Gifted 4th Grader LA & Math(CLE & Horizons)

[Angie]

Would love to hear CLE and Horizon users for 4th grade, I have some questions.

 

My son is currently in public school - 3rd grade. We will start homeschooling for the first time after this school year and I plan to use CLE LA (of course I'll test him first to make sure). I chose CLE because its open & go. Do I need to add anything else to the CLE LA?

 

I'm not crazy about CLE's Reading so I don't plan to get it. Any ideas what I can use or do for him?

He already reads on a 4th to 5th grade level in 3rd grade. He is GREAT with vocab words. He's been dubbed "Word Master" in school because he retains words and definitions very quickly so I would love to continue to challenge him next year. He LOVES being challenged.

 

For math I chose Horizons, but I'm wondering if I should stick with CLE for Math as well. Looking at the scope & sequence for both 4th grade levels and I see that my son is already covering everything this year in 3rd grade so its possible we will skip 4th math and go to 5th (again, we will test him). So does anyone have any experience with either of these 2 math curriculum's and share please?

Thanks

[TheApprentice]

My 7th grade ds is using CLE Math 7. There are about 4 pages per lesson and it's more spiral than Horizons (although it's spiral as well). I would definitely have him take the placement test, because while I believe CLE Math is solid, I don't feel it's advanced.

 

If your son grasps concepts quickly, you may want to look at Math Mammoth, which has a mastery approach, and from my experience, more "advanced".

 

If your son reads at a 4th or 5th grade level, you can take a look at Mosdos. My younger son will be using Coral next year for 5th grade. And for grammar, we'll either use FLL 4 or Growing With Grammar 5.

 

Just some more things to think about (and confuse you :001_smile: ).

[SebastianCat]

I would not go higher than Horizons 4 if you choose Horizons. With any math program, make sure you use that curriculum's placement test, because every single math program seems to teach concepts in a different order, with a different scope & sequence.

 

Horizons 4 is very advanced already and my gifted child did great with it in 4th grade. Don't let the first 30 or so lessons fool you - look at sample lessons about halfway through and definitely study the scope & sequence. It was very "meaty" and a great fit for one of my children.

[Angie]

My 7th grade ds is using CLE Math 7. There are about 4 pages per lesson and it's more spiral than Horizons (although it's spiral as well). I would definitely have him take the placement test, because while I believe CLE Math is solid, I don't feel it's advanced.

 

If your son grasps concepts quickly, you may want to look at Math Mammoth, which has a mastery approach, and from my experience, more "advanced".

 

If your son reads at a 4th or 5th grade level, you can take a look at Mosdos. My younger son will be using Coral next year for 5th grade. And for grammar, we'll either use FLL 4 or Growing With Grammar 5.

 

Just some more things to think about (and confuse you :001_smile: ).

 

 

Thanks for the info!! Never heard of Mosdos but I just checked it out and it looks very interesting, but out of my budget too =( Would I use that in addition to CLE LA? And do you need all the components listed? (student books, teachers manuals etc)

 

 

I would not go higher than Horizons 4 if you choose Horizons. With any math program, make sure you use that curriculum's placement test, because every single math program seems to teach concepts in a different order, with a different scope & sequence.

 

Horizons 4 is very advanced already and my gifted child did great with it in 4th grade. Don't let the first 30 or so lessons fool you - look at sample lessons about halfway through and definitely study the scope & sequence. It was very "meaty" and a great fit for one of my children.

 

 

Thank you so much for that info! that is great to know. I do plan to test him first. I was going to go with Saxon, then someone I know mentioned Horizon because of the color...LOL, but I did like it better when I checked it out, and the price was right for my budget too.

[Angie]

I have used CLE Math 100-600 with my kids. It is excellent. It is also self-teaching from the 300 level on. This is a huge plus as my guys hate for me to teach math to them. I would say it is advanced compared to most public school books. My older two finally learned all their basic facts thanks to CLE's daily drills. We had tried Saxon before but it was too much for mine. Another plus my guys like is they do not have to copy problems. This takes care of number reversals or sign reversals. They found the amount of work each day just right and the explanantions understandable. I feel they were well prepared for higher math. You can skip the -01 LightUnit for a level if you do not take breaks between levels. I would encourage you to use it for your first level, though, as a warm up. Absolutely take the placement tests.

 

CLE LA needs to have the writing portion supplemented from what I have heard. I have not used it but I have drooled. I am not sure really, how much you need to do that, tohugh as 5th grade has an entire LU dedicated to writing a research report. CLE has a writing handbook for you to use to teach writing in a workshop style. At 3rd/4th, kids really do not need more than writing out narrations/summaries from history, science and other books you assign.

 

If you really feel you need literature comprehension guides, Memoria Press has some that are challenging starting with 2nd grade. The guides are not exactly leveled. Just pick the book you want to start with. MP guides have vocabulary for the book, discussion questions, comprehension questions, and enrichment activities for just about every chapter. These are not lightweights. Vertias Press also has some but I felt they were mostly collections of questions. Another choice is to use a good books list and assign readings to go along with history {or not} with book summaries at the end. Literature analysis can wait until 7th grade on up.

 

 

 

Thanks for the info. I probably won't add any literature to Language arts. I'm planning to get him Mystery of History so maybe I can expand on that. He's not that big on reading, if any, he is JUST starting to enjoy reading chapter books so I don't want to overdo it. I do want to make sure he's up on his writing though.

[Angie]

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