How to slow down?

[Prahl]

Hey guys I have a 5 year old that will be 6 in late July. So far we have done two level grades of math in 6 months i see she ready to move on. How do I slow her down she's about 1 year ahead in everything else. I feel like I'm going way to fast. We use Singapore math. Any tips would be welcomed. By the way I'm not pushing her.

[EKS]

Once she gets to challenging material, she'll slow down on her own. Maybe.

 

I found that ages 4-6 were difficult to find an appropriate level. The resources I used were easy but my son seemed to have gaps. Once I got through the gaps, things got better in that I could anticipate where he would be in 6 months or a year. At age 7 he finally settled somewhat and things were more predictable.

[StartingOver]

Why slow down? Just meet her where she is, that is the best you can do.

[OSUBuckeye]

We know you're not pushing her, but slowing her down simply because you're uncomfortable with her speedy progression might not be the best option. Throwing more challenges at her is best. Have you played math games and read picture books about cool math topics? Have you taken a look at Beast Academy 3, which soon might be at your daughter's level (trust me, that'll slow her down more than a little). Have you taken a look at Singapore Challenging Word Problems or their Intensive Practice books which can be used as a more challenging version of the Singapore workbook, at Zaccaro's Primary Challenge Math, at MEP (the free British national curriculum, often called "puzzle math"), and Miquon (check out educationunboxed for very cool Miquon videos by Rosie). Homeschooling Paradise had free, challenging word problem-styled questions, but the website shut down last year (I can PM you the PDFs if you like.) Life of Fred is another fun reading/math option, although I've only seen the first few and don't know how much of a challenge they are (they're certainly fun, though). One or a couple of these might strike your fancy and might keep your daughter focusing deeply on concepts, rather than sprinting through grade level after grade level of math.

 

What I'm trying to say is that if your daughter is moving that fast then 1) please don't impede her progress by setting an arbitrary limit to how far she can explore math because she will hit that point quickly and then fall into boredom, and 2) rather than accelerating through years and years of math on an easy program, try to also give her some first-grade problems that will actually challenge her (ahem, slow her down, if even just momentarily). The resources I mentioned above have a way of challenging kids' thinking. It'll stump her for thirty seconds, and she won't be able to speed through so quickly. But don't be surprised if the new-found challenges leave her craving even more math. ;-)

[Donna]

I had a hard time finding a challenge level with dd when she was 5yo and we first started homeschooling. We went from 1st through half of 3rd grade material before I found anything "new" for her to learn. I did begin to do math only 3-4 days a week and added in Challenging Word Problems and Zaccaro's Challenge Math. Math is not her favorite subject so I don't feel the need to move so quickly and she didn't complain. I don't want her to stop learning or become bored so slowing her down any other way would not have worked well. Doing math less frequently in the week allows her to do more in subjects she enjoys more and to do some subject she might not get to do with daily math. If she were a kid who loved math and begged to do it, this would not have worked either.

 

Math seems to be the only thing I use that is really "leveled." I have no problem modifying curriculum and giving her material in her other subjects right where she is even if input and output levels don't always match. Those first couple years were the most difficult. Once I got used her dd's learning style "very whole to parts" and learned to expect jumps in understanding, we hit our stride.

[Prahl]

We know you're not pushing her, but slowing her down simply because you're uncomfortable with her speedy progression might not be the best option. Throwing more challenges at her is best. Have you played math games and read picture books about cool math topics? Have you taken a look at Beast Academy 3, which soon might be at your daughter's level (trust me, that'll slow her down more than a little). Have you taken a look at Singapore Challenging Word Problems or their Intensive Practice books which can be used as a more challenging version of the Singapore workbook, at Zaccaro's Primary Challenge Math, at MEP (the free British national curriculum, often called "puzzle math"), and Miquon (check out educationunboxed for very cool Miquon videos by Rosie). Homeschooling Paradise had free, challenging word problem-styled questions, but the website shut down last year (I can PM you the PDFs if you like.) Life of Fred is another fun reading/math option, although I've only seen the first few and don't know how much of a challenge they are (they're certainly fun, though). One or a couple of these might strike your fancy and might keep your daughter focusing deeply on concepts, rather than sprinting through grade level after grade level of math.

 

What I'm trying to say is that if your daughter is moving that fast then 1) please don't impede her progress by setting an arbitrary limit to how far she can explore math because she will hit that point quickly and then fall into boredom, and 2) rather than accelerating through years and years of math on an easy program, try to also give her some first-grade problems that will actually challenge her (ahem, slow her down, if even just momentarily). The resources I mentioned above have a way of challenging kids' thinking. It'll stump her for thirty seconds, and she won't be able to speed through so quickly. But don't be surprised if the new-found challenges leave her craving even more math. ;-)

thank you so much I didn't really see that way. I thought that by moving her along was giving here more of a challenge. I would love the PDF files I think that would strike her fancy. She love word problems. This information was very helpful i didn't know about these ther programs thank you for sharing with me.

[Prahl]

Thank you guys this has been extremely helpful. I do see thing differently and feel relief that there are other ways to go about this.

[jennynd]

Why slow down if she likes the challenge? My 4 yrs old (just about to turn 5) will sit in her corner makes her own math question and solve it. There is no slow her down because she is pushing me going. She is half way through SM 2b. I also have a 8 years old working AOPS algebra.

If u go too slow, they get bored. If they want to go, find the most difficult program and let them run with it. Also remember SM has CWP and IP. You might want to add those. DD is in love with IP

[Spetzi]

Don't forget what they are learning in the early years. They need to know their basic functions to see how numbers are related. If they are math-minded, this is not difficult for them (other kids might need a lot of drill, as you may have seen from some math curricula.)

 

If you decided later that you want to slow down, you can always go broad with interesting topics (logic games, patterns, number theory, probability) which are often omitted from even great courses.

 

We supplement with living math books. If you like that idea, check out this site http://livingmath.net/

[Prahl]

I love the living books idea. Thanks for the link.

[LucyStoner]

Meet her where she is at but be sure to go wide and deep rather than merely racing through levels. Incorporate challenge materials, puzzles, tricky math and spacial reasoning games, problem solving, math groups and classes for gifted math students etc. My son can do the whole pretest for AoPS but we are layering in lots of different materials, have had him in classes (on things like Infinity and Square Numbers), focusing on getting an in-depth knowledge of arithmetic and decided to wait for start AoPS till he is 10 this summer. The AoPS website has a great article on mathy kids being ill served by being the best math student in the room or only doing math they find a breeze. It's the stuff the bends the mind and takes trial and error for them that really brings the learning for talented math students.

[Pod's mum]

Another vote here for MEP maths.

We use it and I showed it to friends of ours who have just starting using this 'afterschooling' their kids. They were all stumped by some of the problems and had to work them out together. They enjoy it though, as we do.

 

Prahl, I see you are new, you may like to 'edit' your post to remove your personal email address and instead invite people to PM (personal message) you for your email address. This is a very public forum and it's a good idea to protect your privacy and the privacy of your kids a bit if you can.

 

Welcome, by the way.

[Mommy_of_4]

I gave up trying to slow ds down. I would just meet your Dc where they are. I plan to add in challengeing word problems and beast academy soon for ds.

[regentrude]

Why slow down? Get challenging materials and have her work at her own pace.

[Alte Veste Academy]

Well, I slowed DS9 down for a good long time, not because I was uncomfortable with his speed but because I was uncomfortable with his attitude about math. He could do it all...go, go, go, go, go. But he was doing it without enjoyment for a good while precisely because I was following a curriculum and not going wide enough or beautiful enough with it. Personally, I don't care if my kids are accelerated in math (or in anything else for that matter) if they don't actively engage with the subject. This is coming out all wrong probably, because I'm not talking about fun. I'm talking about that feeling you get when you are doing something you are good at and that is the reason for a gleam in your eye. DS got that gleam more when we went wide than when we went forward. When you have a really mathy kid, the operations can be a real snooze fest, frankly. But there is so much more to learn than the operations in the early years. You are just more likely to find it in supplements than you are in straight curricula. I now talk to my kids frequently about the difference between mathematics and arithmetic. We focus on mathematics. How to slow down? Focus on mathematics and go wider than the curriculum. But if they are enjoying it all, I vote don't slow down at all.

[regentrude]

Well, I slowed DS9 down for a good long time, not because I was uncomfortable with his speed but because I was uncomfortable with his attitude about math. He could do it all...go, go, go, go, go. But he was doing it without enjoyment for a good while precisely because I was following a curriculum and not going wide enough or beautiful enough with it. Personally, I don't care if my kids are accelerated in math (or in anything else for that matter) if they don't actively engage with the subject. This is coming out all wrong probably, because I'm not talking about fun. I'm talking about that feeling you get when you are doing something you are good at and that is the reason for a gleam in your eye. DS got that gleam more when we went wide than when we went forward. When you have a really mathy kid, the operations can be a real snooze fest, frankly. But there is so much more to learn than the operations in the early years. You are just more likely to find it in supplements than you are in straight curricula. I now talk to my kids frequently about the difference between mathematics and arithmetic. We focus on mathematics. How to slow down? Focus on mathematics and go wider than the curriculum. But if they are enjoying it all, I vote don't slow down at all.

 

That makes perfect sense to me. It reminds me of our contrasting experiences of racing through Saxon 8/7 at breakneck speed (5th grade DS took one semester) while hating every minute of it - and then spending time to leisurely go through AoPS Algebra, savoring every problem and concept.

[acurtis75]

Another. The for living math books (dd loves sir Cumference books and biographies about mathematicians) as well as supplementing.

 

We use mus as our spine, beast academy, life of Fred (currently on fractions but dd read the whole elementary series first for fun), Singapore CWP, and a pre-algebra puzzle book, games on the iPad, khan academy videos on the iPad, books from the library like murderous maths

 

We jump around primarily because dd hated math even though it came easily to her. After getting a lot of advice here we starting rapidly accelerating her spine and doing all the other stuff to add some enjoyment. She told me las week she is enjoying mus zeta/decimals and it's probably becaus right now I'm learning something new every week instead of doing twelve months of the same problems over and over.

[mathnerd]

I had the same situation as the OP with my 5 year old. He was way ahead of grade level and was going at a speed alarming to me. I was not concerned about how far ahead he was but that his speed and progression might simply deter the retention and recall of concepts at a later date and that he might lack the ability to go beyond regurgitating the concepts and unable to apply the theory to real life situations or problem solving. Frankly I am not sure how good long term memory is at this age.

So, I let him learn concepts beyond his grade level for the "fun" part of mathematics and to keep that spark/curiosity/interest thriving. But, I have changed my approach to the formal learning by adopting the "mastery" concept as well as using multiple curricula for math. We dig deep until he is rock solid in a concept before moving on to the next concept formally. We use Singapore math (workbook, IP, Extra practice, CWP etc) as well as do a weekly math lab using manipulatives (cuisenaire rods/miquon), do word problems and verbal math where we use no pencil and paper at all, perform experiments like counting change, doubling/halving recipes, watch Khan academy videos related to our current topics and then read LOF for some extra fun. This is in addition to the advanced concepts he learns for fun as well as using EPGY math and Dreambox math online. Believe me, this amount of digging has slowed his progress drastically because it takes a long time to dig really deep. For example, when he finished addition, he could add 3 digit numbers mentally with carry overs which is when i decided that he should move to subtraction formally though he already knew simple subtraction (while his PS K class is just introducing 3+4=7 which is how far they are going to get this year). We are working on multiplication and geometry (measurments) now and it is going to take us a few months to get through really delving into it before we move on to division.

What I am saying is if your kid is able to deal with it, dig as deep as they can go into each topic while keeping it fun so they do not get bored. This will automatically slow them down while making them very strong in concepts.

[kohlby]

I agree with going at your child's pace - but also know it won't always be fast. With my oldest's math, racing through worked for a while - until it didn't and he needed much more in-depth math. So we switched curricullums. Being gifted isn't about moving faster, but getting into more detail. However, when you're covering the basics, faster is quite normal. We have used mastery all along and love it. (However, we didn't start anything formal until first grade, which also caused the speed to be faster with both of my two oldest).

[CyndiLJ]

We have a just turned 10 year old 4th grader who has just been identified as gifted, and it is no surprise to us. Not highly gifted, but definitely solidly in the gifted category. I never taught him a lot of math, he sort of just "knew" it, or could see it once and get it. Right now he has started Teaching Textbooks 7,which I know is not the most rigorous, but that is fine for us right now :-) It is certainly well above 4th grade math though, and when he tops out TT math we will then go on to harder curriculum later in his high school years. He also is reading at 5-6th grade level, and doing all other subjects with his older siblings who are all 1-4 grades ahead of him.

 

Homeschooling is about letting them be where they are at,and not artificially slowing them down or speeding them up. We have a wide range of abilities in our home for a lot of different reasons. No one cares, we just work where we are at as individuals. I could try and slow Josh down, but why? Later on, there is always something else for him to learn :-)