How Does One "Accelerate" non-math topics?

[mom2bee]

When I hear the word 'accelerate' regarding education, I always think of going faster in, more or less a (straight) line. It makes sense, to me, to accelerate math education for a child who is ready and capable, especially since the US as a nation has such abysmal math abilities.

 

But how do you 'accelerate' in reading, science or any other subject that isn't linear* etc?

 

I've been wondering about this for a while, and figure I might as well ask here.

 

 

*I'm aware that 'math is linear' may be contested or whatever, but for this discussion, I'm assuming math is a linear subject.

[regentrude]

Accelerate does not have to mean doing it "faster" or sloppier. It can mean skipping simplifications and presenting the subject at a level that is usually appropriate for a higher age - more in depth, more complicated concepts, more abstract, more volume of work etc.

So, if a fourth grader is reading Dickens unabridged, that is acceleration in reading- because most students would be ready for this reading level at a later age.

My 13 y/o is accelerating science by taking college physics - working on a level that is typically considered appropriate for older students.

Some students can accelerate all subjects by starting high school level work in 7th or 8th grade.

[2smartones]

I think you'll get a lot of different responses because "accelerate" means different things to different people. You specifically asked about reading. I might mean allowing a child to read a topic that would be too advanced for age peers, or it might mean allowing a child to read at a phonetic or grammatical level that is beyond what peers would be reading. In science, for example, when an elementary level student would be learning "this is a mammal", an accelerated student might be learning "this is the rule, this is the exeption to the rule, and where/why would you classify this animal based on the information you've already been given?" Accelerated students tend to make inferences where others don't. They tend to make skips where others don't. When you teach steps 1 and 2 (in any subject) they can predict steps 3 and 4, and then give you the resulting step 5 without any instruction at all. Some kids just instinctively "get it", and they don't need instruction and/or repetition to solidify their knowledge of a subject.

[joannqn]

In a class situation, you can differentiate. It's something I'm trying out with my kids...use the curriculum but allow them to take it deeper and in a manner that is more meaningful to them. So, while a grade level child might be learning which foods go into each food group, and accelerated child might be researching how an unbalanced diet affects various bodily systems and creating a computer game using what they have learned.

[Quad Shot Academy]

I think math is actually the most difficult to accelerate because it might be unwise to just skip anything. With reading, grammar, history, and science you can just give the child a higher level and they won't falter. You can also start subjects before other kids would: economics, computer programming . . . giving them a head start.

[Embassy]

Accelerating often means skipping. The skipping is typically over things the child has already mastered or over things that would be too boring for the child.

 

Mostly, it is following the child's lead. If they are ready to skip ahead or approach the information in a more complex manner then I provide a way for them to do that.

 

Accelerating often means feeding the hunger. If a child has gobbled up the standard subject material for his grade or for five grades ahead - accelerating provides a way for a child to continue the desire to learn about the topic of interest in the depth desired.

[zaichiki]

Accelerated students tend to make inferences where others don't. They tend to make skips where others don't. When you teach steps 1 and 2 (in any subject) they can predict steps 3 and 4, and then give you the resulting step 5 without any instruction at all. Some kids just instinctively "get it", and they don't need instruction and/or repetition to solidify their knowledge of a subject.

 

This is our experience. It's the reason we have to accelerate or compact the curriculum. If the child has made the leap and explained or illustrated the objective in lessons you haven't yet reached, you can skip those lessons or seriously condense the number of repetitions (like you would in math).

 

Here's a specific example when it comes to reading. We use Hooked on Phonics. Ds 5 is reading very well, between a 2nd and 3rd grade level based on the picture books and early chapter books he chooses, but I continue to use Hooked on Phonics b/c I think he depends an awful lot on his strong visual memory when he reads and I want to make sure to cover all of those vowel combination sounds and other phonics rules he may not have deduced on his own yet. We're using the green level (of the older HOP) -- just hitting silent E and vowel combos now. The current lesson is a_e. We skipped the audio portion completely. Ds read the first page of words, but we skipped the second page (same words, but rearranged). Then, we talked about how silent e also makes the e,i,o, and u vowels say their long sounds. I skipped the lesson on EACH vowel (8 pages) and had him read the review page where some words from each lesson (e_e, o_e, i_e, and u_e) are mixed together on one page. In this example, we skipped whole lessons and skipped some review in the lessons we used.

 

I agree with the pp who said that the level you use to teach a subject is another way to accelerate. Another ds is accelerated in history. Well, we use SL Core 6, but I add in other materials, including movies and books written for high school students and adults. We accelerate some of our science the same way. Ds understands what is presented on the topics for his age, but is often interested in more detail or background information. He wants to discuss and read about these topics at a higher level.

 

Sometimes a child can pick up a skill and "own it" with hardly any repetitions. in this case you can accelerate simply by cutting out the repetitions included in the curriculum that the child does not need. This will naturally speed up the pace at which you go through the curriculum. Usually parents who do this also add in more -- horizontally -- as well.

[Donna]

I accelerate other subjects by skipping the simplistic type explanations of the topics and going more indepth right from the start. My kids are never satisfied with simple answers anyway so their questioning invariably ends up in higher level work.

 

But it is more than that...I feel if I am accelerating input, in order for it to truly be a certain level class, my kids need to be doing the output associated with that level. So, when they were very young, they might be receiving information that the average 8th grader would receive in science or history but not yet able to write reports or do projects at that level so I wouldn't say they were doing 8th grade level work in that subject.

 

This is one reason I never have a grade level for subjects like history, science, and reading. Grade level doesn't really matter in our homeschool environment. I give the input at whatever level they are capable of comprehending but only expect output at the level they are capable of doing.

 

I find math easier to accelerate as far as knowing a level. We move faster in math rather than skipping.

[zaichiki]

I think math is actually the most difficult to accelerate because it might be unwise to just skip anything.

 

I think it's easy to accelerate, especially in math, if the child needs it. It's easy to see. Here's an example.

 

(First a disclaimer: my oldest ds is not "mathy" so we hardly ever skip anything. We do sometimes skip repetitions, but I'm always willing to go back and add in more review of an older topic if he shows that he needs it in later review sections.)

 

We use Singapore Math (which I think may teach the kids to make these kinds of connections) and we were doing a lesson on finding the area of a rectangle. I think it was in Primary 4 somewhere? Ds said that he knew how to find the area of a triangle, too. He said that every triangle is half of some kind of rectangle, so the area of a triangle was half of the lengthXwidth of its rectangle. So, when we got to the area of a triangle, I gave him one review problem without doing the lesson. He got it right away, with no explanation. We skipped that textbook lesson and its workbook pages. (I did not skip the area of a triangle questions in the Intensive Practice.)

 

In math, if a child shows mastery quickly, there is no need for extra repetitions. If they retain that mastery and get future (week, month, year in the future) review questions correct, you can feel confident that you've eliminated unnecessary review. That's what we do, anyway.

 

I don't always eliminate review. We only rarely skip entire lessons like that. My kids aren't "mathy." Our (slight) acceleration in math comes from eliminating *some* of the review and using the curriculum 4 days a week all year (a decision we made b/c I am strongly against taking long breaks in math that then require long periods of review to "catch up" again).

[kiwi mum]

We have accelerated by not using graded materials.

 

For example: in science we used Apologia elementary (K-6) in grades 1-3. I picked up a used copy of Physical Science and realised DS was ready for it in 4th grade so that is what we have used this year. He has really enjoyed it and only had one module test below 90%.

 

Similarly, for history we have used Mystery of History which has the lesson and then activities at three levels (grammar, logic, rhetoric). In second grade we did all the grammar activities, in third we did most of the logic ones plus some grammar and in fourth we did all the logic plus a few of the rhetoric. In looking for something for Modern times next year i discovered that History Odyssey level 2 (7-8 grade) is a perfect fit, so it looks like we have accelerated history as well.

 

I don't think this type of acceleration is something you decide to do up front because you want to do it. It is more a matter of teaching to the level that the kid is at, and then some kids just drag you ahead as they make leaps in understanding.

[Dmmetler]

Same as above-I've discovered that my DD is able to handle the complex without all the build up, so was able to skip from "A noun is a person, place or thing" to "What job does this noun hold". She's enjoying Grammar Island right now-but even then she's often adding statements (that's not just a noun-in that sentence, it's the direct object!") because it's not the first grammar book she's read.

 

In Science, we skip topics she already knows, which pretty much skipped everything normally covered in the primary grades, but leaves a LOT open before we get to the more mathematical approach taught in secondary.

 

History has been nice-because she really hadn't done much with it, so going through it sequentially has worked well, with the caveat that she likes to MOVE, and while she'll sit on a topic that interests her, I've found she prefers to do that on her own while we, as a "class" move on. Sonlight's condensed cores, adding many of the books back from the full cores, plus extras (while deleting those that don't match our family's beliefs) has worked well for her-and for me, because except for doing the specific history passage in the morning, she does all the other reading on her own.

 

In languages, it was mostly a matter of finding what was there, and not worrying about the label on the book. Since she can read, and since she enjoys grammar, grammatical, structured curricula aren't boring to her, and a combination of grammar study and reading in the language seems to work well-and will hopefully take us through her elementary years. My hope is that by the time she's in secondary, we can turn her language studies more into literature studies and she'll be ready to read texts in the original language and be mature enough to appreciate them.

 

In music and dance, there's a culture of moving at the child's pace already, so it does it for me.

 

I do agree that it's hard to put a grade level on many of these subjects. DD is much more advanced in Grammar and editing than she is in composition, and while she's great at oral spelling and at recognizing misspelled words, she is a lot more likely to leave out letters when she's trying to write them (and then get very angry at herself when she notices later). In Science and even more so in History, she's certainly not doing the written reports and responses that would be typically expected of a child learning the topics she's learning.

 

And since she does just about everything at home in 10-15 minute chunks, I certainly don't think she'd have a prayer in any traditional classroom studying material at the level she's working at, even in those areas where she's using a standard curriculum and her output is equivalent to a child in that grade-because her way of managing the work would be inappropriate in any grade past 1st, and even there would require an understanding teacher.

[KAR120C]

Something like a second language is made "high school level" by an expectation of a certain pace, amount of independent work, grammar study, writing, etc.

 

With science, the level has less to do with the content and more to do with the math required... but again, the pace and workload, writing expectations, independence, etc. An elementary grade physics program would introduce all the same topics as a high school level program, but the elementary program might leave f=ma as "if you control the mass, then a bigger force gives you a bigger acceleration" where a high school program will have the kids calculate exact quantities with appropriate units, and applying vector math and components of angles to deal with forces in three dimensions... And where an elementary program might have the kids follow specific steps to demonstrate the concept with their teacher, a high school program might propose the question and have the kids work out a procedure for testing it themselves.

 

I would say something similar for lit/comp and history. Separate from the reading level of the materials, how much is the student led through the discussion and how much is left open for him to work things out for himself? And how independently is he required to demonstrate his understanding?

[EKS]

You can jump into just about any other subject at a higher level and you won't miss anything. Math is the only one where it can be difficult to do that.

[mom2bee]

So, skipping unneeded practice/review is accelerating? It also seems that what is accelerated is a large amount of personal interpretation/expectations of a students abilities then?

 

So, when I condense lessons for my reading students who find reading easy, and thus don't need extra practice with a concept, thats acceleration? :001_huh:??

[Koerarmoca]

I am trying to figure this out too. Math wise mostly. dd9 attends pvt school she is in 3rd but she takes math & reading with the 5th graders. They have a school policy not to skip more than 2 grade levels in a subject. She is with her 3rd grade class for all other subjects. She could go higher in reading (if it was allowed) but my concern would be that yes sure she can read several years ahead but could she handle the work load? Math wise I tested her with saxon placement tests she was 1 away from 7/6 I am going with 6/5 but may just briefly review the concepts she has already mastered and move quickly. I have 7/6 and 8/7 so if I need to move quicker in this area I have more material to cover. She loves math she is the type who would want to sit and do several lessons a day if I let her. Because her reading level is so high I feel I could use higher grade level material in subjects such as history and science. I am doing AAH with her and may do Apologia gen science. I have not figured out reading or LA with her yet.

[joannqn]

So, skipping unneeded practice/review is accelerating? It also seems that what is accelerated is a large amount of personal interpretation/expectations of a students abilities then?

 

So, when I condense lessons for my reading students who find reading easy, and thus don't need extra practice with a concept, thats acceleration? :001_huh:??

 

Acceleration occurs when students are given the opportunity to proceed at a faster pace or at an earlier age than usual. They are doing the same work as everyone else, but faster.

 

Curriculum compacting is different from acceleration. In compacting, the student is pretested on the material to determine what will be learned next. Areas where mastery has been proven through pretesting are skipped. The student works only on concepts not yet mastered. In a school setting, a teacher might offer pretesting on a unit and require the student to only join the class for the topics that the student doesn't already know. The rest of the time, the student is allowed to work on independent work or differentiated work.

 

Differentiation is the practice of making lessons different to accommodate the different students in a single classroom. In a homeschool setting, you may find that an average student works on the material as it is taught in their grade level material where a gifted student is learning it at a much higher, in depth level, requiring higher level reasoning skills.

 

All of these can be used with gifted students. Some work better for certain students for certain subjects. My son, for example, completed his first few years of math using accelerated. Then I moved on to a compacting method. Now, I'm trying for a little more differentiation to slow him down.

[2smartones]

Yes, what she said. There's definitely a difference between compacting and accelerating. You can pretest, compact, and offer something else to do (not acceleration), or you can pretest, compact, and move on to the next and next and next level (acceleration). I've heard it said many times that a PG child (gifted across the board, not just in one or two areas) can easily finish K-6th grades in only 2 years. Most kids, gifted or not, can't do that in all subjects, but some certainly can, and without missing out on depth. (Heck, now they've got 4-5 extra years to dive as deeply as they want if the plan isn't early graduation).

Edited March 19, 2011 by 2smartones

[zaichiki]

So, skipping unneeded practice/review is accelerating?

 

It is - if skipping some of the "extra" review causes you to move through the material at a faster pace.

[zaichiki]

So, when I condense lessons for my reading students who find reading easy, and thus don't need extra practice with a concept, thats acceleration? :001_huh:??

 

If it causes the child to complete the curriculum faster than is typical, then you have accelerated the curriculum.

 

I think this forum describes a child as accelerated if they are working above grade level. (They have worked through the previous material at a faster pace, allowing them to progress to a higher level in the same amount of time as their agemates use to be "on" grade level)

[catz]

We have accelerated by not using graded materials.

 

For example: in science we used Apologia elementary (K-6) in grades 1-3. I picked up a used copy of Physical Science and realised DS was ready for it in 4th grade so that is what we have used this year. He has really enjoyed it and only had one module test below 90%.

 

Similarly, for history we have used Mystery of History which has the lesson and then activities at three levels (grammar, logic, rhetoric). In second grade we did all the grammar activities, in third we did most of the logic ones plus some grammar and in fourth we did all the logic plus a few of the rhetoric. In looking for something for Modern times next year i discovered that History Odyssey level 2 (7-8 grade) is a perfect fit, so it looks like we have accelerated history as well.

 

I don't think this type of acceleration is something you decide to do up front because you want to do it. It is more a matter of teaching to the level that the kid is at, and then some kids just drag you ahead as they make leaps in understanding.

 

:iagree: We don't use any graded materials other than math and MCT (if you count that). Other than that we use library, I justify many Amazon orders, our local mueums, field trips, the internet etc. I don't feel it's accelerating as much as just keeping my kids engaged. They quickly lose steam with grade level materials. We do have, for instance, SOTW. And we listen to those audio books. But I wouldn't say it's a "spine" for us. Just another resource.

[2smartones]

I also like using ungraded materials like the Apologia and Mystery of History examples given. People don't ask questions when you say you're doing history with a 4th grader, but they do ask questions when you say you're doing algebra with one. :lol:

[Spy Car]

 

*I'm aware that 'math is linear' may be contested or whatever, but for this discussion, I'm assuming math is a linear subject.

 

Wrong assumption.

 

Bill

[TracyP]

So, skipping unneeded practice/review is accelerating? It also seems that what is accelerated is a large amount of personal interpretation/expectations of a students abilities then?

 

So, when I condense lessons for my reading students who find reading easy, and thus don't need extra practice with a concept, thats acceleration? :001_huh:??

 

I'm just thinking back to your past posts and trying to understand your question. So if this is the third grader that you watch and you are compacting lessons to get her caught up then you may be accelerating through the material but the student is not accelerated. Make sense?

 

Reading is a little different than other subjects because there is such a wide range of normal. A first grader who is doing all other subjects at a first grade level but is reading at a second grade level is not someone I would consider accelerated. If that child is reading at a 6th grade level - then I would.

[nmoira]

Wrong assumption.

:D

 

OP: Planning an education to be accelerated is nothing like meeting a child where she regardless of age or ability in other areas (e.g. typical 6yo handwriting vs an interest in algebra). "Input" vs "output" was mentioned above, and is something else we have to consider when talking about working at "x" level.

 

Google "Joyce Swann" and "Alexandra Swann" if you are interested in reading about purposeful, methodical acceleration. ETA: It doesn't get much linear than this.

Edited March 20, 2011 by nmoira

[mom2bee]

Thanks so much for all the responses, TracyP that was a very good example. I just want to note, this is just general discussion, fodder for my thoughts and such. I'm not eying any of my current students for acceleration, none of them are really interested in acceleration. I was just wondering how other subjects could be 'accelerated.'

 

@nmoira: The Swann family is one of my favorite case studies from some years ago! "No Regrets" is highlighted on my "Books to Read" list because its one of the books I intend to do a "deep reading" of once I get a copy. (I'm going to have to get it through inter library loan) I've read the Swann articles on Home-School.com several times. I find myself rereading them every few months. :).

[nitascool]

But how do you 'accelerate' in reading, science or any other subject that isn't linear* etc?

 

Well we accelerated reading by teaching phonics at 3, 4, 4.5 and 3. We started reading early and often. I read to them and they read to me. We discussed our reading. Of course, it helps that they wanted to learn, that they were ready to learn and that their brains are, at least reading wise, in high gear. On the first week of "kindergarten" my oldest was reading My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George and discussing it in great detail. I just didn't see the point of making him read The Eye Book by Dr. Seuss again.

 

We accelerated Grammar by just doing it. We did FLL 1 & 2 at 4, 5 & 5 (dd hasn't started that yet). We moved through 3 more Grammar programs in K and 2 more in 1st. By third my oldest was doing 8th grade grammar and understanding it better then I did.

 

As far as science goes I just had my children read every science picture book in the public library (and discussed), then we read every science chapter book (and discussed), then we went upstairs and started on the adult science books. We did the same with history using SOTW 1-4 as a guide. We went through several boring science text books as well. We're doing Apologia elementary series which is actually more age appropriate, but it's mostly review for the older two. It is the 1st "christian" science book series we've used and it has given a good balance to all the millions of years science we've already covered.

 

For health they started reading through My Health Series books like Asthma and Common Colds in Kindergarten but wanted more. We went through the Staying Healthy Series in about a month. I can't keep my 2nd stocked up on health books. In second grade he asked for The Illustrated Atlas of the Human Body by Beverly McMillan which he has read from cover to cover at least 50 times since (this is used in college classrooms for Anatomy).

 

Along the way we've expected more output as we've gone. My oldest is reading on a college level, but output is on or around 8th level...except writing which is average.

 

They are probably closer to average with their writing skills, so I can't help you there. My 9yo is below average in his penmanship skills, but can narrate and/or type closer to Jr. High level material.

 

So that's how we accelerated through elementary/junior high level material.

Edited March 21, 2011 by nitascool

[mom2bee]

Well we accelerated reading by teaching phonics at 3, 4, 4.5 and 3. We started reading early and often. I read to them and they read to me. We discussed our reading. Of course, it helps that they wanted to learn, that they were ready to learn and that their brains are, at least reading wise, in high gear. On the first week of "kindergarten" my oldest was reading My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George and discussing it in great detail. I just didn't see the point of making him read The Eye Book by Dr. Seuss again.

 

We accelerated Grammar by just doing it. We did FLL 1 & 2 at 4, 5 & 5 (dd hasn't started that yet). We moved through 3 more Grammar programs in K and 2 more in 1st. By third my oldest was doing 8th grade grammar and understanding it better then I did.

 

As far as science goes I just had my children read every science picture book in the public library (and discussed), then we read every science chapter book (and discussed), then we went upstairs and started on the adult science books. We did the same with history using SOTW 1-4 as a guide. We went through several boring science text books as well. We're doing Apologia elementary series which is actually more age appropriate, but it's mostly review for the older two. It is the 1st "christian" science book series we've used and it has given a good balance to all the millions of years science we've already covered.

 

For health they started reading through My Health Series books like Asthma and Common Colds in Kindergarten but wanted more. We went through the Staying Healthy Series in about a month. I can't keep my 2nd stocked up on health books. In second grade he asked for The Illustrated Atlas of the Human Body by Beverly McMillan which he has read from cover to cover at least 50 times since (this is used in college classrooms for Anatomy).

 

Along the way we've expected more output as we've gone. My oldest is reading on a college level, but output is on or around 8th level...except writing which is average.

 

They are probably closer to average with their writing skills, so I can't help you there. My 9yo is below average in his penmanship skills, but can narrate and/or type closer to Jr. High level material.

 

So that's how we accelerated through elementary/junior high level material.

 

This is very close to what I was thinking, I just wanted to ask some more experienced HSers for their insights and opinions.

 

I love the idea of label-less learning...its okay for some times and other times I suppose socially appropriate to have a 'slot' in which to put yourself. But to restrain or push a student within the bounds of "their level" in my opinion is just wrong. Especially since their 'level' is usually dictated by the most arbitrary of things such as birth-dates. :).

 

I was just very, very curious to see how others accelerated topics and subjects out side of maths.