[Is this enough for 2nd?]

Great!

 

Why phonics for a 2nd grader?  Just curious.

 

Good point on that "make" attitude.  I have been pondering this for a while now.  Definintely somethign to think about.

[K/1 Handwriting or Spelling with extra activities]

I have a 5yo that is learning handwriting.  He currently is working through a little workbook that goes through how to write the ABC's and also has a little extra activity at the bottom of each page (count the number of B's, color a picture of something starting with B, etc).  He adores the extra little activities.  I'd like him to go through another one next year but all the main curricula seem to be pretty much just letter formation.

 

He's really, really advanced in spelling and phonics so I could also easily use a 1st or 2nd grade spelling workbook for handwriting practice if it has handwriting lines to write on.  I don't need anything extensive, just an opportunity to practice forming the letters a few times per week in a fun way.

 

Any links?

[Is this enough for 2nd?]

I am planning out next year.  I read those "X grade plans" threads and feel terrible inadequate.  This is what I'm thinking:

 

Spellwell A and AA

FLL2 (and probably some of 3) - hoping to do the optional enrichment exercises

Bi-weekly letter writing

Cursive handwriting 3 times per week

Lots of read-alouds

Free reading - whatever she wants

 

MUS Beta

Math drill worksheets

 

CC Foundations

 

She'll also be doing a once-weekly enrichment class at a school and they will be covering the basics of WWE2, just not as in-depth (and also art, music, PE, etc).  I wanted to add more writing to our at-home curriculum but she tends to freeze up when I "make" her do something.  She writes little notes all the time for fun though.

 

I plan to homeschool all the way through, but I always want to make sure I'm not so far from what the public school kids are doing ( just in case we ended up needing to go that route, she'd be all set to go with some minimal summer tutoring). 

 

[Advice on gifted 4yo]

Sounds like my kids were. Both learned to read, spell, and do basic math long before they learned to write.

 

First, if you find a workbook program you like, go ahead and use it. There's nothing wrong with doing the work orally and/or doing the writing for him. Second, if you start teaching diagramming now, it will make English grammar a breeze. I think any 4 year old can be taught the very, very basics (the noun in a sentence is the person or thing doing the action, and the verb is what is being done). Bright 4 year olds can learn about the different types of nouns & verbs, as well as modifiers and pronouns. You don't need any sort of curriculum or program to do that. Just use a lap dry-erase board. Not all early readers will also be early spellers, so don't take that for granted. If you have a natural speller, you might want to use something like Sequential Spelling (orally, not written... or write it yourself using a dry-erase board). If you don't have a natural speller, you can use something like All About Spelling as a hands-on way to teach it.

 

It's a little easier for (some) kids to learn to type than write. Have you worked on any keyboarding skills? There are free games out there that teach typing. You can work on comprehension orally or through typing a "report" or "review" of a book. You can use something like EPS's Reading Comprehension in Varied Subject Matter series. You can also just discuss what he's reading. Is he into chapter books yet? If not, don't worry about hitting a speed bump when he gets there. Even some early readers have a lot of apprehension when the font size changes and the pictures either go to black & white or go away completely. In that case, the trick is to (1) read chapter books together, perhaps a paragraph at a time back & forth and (2) find chapter books that are in large print and/or have full color pictures throughout, not just on a few pages. Talk to your children's librarian about finding something appropriate. If you run into one who says 4 year olds "can't" read such-and-such, find another librarian! There are some real gems of books out there (publishers like Usborne for non-fiction or Barefoot for fiction) that have gorgeous illustrations and high quality content.

 

There are just so many great things you can do with a language-strong kid! One other final point, though... if you see that one child is passing an older sibling, especially if the older sibling seems jealous or resentful, look for differences throughout your family and friends (point out your own strengths and weaknesses between mom & dad or between yourself and your siblings). Let that older sibling know that EVERYONE has strengths and weaknesses, and it does make him/her less special or less important if one child is better at a certain area than he/she is. If you're a religious person, you can talk about God giving everyone gifts, and that everyone has a role to play in this world just like every body part has a role to play to make the body function as a whole.

 

Great thoughts. You clearly have been in the same boat. :-) My oldest is definitely getting frustrated about being surpassed and we've tried to talk about strengths/weaknesses. I plan to put them in different math programs (oldest is in MUS) so at least they can be on completely different scopes for that.

 

Was going to respond more but I have to go.

[Advice on gifted 4yo]

I'm going to try to respond to most of this quickly because I don't have a ton of time today. I'll be checking into the book and curriculum recommendations. Thank you!

 

It sounds like everyone is saying to let him go at his own pace (don't push him too hard), try to find books that interest him and let him have at it. It's a good idea to see if I can get him to narrate back to me what he's read occasionally. He might really enjoy trying to type it out too. I'll see about finding appropriate history and science books for him.

 

He's not at all into chapter books, even though he could read many of them with no problem. I think he just likes looking at the pictures. In most ways, his maturity level is more like a 3yo, it's just that he can read like an 8 or 9yo (which explains why he's not into chapter books). Right now he loves to read picture books from the library on his own and I'll just have him continue that.

 

I like the idea of filling in the answers for him with workbooks. That will definitely give us more curriculum options.

 

The biggest task for me next year will be teaching him to form his letters. That's all I plan on requiring for his kindergarten year. We'll work up to more as he ages.

 

It'll certainly be interesting to see how this all pans out in the long run!

[Advice on gifted 4yo]

Annie, are you experiencing a correlation between his verbal abilities and reading ability? Are they evenly matched and consistent throughout the day?

 

 

Yes. He is very articulate and speaks in a rather logical manner for a 4yo. He regularly uses big words, but his dad does as well. Nothing has ever been "dumbed down" for him.

[Advice on gifted 4yo]

Hi, I'm new here to the boards but have been lurking for the past few years.

 

I am a newish homeschooling mom to 3 (soon to be 4) children, ages 6, 4, 2. My 4yo is showing serious signs of being a bright kid and I'm not quite sure how to handle his education. I have no idea where to go to look up how to handle this so I was hoping some of you could point me in the right direction (books, advice, curriculum, etc.).

 

My 4 yo learned to read when he was 3ish. One day he surprised me and his older sister by reading her lesson for her (we had no idea he could read). He has since surpassed her in terms of language skills (and I'd say she's slightly advanced). My sister is a school teacher who administers reading tests and my 6 scored in the mid-to-late 2nd grade year reading level and my 4yo is definitnely ahead of her, so I'd say he's reading somewhere in the 3rd grade level. He can read any billboard, picture book, food label (had no problem reading "bubble explosion" the other day). He loves to read DK First Animal Encyclopedia for fun and also has a great time trying to sound out the names of countries on the map. He loves trying to spell words.

 

The other day in the van he told me he could add, subtract, and skip count by 2's, 5's, 10's. Sure enough, he did it. And this is with no teaching on my part. Not that he has memorized any math facts, but clearly the concepts are sinking in.

 

Today he started crying because I hadn't taught him any grammar, so I humored him by doing the first few lessons of FLL 1.

 

Like other boys his age (he's 4.5 actually) his fine motor skills are lacking and I haven't even tried to teach him how to write letters because of this.

 

I'm currently planning out his "K" school year which will start in August. What direction do I take with a child like this? Clealry he is ahead, and my original thought was relief that I didn't have to teach him anything (easy year for me :laugh: ). DH thinks it would be wise to take advantage of him being ahead and carry on at his pace. I think he has a point.

 

What sort of curriculum exists for a child like this? Emotionally, he is quite immature and very sensitive, so I'm not sure what to have him be reading. It can't be workbook based b/c he can't write, nor do I care to frustrate him since he's doing so well already. His gifting is definitely in language.

 

His #1 favorite thing to do in the world is play games with me so I'm thinking of putting him in RightStart Math B and taking it at his pace. I'll do some beginning handwriting too. He seems to have almost no interest in listening to me read chapter books out loud so I'm going to see if I can find some "boyish" ones for him to get him loving good literature. I'm also leaning toward buying Nancy Larson science 1 since his brain seems to absorb facts like crazy right now and the worksheets seem easily tweaked to suit his level of writing without slowing down his sister too much.

 

Any thoughts? Advice? Sorry this was so long!