Sigh...time for another jump?

[Dmmetler]

We just started 4a, and DD's response is "It's all the same-it's easy". And, so far, that seems to be the case. So, do I go to just doing IP/CWP for awhile until we get to something new, go back to the placement test and see where she actually is, or what? I hate to jump ahead in Singapore (having done the teacher training, I'm well aware that it's designed to be additive)-but at the same time, when she's enjoying math so much right now, I hate to bore her with more repetition than she needs-and looking ahead, I'm not sure how much there is in 4a that's not simply an application of a skill she already knows, except for the fractions, which she's getting in LoF quite happily (and apparently successfully. She's a LOT more willing to go back and retry the bridges when the book tells her to do it than when I tell her to correct mistakes).

 

And, darn it, kid, math is SUPPOSED to be the one area where you're somewhere close to grade level, so I have that to cling to. No, really. that's the plan-you're allowed to be gifted in language and writing...I'm used to that and can handle that...but you're NOT supposed to be too far ahead of grade level in math, especially not with your visually-spacial 2e mother who struggled badly in algebra and calculus because my brain scrambled graphs so horribly! Besides, you're supposed to be able to do Beast Academy when it comes out and enjoy it-because I want to do it!!!

 

:w00t::eek::confused:

[Iucounu]

Google on "curriculum compacting". In that model, if a child pretests out of a block, or shows mastery partway through, you can skip the rest. It helps to ensure that you don't leave any holes. I think Singapore lends itself well to curriculum compacting due to the plentiful sprinkling of review sections, which you can use as pretests. Even on material you're largely skipping, it might be good to do the occasional word problem to reinforce the concepts.

[MaMa2005]

I feel your pain. DS is in Horizons 6 math and it has lots of repetition. However, like yourself, I don't want to leave any gaps. We have come to a compromise. We are continuing through the grade 6 book (usually doing 3-4 lessons a day). If that day goes well, we do ONE lesson from Horizons Pre-Algebra. Makes both MaMa and DS happy.

 

Oh, and how we love Life of Fred fractions here, too. :)

[SonshineLearner]

With Singapore, can't you just do the Workbook, and go quickly through... I paced it for 8 pages a day for my son, and we'll be through in a little less than 3 weeks. I'm doing this because last year we didn't get going due to family issues... math he is strong in... but I don't want holes. He's older and in a lower level... but he doesn't balk at math because he thinks this is his life ;) He taught himself to multiply when he was little, but I wanted him stay on target... course... forgetting about math for months last year helped us not get ahead ;) Anyway, I plan on him doing math 6 days a week for his school career, so that's perfect getting him in the habit.

If they get to a place where they don't understand... then you can stop the pace. I have the Shangri-la Math place... (whatever that's called :)) picked out for when he gets through 6A or so.... I've made it through there with my daughter, but after that... I'm gonna pass him right on to a tutor ;)

:)

[lewelma]

DS only did IP and CWP. In fact he made it harder for himself by self teaching. Whenever I tried to explain what he was supposed to do, he told "If you tell me how to do the problems, that's cheating." He skipped most of the computation style work and just focused on ALL the word problems and challengers instead.

 

His math facts did not keep up with his conceptual skills, and he was working on the subtracting facts during 5a (he had done x / and + already).

 

He LOVES math, and loves a challenge, and I don't think that he would be in that space if I had had him work through all those boring problems for years.

 

My son had to skip up to the right level, and then he worked through a year's worth of work at a more normal pace. Once you find where he needs to be, it will be easier for both of you.

 

Ruth in NZ

[Crimson Wife]

What about pre-testing her with the end-of-chapter reviews? Anything she gets correct, she can just do the IP's and CWP's. Anything she misses, she has to go back and do the corresponding section in the textbook. I wouldn't bother with the workbook at all.

[Halcyon]

We pre-test out of sections by using the Reviews, and then he moves to the IP. If that's too easy, I have him do just a few to confirm he understands. I also put some of the harder questions on his weekly quiz a few weeks later, to see how his retention is. For example, yesterday we learned how to find the lowest common multiple of a set of numbers using division by primes. He gets it, and did a few for me, but my guess is that in three weeks he'll have forgotten the exact "whys" and "hows". So I'll put a few questions on his weekly test and see how his retention is.

 

So we do move ahead when he "gets" stuff, but for the more challenging concepts, I make sure I circle back once in a while to check retention.

[acurtis75]

We are using MUS but ran in to the same situation. We're on Delta which starts division and she just gets it without having to do the lessons. So that we don't miss anything I'm using an approach suggesed by someone else a few days ago. We watch the lesson video (or in your case review the concept to teach) then go to the test for the section. If she gets everything right on the test we do the next lesson. We have done 11 lessons in two days but I'm thinking we'll slow down at some point. If not, we'll just move right on to the next book. Incidentally, this seems to have made math more fun for dd. She's good in math but doesn't necessarily like it. Now she's asking to do it so she can "test out" of having to do so many worksheets.

[boscopup]

I've had to skip some things in MM4 also. There are some new topics that we spend time on, and there are topics that are either expanding on an old topic (like rounding/estimation just being expanded to the larger place values learned at this level) where we just gloss over it because he already extrapolated the expansion from the original teaching of the topic.

 

Hopefully your DD will do well with AoPS and be completely self-teaching with it. :lol:

[Halcyon]

...there are topics that are either expanding on an old topic (like rounding/estimation just being expanded to the larger place values learned at this level) where we just gloss over it because he already extrapolated the expansion from the original teaching of the topic.

 

 

:iagree::iagree: With SM, whenever he was first introduced to a concept, be it fractions, estimation, etc. we tended to learn everything about the topic. When the topic re-appears in a later workbook, DS generally already has covered how to do the work on a higher level.

[boscopup]

:iagree::iagree: With SM, whenever he was first introduced to a concept, be it fractions, estimation, etc. we tended to learn everything about the topic. When the topic re-appears in a later workbook, DS generally already has covered how to do the work on a higher level.

 

Yeah, fractions is one of those for us too. When we glossed through fractions in MM3B, I looked ahead and noticed that he really wasn't going to learn anything new until at least 5B? He knows how to reduce fractions and all that.

[MissKNG]

DD's response is "It's all the same-it's easy". And, so far, that seems to be the case.

 

 

 

 

:bored: Sounds familiar (my DD said this while flopping around on the floor like a fish out of water)!! We are trying to get through SM 2 as painlessly as possible. I regret waiting to start SM 2 when she completed 1b last spring because she somehow jumped beyond the materials over the summer :confused:.

[DandelionMom]

We deal with this issue as well and finally learned not to buy whole, packaged curriculum so quickly. It is so easy to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars of materials just to have your child fly through or "test out". Although it is great, I think, for the kids to learn so fast, we have wasted a lot of money that way.

 

Now we tend to follow interests more than a set curriculum, and any curriculum we do buy are carefully chosen as blocks. One of these is Winter Promise, which creates curriculum in grade blocks, like grades 4-6, instead of single grades.

[Brooketopia]

Thank you for this thread. My DD told me yesterday that she used to like Math but that it was just so easy and boring now that she didn't like it that much anymore.

 

So this morning I'm just running her through the assessments and she's aced everything so far. It's scary to me!

 

I'm gifted, but had to plod along at everyone's pace in PS, and I rebelled in the 2nd grade and didn't do any math at all for the rest of the year because I was so bored. She's in the 2nd grade right now and I can see the same situation brewing with her. (It's freaky that she's practically my clone.)

 

*deep breath* It's scary to allow them to jump ahead when they need to, but I know it's best for her. It's just out-of-the-box and it takes me a little while to be OK with it. I guess it just mostly boils down to "what others think." I just hate that it feels like you have to hide giftedness, while it's so PC to embrace the other end of the spectrum. Can't we recognize special needs and accelerated needs equally?

 

Alright, gotta get back to the testing...

[hil]

I know this isn't a Khan Academy board, but I'm going to beg you to take a look. DS7 started Sept 1 of this year and has advanced many grades (!) because, for us, the whole set-up is conducive to accelerating without gaps.

 

Did I mention it's free?

 

The kids do 'modules.' Ten right and they advance, with the software systematically prodding them to review.

 

When we get to concepts I'm rusty at, all the instruction is in the form of short videos that I can enjoy with DS.

 

The software-provided exercises build skills logically and incrementally. The videos by Sal take the pressure off the instruction for me, so difficult concepts can be watched a few times. It leaves the more fun instruction for me or his dad.

 

Last night, as a family, was all about how to calculate the area of a circle. Two months ago I think the only things we had solidly down were multiplication tables.

 

For us, a life-changing website.

 

Hilary

DS7

DD1

Edited October 26, 2011 by hil

[Halcyon]

We deal with this issue as well and finally learned not to buy whole, packaged curriculum so quickly. It is so easy to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars of materials just to have your child fly through or "test out". Although it is great, I think, for the kids to learn so fast, we have wasted a lot of money that way.

 

Now we tend to follow interests more than a set curriculum, and any curriculum we do buy are carefully chosen as blocks. One of these is Winter Promise, which creates curriculum in grade blocks, like grades 4-6, instead of single grades.

 

 

This is exactly why, MAYBE, we might move to MM after SM4. Not that I don't love SM. But we spend a LOT of money on it, and it seems DS knows half of it. I will always buy the IP and CWPs, however.

[boscopup]

This is exactly why, MAYBE, we might move to MM after SM4. Not that I don't love SM. But we spend a LOT of money on it, and it seems DS knows half of it. I will always buy the IP and CWPs, however.

 

Yeah, I was glad I went with MM when I first started. If I'd used Singapore... ouch! We have gone through 4 grades in a calendar year. That would be $480 for Singapore (HIG, TB, WB, IP, CWP). Now, I get IP and CWP regardless (about $30/year), but MM cost me $65 for grades 1-6. What a deal! I like the presentation of Singapore better, but for an accelerating student, MM fit the budget better! I've liked the instruction and the difficulty of the problems (somewhere between Singapore's TB/WB and the IP/CWP challenge problems). It'd be nice if there were more space between problems, but DS hasn't had an issue with it, despite being pencil-phobic. He even used the grade 1 materials last year BEFORE she redid it with bigger spaces.