Curriculum Suggestions for 8 and 10 year old

[L0NER]

Hi,

 

I was looking for general curriculum suggestions for an 8 and 10 year old. Both have been identified as gifted but don't have too much interest in school (right now). They've recently moved in with me and I want to be able to better direct their education. So, one crucial element as far as I am concerned is that they will find the material somewhat interesting.

 

I am thinking about the following: Language Arts (Reading, Grammar, Writing, Penmanship and Spelling), Math, Science and Social Studies. Does anyone have any curriculum recommendations or know of any good resources that I could investigate?

 

The school that they attended in the past didn't eplicitly teach grammar. As their teachers told me, it was just sort of "built in" to the reading selections. In other words, they know next to nothing. This is very important to me. I have heard about Rod and Staff as well as MCT (I don't have an unlimited budget but I will do my best). Are there other options that are good? Those are the only two that many seemed to favor. What about Reading, Writing and Spelling? I would really like quality books in those areas as well.

 

They both excel in math. I know about a few publishers like Saxon and Singapore math. The older child wants to work ahead, so hopefully there would be some suggestions about what to do after the normal 5th and 6th grade levels.

 

The one area that I've had little luck finding good information on is the area of science. The 10 year old really enjoys engineering-type things, so this could be pretty broad. I know that this probably isn't a normal question on here but has anyone had any luck finding a good book (and language) to learn programming for kids? I would favor secular materials in this area.

 

I would like my children to all have a good grasp on the history of Western Civilization. Where would you start here? I am talking about social studies in particular but I wouldn't mind reading these works in other areas as well if there is an integrated curriculum. They have learned nothing in school about this and I find this particularly irritating.

 

if I've done a bad job searching the forum, feel free to just link topics. Thanks for any help.

[Five More Minutes]

Have you read The Well-Trained Mind? I have found the recommendations there so helpful as a starting point for sorting out what programs to use.

 

MCT Language Arts has been an expensive but worthwhile investment for us. It weaves together grammar, poetry, and vocabulary into one amazing package. I add on writing instruction, because the exercises in MCT are limited to enrichment only. Writing With Ease is economical and very effective, so you might want to look at that one. Your older student may be ready for Writing With Skill, or may need a year of WWE to prep for that.

 

For reading, I would keep it simple: just ask them to read good books for a certain amount of time daily. Deconstructing Penguins is a nice guide to having discussions about what has been read, and it may be available through your library. I highly recommend it.

 

I would recommend Singapore over Saxon for gifted children. The former is easier to compress and adjust to the pace. There are placement tests for it. But ... Math Mammoth uses a similar approach to Singapore, and is much cheaper. It's worth checking out, especially as you may have students who could follow an atypical progression. For fun, Beast Academy would probably be interesting for your 8 y/o. After Singapore or Math Mammoth, Art of Problem Solving is waiting for you! :001_smile:

 

With history, I would just start with The Well Trained Mind's recommended 4-year history cycle. Begin with ancients this year. Story of the World with the Activity Guide will probably work well, although you may want to supplement for your older. Or there are some people using The Human Odyssey with middle schoolers, but I've no experience with that one.

 

Science has been hard for us to sort out, and judging by the profusion of science threads, it's not an uncommon problem. We have ended up using Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding as a guide through science, and add in TOPS science units for longer inquiries. But it isn't open-and-go by any means.

[mom2boys030507]

For my 8 and 10 year old we are using a variety of programs, but trying to be aware of a budget.

 

For math, I love Singapore. Have your kids take the post tests and pay attention if they are missing sections or over all mistakes. My boys have loved Beast Academy for fun as well as Life of Fred. Because you are looking at gifted kids, I would seriously consider starting Life of Fred with the intermediate books or fractions - it can add up quickly but is also not consumable.

 

For grammar, we use Rod and Staff. I would think your kids could start with their grade level and do just fine. This is not a fun program but my boys are learning a lot. We do close to 90% orally. I take the writing assignments and apply they to history and science.

 

History - read the TWTM. If you are really wanting to do US history/ geography. I really like the trail guide series from GeoMatters. We have done most of Trail Guide to World Geography and it was a big hit in our house.

 

For Science - I would recommend finding units that your kids are interested in. Use this as a way to make learning fun again. Lots of exploration and experiments. The VanCleave books are great for this as well as just finding books in the library.

 

My 8 year old has been learn Scratch programming this year with Super Scratch. It has been a bit hit. This summer my dh is teaching both older boys how to program in HTML and is currently a hit

 

My biggest recommendation is to find things your kids are interested in and help them to gain a love for learning again. Take starting school slow. Start with one new thing each week or every other week when you start. Do lost of fun projects or whatever they enjoy - as long as they are learning new thing! Once, your kids are enjoying learning then adding things like grammar that need to be learned but aren't necessarily fun will be easier.

 

Enjoy the process of getting to know your kids better and watching them discover their passions.

[L0NER]

Would you guys suggest anything prior to MCT Language Arts for writing? What I mean here is something very basic that will drive home all of the essentials of writing sentences (punctuation, capitalization, etc)?

 

I did read the Well Trained Mind. I am just trying to modify things. We initially started First Language Lessons but it is difficult given that I have kids all over the place (the eldest is disabled). The repetition got a lot of eye rolls but perhaps we should have stuck with it longer. Did anyone find the Writing With Ease copywork to be excessive or helpful? My main worry is that we won't get to the basics of writing.

 

Also, how do all of you feel about the spelling programs? I didn't find any consensus on what was considered the "best" program for capable spellers. I would prefer that it include a strong vocabulary component.

 

Thanks.

[warneral]

I have 9 and 11 year olds. The older is a boy who I delayed kgartden for a year before sending him to public school. The younger is a girl who seems to "get" Language Arts. Therefore my 2 were 1 year apart in school. I have them both do grammar together. It is a nice way to get interaction between us all. My dd had no problem doing grammar 1 grade ahead so they both did my son's grade. I would teach them the same level at the grade level between them (if you think it would work for your individual kids). We have used (and liked) FLL 3 and Rod and Staff 4. Next year I plan to use Hake 6 at half pace over the course of two years. I wanted to reduce the amount of time and effort we spend learning the same stuff over and over again :) Hake has quite a bit of review (so I'm told) and I hope that it will be a good fit. My philosophy about grammar is changing because (while I think it is important) I want to spend more time on writing.

 

We use math mammoth and I think it is great! It is strong on conceptual and mental math and it is inexpensive. Also, I love that we don't have to juggle books since everything is all together. Here they can start at whatever level is best for each kid.

 

We like Rod and Staff Spelling (after having gone through 5 levels of the time consuming all about spelling). There is a lot of religious content which is not a problem for me. It includes vocab and spelling and is done fairly independently.

 

We love Mystery of History and I find it is perfect as a spine (Christian). It is a great jumping off point for additional notebooking, projects and games.

 

Science - that is a tough one. I can't help. I've bounced around from RSO to BFSU (which I love but it just wasn't getting done) and next year we will be trying BJU.

 

There are some free online textbooks for secular options. Supercharged Science (which I think is expensive) might be fun for your kids but I have no experience.

 

Best wishes!

[SilverMoon]

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Edited July 10, 2022 by SilverMoon

[Pen]

Hi,

 

I was looking for general curriculum suggestions for an 8 and 10 year old. Both have been identified as gifted but don't have too much interest in school (right now). They've recently moved in with me and I want to be able to better direct their education. So, one crucial element as far as I am concerned is that they will find the material somewhat interesting.

 

I am thinking about the following: Language Arts (Reading, Grammar, Writing, Penmanship and Spelling), Math, Science and Social Studies. Does anyone have any curriculum recommendations or know of any good resources that I could investigate?

 

The school that they attended in the past didn't eplicitly teach grammar. As their teachers told me, it was just sort of "built in" to the reading selections. In other words, they know next to nothing. This is very important to me. I have heard about Rod and Staff as well as MCT (I don't have an unlimited budget but I will do my best). Are there other options that are good? Those are the only two that many seemed to favor. What about Reading, Writing and Spelling? I would really like quality books in those areas as well.

 

Reading, as much as possible just go to a library and bring home lots of excellent books--if you let them choose some with your approval (or all if they are choosing wisely) this would both help to make it interesting and also keep cost down. ( Unless there is some problem with reading that needs a curriculum or program.) In general, reading more and more difficult books --sometimes aloud so that you will know how they are doing, and discussing so that the understanding is checked, is the way to get better at reading. You can also read aloud to them at a level higher than they can read, or can alternate reading aloud.

 

I liked the Zaner-Bloser GUM, Grammar, Usage, Mechanics, workbook for grammar. ZB also has penmanship, spelling and writing, that are relatively cost effective. This summer for fun my ds has a Mad Libs. We also have The Critical Thinking Company's Language Mechanic.

 

There are a lot of good writing programs available, but for some children finding a good fit can be hard, and many writing programs are quite expensive. You might want to ask them for some writing to see where they are, whether they are "reluctant" or "prolific" or in between etc. and maybe post more on specifics before choosing in this area.

 

 

 

They both excel in math. I know about a few publishers like Saxon and Singapore math. The older child wants to work ahead, so hopefully there would be some suggestions about what to do after the normal 5th and 6th grade levels.

 

I personally strongly prefer Singapore to Saxon. MathMammoth is a solid and fairly cost effective option. My son recently started Jousting with Armadillos for Intro to Algebra which is written for 6th graders. Some with very advanced math children are doing AOPS or other Algebra programs.

 

The one area that I've had little luck finding good information on is the area of science. The 10 year old really enjoys engineering-type things, so this could be pretty broad. I know that this probably isn't a normal question on here but has anyone had any luck finding a good book (and language) to learn programming for kids? I would favor secular materials in this area.

 

There was one I was told about--kid friendly programming language--but cannot recall what it is called right now. If I remember and no one else beats me to it, I'll post it.

 

I would like my children to all have a good grasp on the history of Western Civilization. Where would you start here? I am talking about social studies in particular but I wouldn't mind reading these works in other areas as well if there is an integrated curriculum. They have learned nothing in school about this and I find this particularly irritating.

 

Reading Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer would be a good start.

 

if I've done a bad job searching the forum, feel free to just link topics. Thanks for any help.

 

 

Welcome!

[Pen]

"LOGO" is the name of the programming language.

[wapiti]

I will have to check out LOGO. For programming for these ages, Scratch would be my go-to suggestion. My kids love it.

[IMustBeCrazy]

For grammar, we're using Easy Grammar by Wanda Philips. She uses a prepositional approach, where the kids learn the prepositions first. They identify prepositional phrases to identify the subject and predicate more readily in a sentence. This will be my first year using it, but it came highly recommended by a friend, and I am looking forward to it. I will be using it with my 10 and 8 year olds.