reet3 Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 After homeschooling my oldest DD for 4 years, I think I now have the courage to take my 9 year old twins out of ps (finally) to homeschool them too. They are reeeaaaallllllyyyyy competitive b/g twins. Both are bright, but one has a real natural ability to grasp mathematical concepts and retain them very quickly. I am using Saxon with my older DD now and I really like it. I will use it with my twin DD, but I'm not sure it would be a good fit for the math whiz DS, and his speed in getting through the material would probably cause us all pain, especially twin DD. So my question here is twofold: any suggestions for a good math curriculum for a student who excells at math at the fourth grade level? and Any suggestions from mothers of twins for handling the competitiveness? Thanks to all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 I finally separated my twins for math in 7th grade - should've done it a year earlier. You might want to think about Singapore or Math Mammoth for the twin who catches on quicker. They are both very strong programs. Saxon isn't my cuppa, but if it's a good fit for your dd, then that's one decision made. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 SM or MM. With either, you could use SM's CWP and/or IP books. I use MM at home. One of my boys uses MM at school. My 9 y.o. twin boys are in different classrooms at school for the moment, so that is how we deal ;). They have very similar levels of ability but different temperments - the one that is more risk-averse is at least a half or a whole grade level behind his brother because of that. I'd also check the Accelerated board for more math advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 My twins are 8yo, and we have this issue, too. So far we've been coping by using different schedules, but I know I might need to split them in near future years. Their younger brother is doing Miquon, so I use 1 of them to help him, and - that helps both of THEM, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandylubug Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 I survive homeschooling four kids, two of which are indentical twins, by having their schedule of work vary from each other. I just can't teach them together. The only subjects we do together as a group is history and science. Everything else is staggered time with me; especially Math. My advice would be to pick curriculum that meets each others specific needs instead of one curriculum for them both; that way they aren't doing the same things and can't compete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyinMD Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 My twins are 7 and sound similar. I started both together in math thinking it would be great to teach them together but it became apparent very quickly that ds was way ahead of dd. I wound up using Singapore for my very mathy ds. He does not need a bunch of review and often picks up math concepts very quickly so Singapore is a great fit for him. When we did carrying and borrowing he just needed to be shown a couple examples and he has made very few mistakes since. With my dd she is doing MUS and doing well with that. She has a much harder time picking up math so I think it is a good fit for her. She still needs to build problems and I think she would not do well with Singapore. I think it would move too fast for her. It is really better they are in different programs altogether. It helps eliminate some of the competition between them. They both did Singapore 1A for awhile but ds finished it in just a couple weeks and dd was having a hard time with it. That's when I decided they had to do different programs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudboots Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 :bigear: I have 4yo b/g twins. DS is speeding ahead of DD in both math and phonics, and DD is showing signs of jealousy. ("Mom, you didn't write those big numbers on my paper!") She's stronger in drawing and crafts. I'm going to need to develop an interest in art, for her sake! It's interesting how many families have your twins in separate programs altogether. I probably should start preparing myself for working with them separately. So much for the advantage of being able to group twins together... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlktwins Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 I've been using MM for my 6.5 year old twins. I'm getting ready to supplement the mathier twin with Singapore IP and CMP. I split them up for math, spelling, one-on-one reading, and WWE. I do the rest together for now. They aren't super competitive, but my mathier twin will start telling less mathy twin the answers to help him out :tongue_smilie:. We did go through a period when less mathy twin was saying he wasn't as good at math as his brother. DH and I told him that everyone has things that God made them extra good at and that his was art and storytelling. His brothers was reading and math. Less mathy twin is also our technology kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 I teach my twins individually for subjects like math. I'd recommend, further, that you use different curriculums for them. Then there is no comparisons in pacing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 (edited) We are dealing still dealing with this. We moved both girls from SM to CLE because it wasn't working as well as I would have liked, and one really needed the repetition. I now work with them seperately. The hardest part is that both have the same potential, but one twin has achievement problems related to her cerebral palsy. They are both doing well with CLE and we are supplementing with SM online with each going at their own pace so they cannot compare each other. For us it's a problem with the girls comparing each other, soon that dynamics will change because their younger brother (by 2 1/2 years) is set to pass them both when it comes to math. ;) Maybe I'll get lucky and Beast Academy will work for him. Edited February 26, 2012 by melmichigan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reet3 Posted February 28, 2012 Author Share Posted February 28, 2012 What a relief it was to hear all of your responses. I thought that my twins were just abnormal--or that I just was failing to get them to get along. And you all confirmed my instinct to teach them separately for those subjects where they might excell. I feel much better now. Thank you, thank you, thank you:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 I finally separated my twins for math in 7th grade - should've done it a year earlier. You might want to think about Singapore or Math Mammoth for the twin who catches on quicker. They are both very strong programs. Saxon isn't my cuppa, but if it's a good fit for your dd, then that's one decision made. :) :iagree: I would also look to make them as independent as possible so that they can work from different programs for more then just math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 My advice would be to pick curriculum that meets each others specific needs instead of one curriculum for them both; that way they aren't doing the same things and can't compete. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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