time involved. I've read online that people feel like this curriculum involves too much work on the parental part. Am I going to find this overwhelming? Thoughts? RS4K: I like how systematic this curriculum is, but it seems a bit simplistic. Is it? Could I skip the elementary level and go straight to the middle school curriculum, assuming I help out with writing things? Or is there too much math that needs to be mastered first? And of course, this curriculum is short. Only 10 lessons? What can you do to stretch that out to fill a whole year? Any suggested supplements? Any experience starting with Biology instead of Chemistry? Winging it: I have enough science background that I could wing it from living books. The organization for anatomy/human body section seems straightforward, but I'm having some trouble with how to deal with the biology/zoology/botany part. The systematizer in me would love to use some simplified form of classification, probably deemphasizing microscopic creatures but still covering them, maybe starting with a short section on what a cell is. Any good resources at an upper elementary level on classification? On the other hand, I find the idea of organizing by different biomes very appealing: I could use the documentary "Planet Earth" as a spine, watch an episode and then talk about the plant and animal life in each biome for a few weeks. Anyone else done it this way? On the third hand, I love the idea of doing a nature studies approach for this year and focusing on our local wildlife and plants here in the Pacific Northwest. However, I feel less confident about this approach since my identification of plants is limited to tulips versus roses, and like I said, not a big animal fan. Maybe I would do a systematic study for 20 weeks in the fall, and do nature study for 10 weeks in the spring. What are some good, unintimidating nature study resources for a beginner? Sorry for so many questions in one post. I just see a lot of different ways to go and am having difficulty choosing between them. Feel free to suggest other curriculums as these are the main ones I've looked at. More info about DS's abilities if that's helpful: began reading at age 2, fluent reader at 3rd grade level currently, has the stamina to read about one section of SotW by himself at a time. Writing is pretty much no go, but I'm hoping Montessori will help that. Mathwise, he loves addition and subtraction, thinks negative numbers are hilarious, and is trying to puzzle out multiplication, can do with powers of ten (ie 10x10=100, 10x100=1000, 10x7=70, etc). Very interested in facts, actively dislikes "fiction" right now, very fact hungry kid who keeps bringing me StoW for bedtime stories of his own volition, not particularly showing any science precocity. Not interested in coloring and crafty activities AT ALL (neither am I). More info about me: I have a chemistry minor (almost majored in it, but hit the wall in Physical Chem, so I went back to my true love, English) and love science. I feel totally confident teaching science at this level; I just don't want to assemble my own curriculum from scratch if I don't have to, especially since we have a new baby coming in about 10 days. :D Oh, and while I am religious, I prefer secular curriculum. I can provide my own personal religious views on the subject without messing up the evidence with them. Another plus for RS4K.

You should try it out. It's ridiculously easy to get a feel for how it works. It took me a while to figure out how to set up a child account, but there's a help video for that. https://www.khanacademy.org/

There are lectures, but there's also a practice problems component, complete with a hint button; scoring for how fast you are and how many hints you use; and badges for "achievements". My 4 year old is obsessed with it. Doesn't really understand that you have to get 10 problems right in a row to "pass off" a section--he enjoys just messing around with the hints, sometimes answering wrong on purpose, etc. But the nice thing is that there's no gatekeeping to the content-- ie you can watch the calculus videos even if you are still stumbling in addition. It has a nice map of all the math topics and how they are related to give you an idea of what you need to master to understand each concept. And it keeps track of which topics you have "passed off" or are struggling with. It's not bad for a kid who just wants to mess around with math concepts. And the videos are pretty entertaining from the giggling I hear during "math time" (what my 4yo does while 2yo and pregnant mommy take a nap :D). Downside? It's not super cutesy or kid attractive, if your kids need that to keep them interested. But to my 4yo, it's plenty of fun just to see the entirity of math laid out in a map and be able to earn lots and lots of points.

There's always Khan Academy . . . and it's free. :D

Oh my gosh, I thought my kids were the only ones! It takes us several weeks every year to talk my oldest (4yo) into wearing a costume for Halloween and he gets rid of it as soon as possible. My younger (2yo) hates to be called anything but his name; not "smart Sailor," "cute Sailor," "super Sailor" or any other adjective, much less a completely made-up identity. "I'm just Sailor," he insists, even when wearing a superhero cape or other costume. This also applies to their very creatively named stuffed animals: Dog-Dog (1 & 2), Robot, Monkey, and Bear-Bear. I'm not sure exactly what the deal is, but maybe it's a gifted thing? I would differentiate between this desire for things to be what they are and an actual lack of pretend play: my kids do sometime play store, or Star Wars, or pretend blankets are cars or whatever, but for some reason they have no desire to be known by alternate identities and go out of their way to assert this. I've always thought it was interesting, but I don't think it's anything to be concerned about. Additionally, pretend play is much more common in girls than boys. A lot of boys don't go through as dramatic a pretend play phase as girls, and it's completely normal. Pretend play is overemphasized in our current culture, and so a lot of boys who don't prefer it are diagnosed as having something "wrong" with them. This is all according to this awesome book I read called The Way of Boys: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061707821

Spelling before reading is actually the preferred order of those of the Montessori persuasion, so I would suggest looking at some Montessori materials. A moveable alphabet (like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Montessori-Small-Movable-Alphabets-Box/dp/B003BGYB8C/) was instrumental in my son's reading development, although he still doesn't really spell and we never did formal lessons. It's basically a box with 10 of each vowel and 5 of each consonant, which allows small children to "write" without the need for advance fine motor skills. (You can find lots of variations on the style and price of the moveable alphabet by searching through these Montessori purchasing sites: http://livingmontessorinow.com/2010/08/24/where-to-buy-montessori-materials/) This site gives some instructions of the formal Montessori-type use of the alphabet set, as well as other Montessori lessons: http://www.infomontessori.com/language/written-language-moveable-alphabet.htm If your child is already excited about spelling, I bet he'll just take off. Anyway, I can't recommend this manipulative highly enough for encouraging young kids to play with spelling.

My son is in about the same boat as yours: reading BOB books at 2 and now at 4.5 reading Magic Tree House, doing addition and some subtraction and skip counting, writing is what kept us from pushing for K early entrance even though his birthday is in November. A few of my thoughts: 1) I would consider taking your son to see a pediatric eye specialist. Not necessarily that there's anything wrong, but just to check. I took my son just before he turned 3 in November and found out he was pretty far sighted and needed glasses. I never would have suspected it since reading came so young and easy to him (I went in on a whim after discussing it with my eye doctor.), but in the 3 months since he got glasses his reading endurance has skyrocketed. Find a doctor that can work with young children and just check. 2) I highly recommend the Math Card Games set from Right Start Math: http://store.rightstartmath.com/mathcardgames.aspx . Tons of great card games to emphasize the concepts they are working on in a fun way without having to "do school." 3) If you're looking into private schooling anyway, consider a Montessori school. From what I've seen, they seem much better equipped to deal with 4yos who can read and want to do math--they aren't shocked at the idea that kids would rather play addition than drive cars around a track. The curriculum is also well structured to work on fine motor skills and writing which can help you skip grades later if needed. Of course, you mileage may vary, but I'm really excited about the Montessori school we found for ours next year. 4) Another great tool for in home writing-without-writing practice is to get a moveable alphabet: http://www.amazon.com/Montessori-Small-Movable-Alphabets-Box/dp/B003BGYB8C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365305589&sr=8-1&keywords=movable+alphabet . It's a great way for kids with high language and low motor skills to practice composition. Just give them some prompts or ask them to write out a message occasionally. They'll probably take off with it and start copying words from all over the place. 5) It may be that other Montessori resources are well adapted to independent investigation, but I haven't personally tried others. Theoretically, the idea is that the materials are designed so that kids can notice their own errors and eventually correct them over time. Here's a list of Montessori supply shops: http://livingmontessorinow.com/2010/08/24/where-to-buy-montessori-materials/

I would add: Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (and 3 sequels) by Brandon Sanderson So You Want to Be a Wizard (and numerous sequels) by Diane Duane The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatly Snyder Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (and the new sequel, which is a lot more geopolitical)

http://www.amazon.com/Iowa-Acceleration-Scale-Manual-Edition/dp/0910707928/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1 Has anyone read this? It seems more geared toward classroom schooling, but I'm insanely curious.

My DS2 was turning the pages of a book backwards and making up words for the page. DS4: That's not what it says! Me: Yes, but DS2 doesn't know how to read yet. He's just pretending. You used to do that when you were a baby. DS4: No, because when I was a baby, I could read. Okay, granted, he was reading at DS2's age, but that's not the point.

I know we're trying to avoid TV for little ones, but really, Magic School Bus is a great resource for littles science. It actually deals with some heavy concepts and is very age appropriate.

Can I get a link to that?

When I was a kid and had perfectionistic problems, my mother used to tell me that people were required to make 10 mistakes a day or they would be "translated" straight to heaven. Not sure how to translate this without the Mormon religious context, but giving your child a number of "free" mistakes they can make each day without judging themselves might help.

Randomly wandering through Science with Ruth posts and had a comment on this matter. No, it doesn't make sense for Ruth to go about rewriting scientific history for us all. Plenty of other books to do that. Definitely focus on the "designing independent experiments" aspect. But how about some lists of books, similar to WTM, to help with the scientific body of knowledge, things that are not textbooks. You know, list the basic scientific disciplines under each year/category and provide some resources: books that are good at grammar/logic stages, documentaries, journals to watch for current articles at layman understanding, etc. Obviously, that section would be shorter than your specialty, the independent project. Perhaps some pointers on general ideas for independent projects in each area. Just a list of ideas to get those of us who have had the independent thinking trained out of us by years of science taught the other way. I remember being totally mystified in college chem when I had to come up with an area to study. I had no idea how to find an area that didn't already have an easy answer.

A great series of games for geography is the 10 Days in . . . Series. There's the USA version, plus one for each continent. You'd have to modify the game for younger kids, but my 3yo loves to simply sort through the cards and find the countries on the map.

Seconding Avatar the last Airbender and Korra. Great television for adults or kids. Fraggle Rock is a good one available on Netflix. Magic School bus and Bill Nye the science Guy are fun but not available on Netflix.

I totally still have the Kids Declaration of Independence and Kids National Anthem I wrote with another gifted friend in 4th grade. In 1st grade, this friend and I spent a lot of time writing down rules for what age you had to be do watch different TV shows and do various things.

I have to say that I find the Leap Frog videos absolutely painful. Very repetitive with no real storytelling quality. But I have high standards for even children's TV, so that may just be me. For what it's worth, for learning to read, I much prefer the PBS series Word World, which used to be on Netflix, but can currently be purchased cheaply on Amazon instant video. Entertaining, clever, non-repetitive. This combined with Starfall.com games taught my son all the phonics he knows quite quickly and easily while I was feeding baby #2.