Learning in spurts has me frustrated!

[blondeviolin]

Anyone else who has a kid that learns leaps and bounds, then lets everything percolate for a while and then more leaps and bounds? It makes it really difficult to find a good challenge level. One day it's too hard, and the next it's a-walk-in-the-park easy. :glare:

[go_go_gadget]

YES. Both of mine learn this way, and it can be great for when I need a lighter homeschooling schedule (I'm an undergrad, so finals and so on), but can be concerning when I feel like no progress has been made for months (Is it the curriculum? Are my expectations unreasonable? etc.), only to have them leapfrog over a level or two days later.

[Greenmama2]

Oh yes. DD has on occasion gone from too hard, total meltdown, I'll never understand to walk-in-the-park easy, why are you babying me with this? In 24 hours. Sigh.

[8filltheheart]

Looking at the age of your kids (oldest being 6), this is a completely normal experience and isn't limited to just accelerated/gifted kids.

 

I learned very early on that daily lesson plans for kids under 8-9 were pretty much a waste of time. Pacing is completely unpredictable b/c they do exactly what you describe. One day things are moving along quickly and then all of a sudden they slow down and seem to crawl or vice versa.

 

My experience has been that pacing is far more predictable by 3rd/4th grade and by 4th/5th I am pretty much able to know exactly how much work my kids should be able to complete in a given amt of time.

[Donna]

My dd still learns like this. I have learned to stop planning and just go with the flow. Not sure if the leaps and bounds are less dramatic or if I expect it to happen so am just better at dealing with them.

[boscopup]

I, too, don't do daily planning for my 6 year old. I never know what he'll understand. He tends to know nothing about a subject, then suddenly something clicks and he knows more than I expect him to. He's always been like this. It even makes him appear "slow" sometimes, but then he jumps ahead. Or I'll expect him to need to take time to understand something, and he'll get it right away, leaving me scratching my head.

 

My 8 year old never really did this. He has always just kept going, going, going. I have never had to slow down for him to understand something. I think he's the weirdo though. :D

 

Oh, and I also am NOT trying to challenge my 6 year old yet. He still likes things easy, and I'm cool with that. I won't worry about challenging him until he's old enough to get bored doing easy stuff. For DS1, that was around age 6, but I think it will be later for DS2. DS2's math is super easy for him (even the infamous unit 6 in Singapore 1A ;) ), but reading is still difficult, so I like having an easy subject that makes him feel confident in himself. His reading is coming along, and he's doing fine for his age. He just has to work harder at it, and so far, working hard is not at all fun. In fact, just yesterday when discussing what he wants to be when he grows up, he was trying to find a job where he wouldn't have to go to college or work hard in any way, yet he'd still make enough money to support his family. Ha! Not happening, kid. You gotta work, either physically or mentally or both. :)

[Uff Da!]

nm

[MissKNG]

Anyone else who has a kid that learns leaps and bounds, then lets everything percolate for a while and then more leaps and bounds? It makes it really difficult to find a good challenge level. One day it's too hard, and the next it's a-walk-in-the-park easy. :glare:

 

 

 

I have come to terms that finding a good challenge level will NEVER be easy!

 

And I feel your pain because both girls are always many steps ahead of me. One thing I do is keep various levels of resources available and ready to go.

 

I'm exhausted just thinking about this whole topic!!