"More work!" says 6-year-old...

[WarriorMama]

My first grader wants MORE SCHOOL. Seriously, she's like a sponge and she's sucking me dry! I'm starting to think I've seriously planned our year inadequately.

 

She's ahead in all areas (much more so in things language-related like reading and writing), so I tweaked the WTM method substantially to add more challenge and extra work for first grade. Everybody keeps telling me an hour a day is more than enough at this age - we do at least 3 and she's begging for more. It's like starting school this year lit a fire under her. It's exhausting!

 

I have already doubled up math lessons and could probably do so with a few other subjects - but I don't really want to race through all our material. She already gets an art lesson from her dad once or twice a week, is about to start ballet and drama classes, my mother is teaching her to knit and I've been letting her do some hand-sewing. She helps me cook and does tons of independent reading on top of what I assign.

 

So what do I do to fill in the blanks? I'm running out of ideas. Should I have her take up an instrument? (I was planning for her to start piano next year, but I could break the budget and go earlier, perhaps). Crafts? Her fine motor skills could use a little work so maybe that would be a good plan. Creative writing?

 

I'm sure a lot of you know what it's like to have a kid who's insatiable. Help this poor newbie out with some ideas?

[Dmmetler]

I have a 5 1/2 yr old, and I understand perfectly. That 1 hour per grade of school doesn't account for a child who just plain wants MORE,MORE,MORE!

 

What I do is that we have 2 hours of "school with mommy" time. After that, she's on her own. Sometimes more, but usually 9:00-11:00. We also do our read-alouds before bed.

 

After that, I do all the usual stuff that it takes to keep the house going and the prep for the classes I teach, and she's mostly on her own as far as keeping busy.

 

So we have a ton of materials available. We go to the library a lot, and check out the maximum number of books. I stocked up on cheap, post summer camp/VBS craft kits at the end of the summer, and she has a box of those available (and I stock up on craft kits and materials for seasons and holidays after those holidays all year long, so I've got a bunch of Halloween/fall activities that I'll "appear) and she can get those at any times. If you have friends with similar age children, the deep discount section of the Oriental trading catalog is great-each person buys a few sets of 1 dz kits or various materials, and swap to stock the box. I don't consider these "art" in any way, shape, or form, but they're good fine motor practice, keep her busy. About once a month, we take a box of craft-type stuff over to a local nursing home to decorate their tables, and visit over there. The "grandfriends" love it, and it helps to keep the backlog down at home.

 

My husband brings home reams of paper printed on one side from his office for us in writing and drawing.

 

We try to get legos, building toys, games, puzzles, and so on for gifts. It helps that we have a lot of family who send us checks to "buy toys for the baby" so we can get what is helpful for DD.

 

And lots of outside exploration. Her little wading pool currently has lilypads growing in it and is providing habitat for a bunch of insects, frogs, and toads (a big plus-we seem to have NO mosquitos). We are well known at a nearby bait shop because we go in every couple of weeks and buy creatures to observe (Bait shops are FAR cheaper than insect lore-and at least the one we go to makes a real effort to make sure that their live bait won't cause trouble if it's released outside). We have a garden. We have a big backyard deck with large chunks of wood, tools, wheeled vehicles, string, and a ton of other stuff for exploration. (I admit that, while I trust DD outside, I do usually take my notebook or whatever I'm working on and sit on the porch.)

 

We do an afternoon reading/rest time (more for me than for her), and she also watches about an hour on TV/video a day, usually in Spanish.

 

And we do at least one outside the house activity most days-She plays soccer, dances 2x/week, and takes a music class. These are the things that she does with the ps kids. I don't think the actual activity is as important as the "running around with my friends before and after", since both the school where she does soccer and the community center where she does music and dance have playgrounds, and it usually turns into an impromptu playdate (and is a chance to set up playdates). In practice, a 45 minute class usually takes about 2 hours once you add the playtime.

 

We do some of the local homeschool activities, but it's hard to have a consistent group of homeschoolers. She loves the zoo classes, botanic gardens classes, and so on, but there are usually different kids each time. We are trying a co-op art class, so we'll see how that goes (we've only had one so far).

[Karenciavo]

I agree with Christina, try to find some independent hobby like Legos. My ds8 works on computer modeling (google sketchup), editing movies on iMovie, inventing things.

[WarriorMama]

I have a 5 1/2 yr old, and I understand perfectly. That 1 hour per grade of school doesn't account for a child who just plain wants MORE,MORE,MORE!

 

Thanks so much for all the great ideas! Sounds like you know EXACTLY what I mean, lol!

[WarriorMama]

At that age (at her current age too!) I gave dd Lego kits. I mean, really big Lego kits. The girl put together a motorized Farris wheel at the age of 6yo and only needed a little help from dad in the end with the gears.

 

I don't know about you, but I was exhausted! I did all kinds of things with dd but she wanted more. I had an older child to teach and a toddler and there was a limit to how much I could do with her.

 

Lego kept her entertained and her brain engaged for hours. It still does. It's a beautiful thing.

 

Great idea! She actually loves Lego, but her enthusiasm's been dimmed lately by the fact that she can only build in her room thanks to the Destructive Toddler of Doom, and she likes to be closer to the action rather than off by herself. Maybe I can just gate her into the dining room...

[WarriorMama]

I agree with Christina, try to find some independent hobby like Legos. My ds8 works on computer modeling (google sketchup), editing movies on iMovie, inventing things.

 

Thanks! I was actually thinking the other day that since she has a video camera, editing movies might be fun to try.

[Jen in PA]

At the suggestion of folks on this board I introduced DD to simple drag-and-drop programming last year, when she was 6. She loves it, and it is one of her favorite activities now. She enjoys both Scratch and Storytelling Alice.

[Karenciavo]

My ds8 loves Scratch.

[Storm Bay]

As a former gifted dc, I would consider going faster, deeper or both. One of the most frustrating things is to be bored out of your skull or to feel as though you're being held back. This was one of the most horrendous things I went though in ps, and it contributed to frustration, anger, laziness and apathy. I became a chronic underachiever. This is not at all uncommon, and I suggest reading the first chapter of Gifted Grownups so you can see the three main types of gifted dc. I was definitely the independent type. This is the first generalization I have ever fit reasonably well.

[catz]

I agree with Christina, try to find some independent hobby like Legos. My ds8 works on computer modeling (google sketchup), editing movies on iMovie, inventing things.

 

:iagree: At this age, lego was HUGE for my DS. My daughter who turned 6 this summer has access to lots of hands on crafts, books, snap circuits, legos, computer links, etc. I do school with them and then declare my day done. But if we're home, they need to entertain themselves with something. I personally think this kind of open ended time leads to lots of self inspired learning, creativity, and team work (if there are siblings involved) that I couldn't have put together on my own.