Help planning for bored Kinder

[teachingmy3]

My youngest is 5. She is already bored with what I have for her and wants something "harder". 

She reads basic beginner books. She is bored with Plaid Phonics A (maybe I should jump way ahead?). She is bored with MUS Primer which we are half way through. She is interested in doing copywork with the older kids, particularly history. I am mostly concerned with the 3 Rs with her this year, so any science and history she does with us is just icing on the cake.

 

Can you help me think of some things that might challenge her since she's asking to be challenged? Curriculum suggestions?

 

Thanks!

 

 

[*Lulu*]

What does she perceive the challenging, or big-kid, stuff to be?

 

Is there something one of the older kids is doing that she is specifically interested in?

 

I know Bug considered HWT and LOF doing real school. Logic puzzles are also extremely popular here.

[Angie in VA]

How about using your Math-U-See rods and adding some other fun things, if you don't think it would be confusing, that is:

 

Crewton Ramone videos. A year's subscription is under $30. He is edgy, but amazing. :)

http://www.crewtonramoneshouseofmath.com/

 

Or there is our very own Rosie's Education Unboxed, free, I believe:

Google Vimeo Education Unboxed. My tablet does wonky things when linking sometimes.)

 

 

Classical Conversations sells (even to those not enrolled in a community) Prescripts:

http://www.classicalconversationsbooks.com/schocurek4to.html

If this is too different from the handwriting your dc is learning, you could just type up sentences for science or history for her to copy. There are lots of neat fonts on computers, or there is that program you can buy w/ different fonts. The name escapes me. Anyway, you could try to match what she is learning and type it up for her to copy. (Make it nice and big.)

 

Would she like to do a nature journal? Buy a blank journal and some colored pencils. Done. Or invest in some good quality bird seed and place a feeder where she can see it from inside and get a guide book and let her bird watch. You could keep a list of all the birds you see. Fun!

 

And if you don't have SOTW on audio, perhaps your library does. You could let her listen to SOTW and soak up history.

 

Great problem to have, you know. :)

[....]

Do you guys like unit studies?  That's a great way to add "more" without buying a ton of curriculum and committing to something long-term.  My kids have always loved these and I'm continuously putting them together.  You can create them for younger kids, too.  I made up a unit study and "lab book" using the book Greg's Microscope last year (just for an example).  Last December, we spent the entire month on a Survival Skills unit study I put together.  We read My Side of the Mountain, did First Aid, did some nature studies, studied weather, etc.  My kids had a blast.  There are tons of websites and books out there about unit studies and even how to create them yourself.  I even bought two used volumes of Konos and I pull unit studies from those.  I'm trying to put together a unit study right now about Native Americans.

 

You could always add something like Five in a Row also...  One of my kids used Volume 2 last year and enjoyed it.  I would use FIAR more, but I have trouble finding the books (and some are out of print), but that's another topic. 

[boscopup]

I'd bump her up to wherever she really is, and let her go at her own pace. Why can't she do history copywork? That's part of the 3R's - it's called "handwriting". ;)

[Tanikit]

If she is interested in copywork then I would have her copy things - make sure she knows her letter formation before allowing too much of this or you will have to watch her very closely and correct everything.

 

Definitely jump in the phonics - you want to get her reading, so go as fast as she is able - if its too easy and has too much repetition then she will get bored. Try and find that sweet spot for her, or if necessary teach her some of the harder phonics now and tell her that this is jumping ahead - if it confuses her, then you can easily go back again.

 

What Math do your older children do? She may find MEP 1 a challenge - if you put it in a folder so it looks like her own special book she might like that too? The more you can make her Math look like the older children's without it being the same as theirs the happier she may be - depending on her personality.

 

That is the 3Rs covered. Finally I'd ask her what she would like to do and add it in - if you can add in parts so that they reflect back the 3Rs you are teaching then this will be even better as you get to teach and she gets to feel like a big kid.

[strange_girl]

What a fun 'problem' to have! :) My oldest is like that. Just when I think she's finally in the right place academically, being challenged, she makes this huge leap and I'm falling behind her again! It never fails to happen.

 

Since you already have older kiddos, I think it would be pretty easy to jump her forward in math. K math is pretty simple, and she is probably ready for more actual math and less "Color the triangle green" and that sort of thing.

 

This is just my opinion, not an actual recommendation, but we found Plaid Phonics boring anyway. It was not a hit in my house. Our favorite phonics so far are Explode the Code (workbooks) and The Reading Lesson (non-consumable). I like The Reading Lesson because it's comprehensive and it has them reading fun little stories from the beginning. Plus you can cuddle up on the couch and do it together :)

 

If she wants to do copy work and her letter formation is solid, then she certainly could. She's old enough to do that.

 

She sounds like a smart, eager learner! Enjoy that :)

[Walking-Iris]

Let her do science, history, art, nature study, handwriting, games, Montessori sensory activities. 

 

Learning to read and do math is important, but can be pretty boring if that is all.

 

My youngest colored SOTW sheets and helped with every history and science project. He's been learning everything he can about evolution and dinosaurs up to Ice Age times.

 

He had his own science units. I used ScienceWorks and Mudpies to Magnets.

 

He did Harmony Fine Arts with my oldest. My 2 year old did too.

 

I'm not a fan of MUS, ymmv, but my ds enjoyed Singapore Essential K and c-rods. Bravewriter's Jot it Down is a great and fun add on for a young child's language arts.

 

Add lots of read alouds. And whatever your oldest are doing, include her.

[pitterpatter]

Not three Rs, but how about Lollipop Logic or something similar?

 

Can she write? If not, why not work on that?

[Ellie]

Spalding for English skills (reading, spelling, penmanship, capitalization and punctuation, simple writing). You can certainly add copywork.

 

 

 

 

[Mandy in TN]

You have gotten some fine curriculum suggestions, so I primarily just wanted to encourage you to let her do as much as she wants and stop whenever she wants.

 

She may want to run fast and furious through the rest of MUS primer in the next 3 weeks and then just play with cards, dominos, and dice for a few weeks. After that maybe you could look at MEP if you don't want to purchase another program yet.

 

If she wants to do narrations with the other kids, definitely let her. Give her a copy of the narration and tell her she can look if needs to know how to spell something. Also, let her know that she can finish at the end of whatever sentence she wants. She may end up copying one sentence and deciding she is finished, so be sure to give her an exit strategy that doesn't disrupt the other kids.

 

I like plaid phonics. I use it with my natural speller and it is cheap and easy. OTOH, there is a lot of overlap between books and they all look very similar. I would be concerned that if she doesn't like A then she will just see B as more of the same. Something like Spalding, The Writing Road to Reading, etc. will be to be extremely direct and pure phonics. It may prove more challenging, but it is also far more teacher intensive. I am certain that there are other workbook suggestions that are less teacher intensive but more challenging than Plaid Phonics. Of course, if you want to go another route, there are programs like Sing, Spell, Read, Write; Veritas Press Phonics; and McRuffy Phonics and Reading.

 

HTH-

Mandy

[SilverMoon]

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Edited July 10, 2022 by SilverMoon