Do you let your kids work ahead?

[EmseB]

My oldest guy is a very fast, independent worker.  On most of his subjects I've been limiting his assignments to 1 lesson per day out of a book (if they are numbered that way).

 

Part of it is that I don't want him to burn himself out and I'd like to let him learn to pace himself.

 

Secondly, I don't want him to get too far to where the curriculum or books would be above his maturity level (if not necessarily his ability).

 

Third (and this is where I don't know if I'm correct in my thinking) I feel like if he did, say, 5 lessons in a day there would be very little retention over the course of time.  Sure, he could power them out and be done with LA, but would he remember it?

 

This morning he was working in his Astronomy workbook and asked me why I only let him do 1 or 2 pages a day.

 

I'm just wondering what you all think about letting your kids work "ahead" of schedule and how you deal with it.

[Runningmom80]

I let my DS go ahead.  I figure if the retention is not there, we'll go over it again, seeing as how we'll have the time.

[wapiti]

Another vote for letting him go as far as he likes.  If the retention isn't there, you'll have plenty of time to review it later.  For some, that may be a better approach for memory than just going over it once.  (And I may be in the minority here at WTM but honestly, I don't think there's much from content subjects like science that is important to retain at the elementary level anyway.  Math and language arts are different, though I'd still absolutely allow working ahead and then simply review and/or add in more materials later if needed.)

 

Let him have fun.  Strike while the iron is hot!  There is no such thing as too far ahead, with the caveat that such a thirst for learning may present an opportunity to add greater depth than your current materials offer for the purpose of more fully developing your son's talents.

[mathmarm]

My oldest guy is a very fast, independent worker.  On most of his subjects I've been limiting his assignments to 1 lesson per day out of a book (if they are numbered that way).

 

Part of it is that I don't want him to burn himself out and I'd like to let him learn to pace himself.

 

Secondly, I don't want him to get too far to where the curriculum or books would be above his maturity level (if not necessarily his ability).

 

Third (and this is where I don't know if I'm correct in my thinking) I feel like if he did, say, 5 lessons in a day there would be very little retention over the course of time.  Sure, he could power them out and be done with LA, but would he remember it?

 

This morning he was working in his Astronomy workbook and asked me why I only let him do 1 or 2 pages a day.

 

I'm just wondering what you all think about letting your kids work "ahead" of schedule and how you deal with it.

That sounds like a public school mentality and I don't mean that as a slur as I personally have nothing against Public Schools. You do not have to limit your child to exactly 1 lesson a day if he is interested in doing and willing to do 5. You might set his baseline at a limit that makes sense for him, so maybe 3 lessons a day. If he finishes you can do another subject, continue in that curriculum, spend more time playing games for his trouble spots...

 

I just don't see the downside of letting a child work at their preferred pace, especially when it will set them ahead of schedule. If you finish 2 semesters of Astronomy in 1 semester then great--you get to do a semester of another subject that you might not have had time for otherwise.

 

[tm919]

I let my older daughter keep going ahead (age 5.5). The biggest disadvantage is that we've burned through a lot of budget in the past as things get consumed quickly. At least for her, in each subject she has reached a point where she "naturally" slows to 1 lesson a day -- which is a lot easier on my bank account!

[Plateau Mama]

I set minimums for my kids. If they want to work ahead they are more than welcome to as long as all their other work is getting done to appropriate standards. My middle LOVES science. He would ask to do it every day. The last two years he was home we completed two entire Apologia texts each year. He is in school now but has asked for the Algebra textbook they will use next year so he can work over the summer. Go for it.

 

Sometimes it's good to let the move ahead quickly if they are able. It will give you extra time later when they are struggling with a concept.

[Arcadia]

 

Part of it is that I don't want him to burn himself out and I'd like to let him learn to pace himself.

 

Secondly, I don't want him to get too far to where the curriculum or books would be above his maturity level (if not necessarily his ability).

 

Third (and this is where I don't know if I'm correct in my thinking) I feel like if he did, say, 5 lessons in a day there would be very little retention over the course of time.  Sure, he could power them out and be done with LA, but would he remember it?

 

 

1) when my kids are tired they will stop. I rather they burn themselves out at home (forgot to sleep) and learn from the experience than to burn out at college.

 

2) when it is over their head, they will just have to search for the information to bridge the gap. Maturity level, we haven't hit the problem yet since my kids aren't into literature analysis even though they read well.  My guess is that my kids would be able to understand Macbeth but not Twelfth Night if we start Shakespeare.

 

3) LA is spiral so far for grammar that I didn't need to worry about my kids forgetting.

 

So far letting my kids work ahead has only affected my pocketbook but not their retention. If work is sloppy or careless then it is another issue altogether.

[lllll]

..

[HS Mom in NC]

Of course I would. 

 

If he's allowed to work at a faster rate of his choosing then he will probably naturally slow down if his rate starts causing burn out.

 

Not being able to work at my own rate was a huge factor in why I abandoned the idea of public schooling my kids....while I was in public school.

[EmseB]

Wow, thanks for the replies so far.  I didn't really think of it as a "school" mentality, mainly because I don't make him sit and color when he might finish early (haha), I make him go outside or just play indoors or free read.  I feel like he's still 7 and needs to be spending a lot of time doing his own thing instead of having his head in workbooks (even if he's enjoying it).

 

With the Astronomy thing in particular, he was asking me this morning, and I was thinking  a) he would spend all his time doing pages in that book instead of doing anything else and b) the book is designed to study based on what you can see in the night sky on certain times of the year.  But for the first problem, I can set a time limit instead of a work limit and let him come back later, and for the second problem, when we go to look at stuff in the sky that will be review and I can see what he retained.

 

But, I guess reading all the replies, I'm learning that it works easier for me to have him on a schedule and that's not necessarily what's best for him and that if he wants to work ahead then it really shouldn't be any skin off my nose.  I like to plan, and he definitely likes to check boxes, so it's easier to give him boxes to check.  I do feel like he could do more if I gave him more boxes to check, though!

 

We did skip him ahead in math quite a bit as far as his Saxon math goes, but then we're broadening his math with Beast Academy instead of just plowing ahead in the next book.

 

I guess I'm just trying to figure out a good balance for him and me.  I will probably figure this out about when he graduates high school.  :P

[wintermom]

I let my dc work at their own pace, setting a minimum. If the child is moving very quickly through the material, it's probably easy for them and moving through quickly can be really motivating. As long as they are getting the material correct, then I don't slow them down when they want to keep going.

 

If the material is more challenging, or they are tired and/or bored, they slow down on their own. They get "burned out" if I forced them to move through more challenging material than they are ready for.

[Gil]

Personally I do not place a limit on the kids such as "1 lesson a day" in a topic that they were interested in and wanted to study more of. Not even in a formal workbook that depends on the sky--you can use star similators/moon calculators online to observe the sky also.

 

 It sounds to me like you need to buy more Astronomy stuff. There has to be more than a single Astronomy curriculum in the world.

 

 

[EmseB]

Personally I do not place a limit on the kids such as "1 lesson a day" in a topic that they were interested in and wanted to study more of. Not even in a formal workbook that depends on the sky--you can use star similators/moon calculators online to observe the sky also.

 

It sounds to me like you need to buy more Astronomy stuff. There has to be more than a single Astronomy curriculum in the world.

Thanks, but he and his dad are out using the binocs, telescope and his Messier catalog almost every night it is not cloudy here. The workbook was actually supplemental to the practical in this case, and it doesn't limit his stargazing. Or, rather, I don't limit his stargazing. They use an open-source star charting software that is amazing.

 

It was a bad example to use in this case, I guess.

 

I should clarify, too, that we don't limit study in any topic, based on his interest. We do a lot of interest-led learning, reading and exploring. I can't keep him in books to save my life. I was just wondering more about how people managed more formal curriculum where the lessons are very defined and, at least in my case, I've planned by week and term, etc.

[RootAnn]

I was just wondering more about how people managed more formal curriculum where the lessons are very defined and, at least in my case, I've planned by week and term, etc.

 

Eventually, one learns not to plan by week & term for the stuff a kid goes through quickly.

 

I like open & go stuff for a lot of reasons. If we need to slow down, we do. If the kid gets it & doubles or triples up on lessons, it is very easy to do that, too.

[HS Mom in NC]

OP, remember that you're talking about a 7 year old who's doing a workbook that's scratching the surface of the hands-on astronomy he's doing with dad.  Not all science is necessarily going to work like that for him from here on out.  It's entirely possible that he'll slow down in other branches of science, that he'll be flat out uninterested in some branches of science or that he'll hit a fast stride in all sciences and keep it that way.  Don't go making any assumptions about how what he's doing now will affect you from here on out. You just don't know what he'll do, so be prepared for different possibilities.

 

You can continue to do the next thing in everything or plan everything, but plenty of us who plan things out over plan because no one can predict the future accurately all the time, so we skip the planned things that aren't as important when it's too much and we do more of what we planned or all of what we planned when the child needs more. It just doesn't work as well when you under plan which might be what's happening with you right now. Some people plan every subject, others plan some subjects and other people plan no subjects, they just have the next book on hand when the child gets to it.  Don't get so set in stone for or against planning.  Consider your situation and your child and the pros and cons of planning and doing the next thing and adjust as needed knowing full well another topic, year or stage things could be very different for your child.  That's OK.  You can handle it.

[Amy Jo]

I don't and I do. I was also thinking about retention, so I have my speedy one limited. First, I'll say that I wouldn't do this with math (or phonics I suppose), but our math program (MEP) is really set up for 1 lesson a day - there is plenty there to think on. If I used a different program I'd probably just have him work X time per day.

 

Anyway, his strength is languages. So instead of letting him rush Latin, I allow (encourage) him to do German as well. Scheduled books are ... scheduled. But the beauty of homeschooling is I can give him lots of time. So if he wants to learn about X, we'll find a book or a way to make it happen, but I'm not going to be in the driver's seat: he is. (This is my 11yo BTW.)

 

I will say that he has more challenging books now. Perhaps you should go deeper on your kiddo's favorite subjects, if he isn't able to take the reins himself yet. If he can do pages and pages of a book, maybe it isn't enough for him anymore. My two cents.

[EmseB]

So, science-wise, I'm not that worried about it.  Like I said, that was probably a poor example.  I'm not fixated on how quickly or slowly he finishes the workbook.  It was more just something to complement their activities outside.  I was thinking sure it's fun to look at Jupiter and the moon and different nebulae with dad and check your boxes in your catalog, but here's something to flesh that out and now you know why the constellations are named as such, you know the 15 brightest stars in the sky and the zodiac, etc.  And he really has taken to it.  He got to teach his dad something about how to find a certain star in the sky (that he learned from the workbook) and he was thrilled about that.

 

I guess I was thinking more of something like spelling or math.  It's something he doesn't know yet, and there's an activity/worksheet every day to help solidify the concept and a list of spelling words with a test that would be on the 5th day of instruction.  In my mind, there's a benefit to going through this in 5 days as opposed to doing all the activities on one or two days.  I don't feel like the reinforcement bores him, or that he's really super interested in studying spelling or math, just that he likes to complete the pages.  And up until I asked the question here, I had kind of thought it was good for him to get up from his desk when he still wanted to do more, rather than to work until he didn't want to do anymore.

 

To think on languages, the Latin programs I have in my possession (we haven't started any of them) sort of work based on repetition each day.  So, yeah, he could go through the workbook pages really quickly, but the whole point is that he does a little chunk each day and does a chant each day, and if he did all the work in 2 days instead of 5, something about what the program is meant to do would be lost.  Does that make sense?  I was wondering more about those sorts of programs where your kid wants to move quickly but wouldn't necessarily retain what is meant to retain over the long haul.

 

I probably sound defensive, but I don't really feel that way.  This thread has given me a lot to think about in terms of workload and freedom for him next year.  I really appreciate everyone's responses!

 

 

And, yes, I realize he's still just 7, so just humor me a little when I'm thinking about this in way more detail than I probably need to.  :D

[Junie]

 

 

I guess I was thinking more of something like spelling or math.  It's something he doesn't know yet, and there's an activity/worksheet every day to help solidify the concept and a list of spelling words with a test that would be on the 5th day of instruction.  In my mind, there's a benefit to going through this in 5 days as opposed to doing all the activities on one or two days.  I don't feel like the reinforcement bores him, or that he's really super interested in studying spelling or math, just that he likes to complete the pages.  And up until I asked the question here, I had kind of thought it was good for him to get up from his desk when he still wanted to do more, rather than to work until he didn't want to do anymore.

 

 

 

With spelling, I have a 70 percent rule.  The kids can go as quickly as they want to, but they do not go on to the next lesson until they get at least a 70 percent on the test.  If they've already done the workbook pages, then they either write the lists extra times or review orally (depending on their learning style).

 

With math, I use Abeka and Saxon (which do review problems in every lesson).  There are others that review continually, but I'm not sure what they are.  I'm sure someone else can help with that if you want a recommendation.  Anyway, because of this, my dc sometimes skip lessons if they can prove to me that they have already learned the material.  This happens frequently at the beginning of the textbook because the first 30 or so lessons are review.

 

By working ahead, this gives us extra time in the year if we have to slow down because of a concept they're not grasping. 

[tm919]

I guess I was thinking more of something like spelling or math.  It's something he doesn't know yet, and there's an activity/worksheet every day to help solidify the concept and a list of spelling words with a test that would be on the 5th day of instruction.  In my mind, there's a benefit to going through this in 5 days as opposed to doing all the activities on one or two days.  I don't feel like the reinforcement bores him, or that he's really super interested in studying spelling or math, just that he likes to complete the pages.  And up until I asked the question here, I had kind of thought it was good for him to get up from his desk when he still wanted to do more, rather than to work until he didn't want to do anymore.

This has sort of happened to us. In Saxon Math, by combining lessons in the K and 1 levels, we ended up not doing the meeting as many times as was really "assumed," and some things that were almost entirely in the meeting actually fell through the cracks. Something similar happened in Shurley english. We did a lot of working ahead and then I realized she didn't know the "new" parts of the jingles in level 2 because she'd only gone through them 1/3 of as much as intended.In both cases, I had to backtrack and "fix" the problem, but I still think it's better than not having let her work ahead at all. I guess I think the possibility of watching for and correcting gaps is the lesser of two evils, relative to not letting them forge ahead when they'd like to do so.

[Amy Jo]

I vote for deeper. Actually at 7 I might just send him out to play, but that will probably be a minority opinion here. So for math, perhaps a Zacarro book. For Latin, maybe a few older readers to browse (or just Lingua Latina [emoji14]). We do studied dictation for spelling, and I have one natural speller plus one dyslexic ... so I have no idea there. :D

[Amy Jo]

DP sorry

[Mommy_of_4]

Nvm

[Arcadia]

  And up until I asked the question here, I had kind of thought it was good for him to get up from his desk when he still wanted to do more, rather than to work until he didn't want to do anymore.

 

  I was wondering more about those sorts of programs where your kid wants to move quickly but wouldn't necessarily retain what is meant to retain over the long haul.

 

And, yes, I realize he's still just 7, so just humor me a little when I'm thinking about this in way more detail than I probably need to.  :D

 

As to getting up from his desk when he is done.  If I give my kid two pages and he is done in 10 minutes what I budgeted 20 minutes for, then I let him continue until 20 minutes is up and chase him to play.  If he is done in 10 minutes with no careless mistakes and want to go play, that's fine with me too.  So far when it is kid driven, they never get tired of what they choose to spend more time on.

 

For languages, my kids prefer a few passes. First pass they do it fast for an overview. Second pass they really read and learn. Third pass they revise for their semester tests at their outside once a week class.  Even for math, their first exposure to Fibonacci numbers was probably when they were 5, then the topic came back again a few years later and it was familiar to them.

 

Just because he is 7 doesn't mean that you cannot ponder all you want.

[Mommy_of_4]

I let my kids work ahead as much as they want. The other day my 6yr old did 8 science lessons in one day and 3 math lessons. We do a spelling pre test on Monday and if they get a 90% we skip the list and go on to the next one. My 7yr old would complete multiple lessons a day at age 5 and now he is working on 4th and 5th grade level for everything and is slowing down to one lesson a day.

[Targhee]

I say let him go! Burn out is less likely then him discovering balance or reaching an appropriate level of challenge because he is doing it without being compelled to by anyone or any outside reason. They only time I say put the brakes on is when you are finding he isn't grasping the material.

[Coco_Clark]

On the one hand I say, let him go at it. Especially if it's interest-based. You will never "run out" of astronomy ya know? Burn out might happen, sure, but that just means moving on to the next big thing. And he'll most likely circle back.

 

On the other hand, if my kids are blowing through several lessons a day in a single subject- it's not challenging enough. Think about moving ahead, but also go deeper. I try to keep my kids within 1-2 grades of their age for maturity reasons but we can always go deeper. This mostly relates to skill stuff, however.

[kirstenhill]

When my DS was blowing through multiple math lessons a day and "getting it" -- getting all answers correct or understanding the concepts with little to no presentation from me, I started to realize we were in the wrong math program.  Instead of just blowing through several levels of a program that was so easy for him (in his case, Right Start -- a great fit for many kids but honestly not enough challenge for my gifted-at-math kid), we switched to BA for our primary program. 

 

Not that this may be your case, but if you are finding it to be a consistent occurrence that your kid can go through many lessons at once and still get correct answers, he may need more depth or challenge.

[Cottonwood]

The beauty of homeschooling..........letting them work at their pace.  Here, if they want to work ahead, it's because they are interested!  That's what we all want!  For them to be interested AND learn from it.  If retention is a concern, have daily discussions on the material  On my end, it means we are done sooner!  Win/win!

 

And, I do have something against public schools for making my children work at someone elses pace so I say, let 'em go!

[ScoutTN]

Yes!