How do I accommodate her?

[crazyfordlr]

My almost 9yo, rising 4th grader, has tested as gifted. We always knew it, but now I feel like I need to be doing more than letting her work at her pace. Is this enough? How do you keep them interested AND on task? I mean, she finished her 3rd grade curric by Feb/Mar. We do Saxon Math (54), so that's the only thing that took her the whole year.

 

She's totally my STEM girl. She been watching Nova and understanding it since she was 4. She taught herself addition/subtraction. She picked up mult/div just by hearing her older sister drilling. She reads her Science textbook for fun. She builds and plays with Legos and has taken a series of Lego Robotics classes.

 

Dh and I were both labeled as gifted but never really had anything special happen b/c of it. We just went through school at an accelerated/advanced pace. We both graduated from high school at normal ages but with college credits.

 

Just to make life more interesting, her older sister has many learning difficulties. As a result we have her in cognitive therapy, OT, and remediation.

 

Thanks for letting me ramble. WWYD?

[dbmamaz]

for one thing, i would NOT use Saxon math - its very tedious for someone who learn quickly. Use singapore, which moves quickly. or just be flexible. My son and I went through Primary grade Challenge Math together in the first half of 3rd grade and he loved it. We started Life of Fred fractions towards the end of 3rd grade. later on, art of problem solving is good for advanced kids

 

If she is strong in Language Arts, check out Michael Clay Thompson's language arts set, aimed at gifted kids.

 

In general, use a more open-ended approach - if she is interested in a topic, take her to the library and let her research about it and write about it . . . she can learn as much that way, and probably more, than using a standard curriculum.

 

Follow your child's needs, dont follow the curriculum which is aimed at average kids.

 

imo

[crazyfordlr]

Thanks!

 

We're currently hsing through the school district, a long-term Independent Study Program. I started just b/c I felt so overwhelmed with all the therapies and remediation my odd is doing. Plus, I get most my curric for free (I have to pay for the things the school doesn't have like WWE). However, we still have to perform to someone else's expectations...too much for odd, not enough for ydd. I have a feeling I'll be going on my own before we're done.

[dbmamaz]

it is so hard to juggle them! My older boy needs a lot of structure and scheduling, my younger needs to be in charge of his own time. My older one cant handle noise, my younger one makes constant noise. Luckily, our first year of homeschooling (1st and 7th), my younger one refused to let me teach him ANYTHING but loved Time4Learning, so i left him on that and focused on my older one. Now my older one is able to work more independently, and i can focus more on my younger one

[crazyfordlr]

I think your 8yo and my almost 9yo have been cut from the same cloth! My odd has auditory processing disorder, so the constant chatter is not only annoying but downright troublesome. My ydd is constantly telling us every.single.thing she's read/done. I've been known to bribe her for a few mins peace and quiet!

 

Thanks for your input :)

[freerange]

Maths: Singapore or MEP, perhaps moving to AOPS later.

 

In general, look for opportunities to go wider or deeper rather than just steaming ahead. Not just textbooks either, puzzles, mystery/detective books, strategy board games, learning to program...

 

 

Also, have you had your older daughter tested to see if she is 2e? If everyone else in the family is gifted, it's very likely that she is too, but its hidden by her learning challenges.

[crazyfordlr]

Maths: Singapore or MEP, perhaps moving to AOPS later.

 

In general, look for opportunities to go wider or deeper rather than just steaming ahead. Not just textbooks either, puzzles, mystery/detective books, strategy board games, learning to program...

 

 

Also, have you had your older daughter tested to see if she is 2e? If everyone else in the family is gifted, it's very likely that she is too, but its hidden by her learning challenges.

 

The school district did test her and said she was not gifted. TBH I think she is because she has been able to develop coping skills on her own to counteract her weaknesses. She's also extremely intuitive - she was bullied most of 1st grad in ps. She told her teacher one day, "I know it isn't about me. Caitlin's heart is hurting and she takes it out on me." My dd was 6 yrs old!

 

Thanks for letting me share ;)

[AK_Mom4]

What works for us here is to do mini-classes - little 3-4 week intensives where DD studies up on a topic and does some project. Last spring, it was space travel and she designed a moon base. We have a pretty good library, so it's easy for DD to find books on something she is interested in (I generally have to give her a list of topics, though).

 

Maybe let her pick up some interesting things beyond what is typical for her age? If your child likes sciency-stuff, maybe pick up something she would be interested in - Astronomy? Geology? - and have her start getting library books on the topic. Maybe some fun programming like Scratch? I ran across this one on Building Board Games (http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Your-Own-Board-Game) the other day and thought I might add this to our list of "things-to-do".

[jenbrdsly]

for one thing, i would NOT use Saxon math - its very tedious for someone who learn quickly. Use singapore, which moves quickly. or just be flexible. My son and I went through Primary grade Challenge Math together in the first half of 3rd grade and he loved it. We started Life of Fred fractions towards the end of 3rd grade. later on, art of problem solving is good for advanced kids

 

If she is strong in Language Arts, check out Michael Clay Thompson's language arts set, aimed at gifted kids.

 

In general, use a more open-ended approach - if she is interested in a topic, take her to the library and let her research about it and write about it . . . she can learn as much that way, and probably more, than using a standard curriculum.

 

Follow your child's needs, dont follow the curriculum which is aimed at average kids.

 

imo

 

:iagree:

 

Good luck!

[kohlby]

In general, look for opportunities to go wider or deeper rather than just steaming ahead. Not just textbooks either, puzzles, mystery/detective books, strategy board games, learning to program...

 

Agree. Sometimes, simply moving faster can work but it gets boring at some point. My gifted 9 year child was actually okay moving faster in Math. We did MUS. But by Algebra I, he was getting bored - and I was bored too. We switched over to AoPS and it's been wonderful! The child who used to cry if he couldnt' do MUS 100% correctly instantly is willing to work harder on AoPS and can handle not getting every problem right all the time - because he knows he's being challenged. Before he used to feel proud of finishing math books quickly. But now he's proud of how much he's learning - and getting pride even just working through a single challenging problem. After two weeks on AoPS he said "I like homeschooling because I can get challenged in math." This is a kid who likes to get through his schoolwork as fast as possible. This is a kid who normally likes the easy way out.

 

For grammar/writing, we like Michael Clay Thompson. I was a little nervous about using MCT initially since we were very realxed in first grade and didn't use anything formal - just read a lot and he wrote books. I didn't really think he was gifted in LA. But MCT has worked quite well for us. I do notice a significant difference in difficulty level between the first and second level books though so look closely to decide which one to start with. (Their website recommends starting with the first level when you start if you start in 3rd or 4th grade. We started in 3rd, so it was easy to decide. But a child who had a stronger grammar background may be fine starting with the second level).

 

Science is all over the place. He decides what he would like to learn about and then we find resources. As a result, it's never an elem aimed science curriculum, but that's okay! Science is his favorite subject. Not watering it down to grade level is a huge reason why.

 

For social studies, we go off on tangents. If he's very interested in something, then we find more materials on it. He wants to learn deaper and not gloss over. Learning a date means nothing, but reading in depth about all the details means a lot - and he'll remember that better later.

[crazyfordlr]

This is why I love The Hive!!! I get wonderful information, wonderful support, and wonderful ideas :) Thanks! I'm feeling much better about everything this morning.

 

We're in CA and this year's SS is CA History. She's really interested in the Gold Rush, so we went to the site where gold was discovered. She was fascinated with mining process, not necessarily the geology kwim. That's still science, right?

 

Also, ITA that Saxon is not a good fit for her. Dh and I worked for John Saxon himself and the program is near and dear to us. I'm okay with letting it go, dh not so much. He wants me to "modify" it somehow. For now I'm thinking about hand-picking what problems she should do and/or copying the equations for her b/c she insists on doing mental math for every problem. (I'm sure John's rolling over in his grave about this.)

 

TIA!

[happycc]

What about Latin and a modern language?

Is she learning these? Latin can help her learn the scientific vocabulary she will need for her Stem interests.

 

STEM giftedness-stuff from Mindware or Creek Edge Press science task cards.

 

AIMS

MS Science Nuceus

TOPS Science Curriculum

Science Olympiad

Snap Circuits

Life of Fred

 

MEP is free off online.

Singapore is more challenging than Saxon.

Art of Problem Solving.

Michael Clay Thompson

 

I am not sure where you live in Northern California but if you go with an independent charter school (pays for WWE etc) you can have a little more freedom with what you buy through them than through the independent study program of your local public school. I get way more from the charter school than I ever did at our independent study program which they mostly gave me a bunch of boring textbooks.

[crazyfordlr]

Thanks for your response, Happy!!! Great ideas :)

 

Funny you should mention Latin and modern languages...that's what I did in college ;) I've started working with her on Latin and Greek roots but she just might like full-blown Latin.

 

IDK why I can't seem to take the next step and do Ocean Grove ... I guess because the girls really like our current ISP program at Oak Grove. Personally I HATE the books from Oak Grove. B.O.R.I.N.G! Ugh.

 

Parenting is so hard!!!