Advanced 3rd Grader

[SonshineLearner]

Hi There ;)

I'm wondering where I might get my son tested to see what his possible ability in math is. He's only doing 3B right now, with additional math problems that we give him. But he's mostly doing this because I genuinely don't know what to do to stretch him. He has never needed any help in math, other than "here's this".... "how do you think you would answer this?" etc.

I know that he has an ability that is higher than the math he's currently working on... (When he was 6, he figured out what "2lbs of fruit that costs $1.69 a pound, without me explaining anymore than asking him what I'd pay....)

He's for sure not "genius" or anything, just above average.

He's an "engineer" in the making, or perhaps a Scientist... and I'd love to help him grow in his knowledge and love of Math as a whole. :)

Ideas? :)

[black_midori]

ALEKS online? Your reasons for looking are mine for trying that particular program next year... :)

 

Do a placement test above his level and see how he does. I think if he gets over 20% or something (can't remember exactly what %) then they say that is the right grade to start and if he gets over 80% or so then he should test for the next level.

 

It hopefully will allow him to move at his own pace - which may be way quicker than yours!! If you try it, let me know how it goes - I've got it high on my list of things to try for next year for an accelerated learner that I don't want to slow down accidentally! :)

[SonshineLearner]

:lurk5: :)

[beaners]

ALEKS online? Your reasons for looking are mine for trying that particular program next year... :)

 

Do a placement test above his level and see how he does. I think if he gets over 20% or something (can't remember exactly what %) then they say that is the right grade to start and if he gets over 80% or so then he should test for the next level.

 

It hopefully will allow him to move at his own pace - which may be way quicker than yours!! If you try it, let me know how it goes - I've got it high on my list of things to try for next year for an accelerated learner that I don't want to slow down accidentally! :)

 

I read about a similar method in a couple different books and I knew I had posted about it at some point. I found one of my posts from when I had just finished reading one of them.

 

 

I just finished a Prufrock Press book called Developing Math Talent that includes a fairly lengthy explanation of how to move advanced children quickly through curriculum. Basically, you'd test for the end of a semester and go over only the missed topics and proceed to the next level if the score was over an 85%. Between 50% and 85% you would go over the missed topics thoroughly and retest for them. In the book's method, you first need to score above 50% on an "out of level" test, which is a couple years ahead.

Does this sound like it may be the same thing? I agree that I would keep testing up levels until you find one that he hasn't already mastered.

[momof2cm]

Sounds like my ds at that age. We enrolled him in Stanford's EPGY program for math and have not had any regrets. Up until 5th grade, we combined EPGY with Singapore Math.

 

Now that he is older, we use the books recommended to accompany EPGY Math.

[SonshineLearner]

Sounds like my ds at that age. We enrolled him in Stanford's EPGY program for math and have not had any regrets. Up until 5th grade, we combined EPGY with Singapore Math.

 

Now that he is older, we use the books recommended to accompany EPGY Math.

So does this mean you were paying around $1000. a year for math? :bigear:

[ChandlerMom]

If he is content with his current math, but you want to give him more challenge and stretch his mind, try supplementing 3B with some challenging problems (and maybe cut down on how many problems per page in 3B). If he is bored and starting to dislike math, you might want to speed up thru Singapore or try a different curriculum.

 

With my 3rd grader I found that breadth of problem solving is probably better than straight acceleration. That may just be my child. :D

 

I found she really loves doing Zaccaro's Math Challenge books and Math Olympiad problems. It encourages thinking about problems instead of just computing over and over. Primary Grade Challenge Math is aimed at grades 1-4 and Challenge Math is grades 4-8. The books are ~$23 at Amazon and you can add them to your regular curriculum. Again, if he LIKES Singapore, I would try first to spice that up rather than change what works, kwim? ;)

[momof2cm]

So does this mean you were paying around $1000. a year for math? :bigear:

 

I am now! But before we were part of a group enrollment but that doesn't work anymore for the higher levels.

Depending on how fast your kid goes through the program you pay more or less for one level.

[chiguirre]

Your ds sounds like my dd. She's finishing up 3b too. We use the wb and IP alongside the text. I plan to use CWP after we finish up 3b and before we start 4a. I've been reluctant to accelerate because of my own bad experience with acceleration in elementary school. I'd rather plod along and overteach now than try to fill in gaps when we hit Algebra in 7th grade. I'm looking forward to Beast Academy and hope they publish their 4th and 5th grades soon. If that doesn't materialize, we'll keep moving along in SM, possibly eliminating the wb and just doing the IP. I think dd will start Pre-algebra when she's 11 and she'll have time to get to differential equations and/or do a year of statistics before graduating from high school.

[shoretee]

I am currently teaching a 3rd grader as well. He was not being challenged in any way while completing the Saxon Math 54 set. I went to the CBD website and gave him the placement tests for Saxon. I gave him one test per day...we started with 54 and he completed it 100%. I gave him the next page for 65 the next day and he only missed 2. I knew he wouldn't get more than 16 correct and "test out" of 76. So...we just talked through that test to avoid causing any frustration on his part. He did better than I was expecting him to do! :) - He'll still be going into 76 but it was helpful for me to be able to see where he fit into their program. I think we will go ahead and move forward...this way if he does hit a more difficult mathematical process we can always slow down without feeling any guilt, before pressing forward again! :001_smile:

 

Here is a link if you'd like to use those placement tests. I'm not sure if other programs offer placement tests online or not.

http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?Ntt=saxon+math&N=0&Ntk=keywords&action=Search&Ne=0&event=ESRCG&nav_search=1&cms=1

 

I hope this helps you!