should i be doing something (what?)??

[momma aimee]

My older son is 5.5, he is not offically kindy age by law till fall.

 

he is a SN kid -- SPD and speech and anxiety for sure, very emotionally immature too ...

 

however he also tested out "very gifted" and "extreamly bright" when the PhD did a full set of tests with him (working on dx).

 

She says that his SN + Gifted status as actually 'part of his problem'

 

she made quite a point about how high some of his scores were (and how low a couple) ...

 

so here is my question -- shuld i be doing anything special with him?

 

Up to now we've not pushed academics and honestly do not want to push -- he is 5 he is a boy and he has enough other challanges. Our family believes in letting children be children.

 

but he still can't count to 100 and messes up his ABCs when he sings them. (both annoying to me :001_huh:).

 

so

 

am i doing him a disservice by not presenting more academics? or should i give him another year or 2 to be a little silly boy before i require too much?

 

just looking for some feed back on a 'very gifted child' that really doesn't come across as gifted at all :confused:

 

Aimee

[mom4him]

JMTC, If he enjoys being read to I would do plenty of that with him. I would work with him some on holding a pencil, keep working with him with abc and numbers, mainly with library books, if he likes to color have him do that etc.

 

ONE OF THE BIGGEST MISTAKES I MADE with my youngest was pushing to much to soon. He wasn't ready and now he HATES school. It has gotten better but it hasn't made school fun for him nor me.

 

If I had it to do over again I would follow his lead a bit more at this age. When he shows an interest in something I would expound on it a bit more but not force it.

[momma aimee]

Thanks

 

he 'writes messages" and he "makes books" and he loves to be read to --

[serendipitous journey]

There's no need to push at this age. Really. And truly. But if his not counting to 100 accurately bugs you, you could try some Montessori manipulatives or the hundreds board :)

 

I've drawn inspiration for Milestones Academy's Year0 page and also from Ambleside Online. We are not hard-core Charlotte Mason folks (DH is overly perfectionistic, so teaching him to do things only "perfectly" would just be cruel; and he wanted to learn to write better, being frustrated by his efforts, so instead of copywork or excellent penmanship I just ordered Zaner-Bloser's K handwriting workbook and let him do a page at a time essentially unsupervised: this is very un-Charlotte Mason) but the philosophy has been very useful in growing a happy, energetic, engaged little boy.

 

Also he was frustrated by not being able to read, so we work on that for 5-15 minutes a day. We did phonics at first, then some readers; he loves the Free & Treadwell series which is public domain, or you can buy a hardcopy.

 

When he wanted more art, I tried lots of things and at the moment am working through "Art for the Very Young".

 

He was interested in guitar/music, but is so uncooperative at lessons (he's shy & hates to try what he can't do well) that we'll pause them for a bit, maybe substitute Alfred's Kid's Course.

 

Because I'm such a disorganized nitwit when I am nursing (the hormones are not good for my brain, I guess) and I felt guilty about him not having more content (he loves information), I recently ordered Sonlight's Core A curiculum for him. He's enjoying the practice reading, and hearing the history, and he likes the activities (we don't do most of them), and I like having some structure. I will say that it has reinforced my respect for the Ambleside perspective for this year, since he retains so much more from the narrative books than he does from the encyclopedias; but I am glad I have it, since it has brought some wonderful books for reading to us and introduced us to the Usborne Beginner series for science/history. I'm not following their schedule, however; I read slightly longer sections, repeat them a few times per week, cut out the religious instruction, and am trying to replace the encyclopedia readings with children's books from the library.

 

at any rate, here's what I do with DS now: right after breakfast, he does a handwriting sheet; some math (Math-U-See) and 5-10 minutes of reading practice from Free & Treadwell. We spend as much time as possible outside in the mornings, around errands, baby's nap, etc. Then, after lunch when baby goes down, we read a selection from the Sonlight reader and I sometimes read to him a history, science, and/or literature section. that takes from 5 minutes to 1 hour, depending.

 

... this scattered e-mail reflects my sleep-deprivation, but I hope it helps! my main thought was not to worry; and to share what I've added in response to DS's interests in case you yourself want more structure. Your little one doesn't need it now, and if you are both happy, be content that a loving home and plenty of play is truly the best way to nurture a bright little mind & a sweet spirit, too :)

 

ps: if your little one is intense, the Highly Sensitive Child book may interest you.

Edited May 21, 2011 by serendipitous journey
adding info.

[acurtis75]

Some ideas..

 

I wouldn't worry about the ABC song thing. Instead I would suggest teaching him letters and sounds gently. The Leap Frog videos are great (Letter Factory, Word Factory, etc). Once he can recognize letters and sounds you could start a 5 to 10 minute phonics lesson. Either Ordinary Parent's Guide to teaching Reading or something like Explode the Code.

 

I would also recommend the Handwriting without Tears Program. You can start with the preschool book. 5 min or less per day.

 

I highly recommend the Math-u-see program. The Primer is easy and fun for young students (I have a friend who does it with her 3 1/2 year old because she wants to "do school" like her older siblings")

 

For the most part, at this age children love spending time and "playing" with their parents. We make school a game we played together and teaching my DD to read early really improved her behavior and prevented her from being bored.

[love2read]

It sounds like his problems are with reciting and not comprehending, so he may just not be a strong auditory learner. Have you read about visual spatial learners? Many are gifted and have some of the struggles you mention http://www.gifteddevelopment.com/Visual_Spatial_Learner/vsl.htm Let the little boyness continue, but not the silly part.

[momma aimee]

thanks everyone. He knows all his letters (that is can name them, match them, read them to you) just can't recite them in order. (also know all basic sounds)

 

we are really working on the counting to 100 thing.