What to do with dd4?

[FO4UR]

Well, she will be 4 this week.

 

I have not actively taught her much, but she has been learning by osmosis via her brothers lessons. She knew letter sounds at 2yo, and was reading cvc words at 3.5yo. She has been counting/adding with understanding (not just rote spouting of the numbers) for as long as I can remember. She has memorized the books of the Bible and several poems just by listening to me trying to get her brother to memorize them:lol:

 

I think my 6yo ds is bright, but dd4 seems to just pick it up effortlessly kwim. (...and ds is keenly aware that she is younger...)

 

My question? I don't want fix what isn't broken (she is learning by osmosis, and don't want to mess with that;)), OTOH at some point she needs a program directed just for her needs. At what point do I start her with something independant of gleaning from ds's lessons? (Did I mention she is strong-willed and high-spirited???:tongue_smilie:)

 

With ds, I am using SM maths (with an eclectic mix of RS, Miquon and MEP for fun review) and SWR for LA. I have this urge to buy her the Earlybird series for SM, but am afraid it's not what she needs. I think she could understand it all, but the discipline of doing a workbook with Mommy giving her directions would likely cause sparks:glare: (and we obviously need to work on discipline in other areas before adding seatwork to the list ) For LA, I am teaching her cursive - daily reviewing the strokes for the letters and tracing. (She began printing spontaneously about a year ago - when her brother did...and begs for her turn at "penmaship" every morning) She is also learning the phonograms in SWR (again, alongside her brother) though we haven't started spelling dictation yet.

 

So - when to buy her a math book? what math book? (can I wait until ds finishes 1A and then start her there?) when to start her on formal spelling? or go in a different direction alltogether???

 

tia for any input:001_smile:

[musicianmom]

One tip I've picked up from reading here and elsewhere is this -- if you think your dd might pass up your ds at some point in math, use a different curriculum altogether so that it's not obvious.

[DinoMom]

I was using RightStart Maths Level A with DD when she was 3. We really stretched it to last for 1.5 yrs. That was the only homeschool curriculum we worked on, might be once a week. It was fun because we did not have worksheet, only games and manipulatives and she learned a lot from there. She didnt even know it was Maths.

[chai]

I like the idea of Right Start for her, even though I've never used it, but isn't that teacher-intensive? When my dd was at that age, she started the first Miquon book. I let her pick it up and use it whenever she chose. No formal lessons--no teaching unless she needed some help getting started or she came to me with questions. After Miquon Orange, we started Singapore 1A together.

 

I wouldn't start formal spelling until she is writing easily. Spelling wasn't useful at all until dd was actually writing her own notes and things. I'm not sure what grade Calvert starts spelling, but this might be another easy program for her to do without you having to teach it--everything is done on the computer and can be done at her own pace.

[FO4UR]

One tip I've picked up from reading here and elsewhere is this -- if you think your dd might pass up your ds at some point in math, use a different curriculum altogether so that it's not obvious.

 

good point - I'll have to think about that.

 

 

I was using RightStart Maths Level A with DD when she was 3. We really stretched it to last for 1.5 yrs. That was the only homeschool curriculum we worked on, might be once a week. It was fun because we did not have worksheet, only games and manipulatives and she learned a lot from there. She didnt even know it was Maths.

 

We have RS Math Games and Activities for the Abacus. :001_smile:

 

I like the idea of Right Start for her, even though I've never used it, but isn't that teacher-intensive? When my dd was at that age, she started the first Miquon book. I let her pick it up and use it whenever she chose. No formal lessons--no teaching unless she needed some help getting started or she came to me with questions. After Miquon Orange, we started Singapore 1A together.

 

I wouldn't start formal spelling until she is writing easily. Spelling wasn't useful at all until dd was actually writing her own notes and things. I'm not sure what grade Calvert starts spelling, but this might be another easy program for her to do without you having to teach it--everything is done on the computer and can be done at her own pace.

 

I have Miquon too:lol:

 

For spelling, that is how I'm teaching my dc to read (SWR). dd is picking up reading without formal spelling right now though (ds6 is NOT - the spelling is what makes it click for him)

[Mommy22alyns]

Sylvia is enjoying sitting in on our RS A lessons - we took a big step back with Becca to relax in math and Sylvia's picking up a lot of it. She likes to play Can You Find? and I had to do a round just for her today.

 

I have a similar problem though - I have my hands full enough with Becca and keeping her occupied and on task, but I'm wondering when I should start something focused with Sylvia. And strong-willed and high spirited? Check. :glare:

 

So maybe I should just :lurk5: and wait to see what other answers you get since I've been close to asking this question myself!

 

And when is your DD's birthday? Becca's is Saturday and Sylvia's is the 24th. :001_smile:

[FO4UR]

Ella will be 4 on Friday!:001_smile:

[Spy Car]

Have you let her play with Cuisenaire rods? And maybe do a pre-Miquon/Miquon type approach?

 

This worked well for my son at 4. We had Earlybird too, but being able to work with the rods Miquon style eliminate a need to write much (a positive then) and really cemented his math confidence.

 

Bill

[ElizabethB]

If you do some formal or semi-formal phonics with her, at that age I recommend the white board. My Webster's Speller link in my signature explains a bit how I used the white board with Webster. Webster is actually a good choice for that age, you can have fun with the syllables and it's easier to start with 2 letter blends, you may as well start with syllables that will be directly useful later. However, whatever you decide to use, a really recommend a white board at that age, it's so much more fun and interactive for them than working out of a book.

 

You can also work with magnetic letters and do oral spelling, at that age they generally don't like to write for extended periods of time, but can usually spell better than you would expect if you do it orally and/or with magnetic letters. My children could both spell 3 letter words before they could read them. (My son still can't read anything yet, but can spell several words.)

[pbajgrow]

We have the same problem at our house. Ds will be 5 next month and has been reading for about a year and a half. He taught himself all his letters and sounds (with his little Fisher's Price computer), taught himself how to write, sits at the table (his choice not mine) and memorizes all the math facts that the older ones are learning (he knows all the math facts through the doubles:001_huh:), picks out any science or history book that we get from the library and memorizes all the facts that I read! He scares me! So far the only formal thing that I do is Phonics Pathways and Abeka K5 work. He is going way faster than Abeka right now so I switched to Phonics Pathways to keep up with him. Math is done on our own. He understands addition and is currently memorizing the ones that he doesn't know. I pull out manipulatives from time to time (a big annoyance for him) to make sure that he is understanding. I am still trying to make sure nothing is too formal. I made the mistake of pushing my older son. They grow up too fast, and I want to enjoy the time where we are able to just relax with a book or just have a play day and not have schedules or requirements for school work to get done. There is a time to come when he'll have to do this everyday, and we will. But not yet. He will get there, and when he does he will probably pass up a sibling or two. We'll deal with that when the time comes with doing different curriculum that won't cause the others to shreak and cry.

 

HTH, Jen

[Storm Bay]

I think that Miquon is a great idea, along with the Cuisenaire rods. We never did any earlybird or similar things with math. If she's not asking for this, I think something that's geared as independently as Miquon might work well. If she's strong willed a highly teacher-intensive program could cause more strife than it's worth at this point.

 

Don't underestimate the value of play in developing any child's mind and in learning--regardless of academic ability.

 

I have three strong-willed dc, and have had great success with more independently geared learning with my dds. My eldest was in ps until 8, so she just read Saxon & did the math (we started with that). Saxon was a poor fit for my second dd, so we did MUS (independently--she watched the video & did the work--it was obvious if she didn't understand it) and then added Singapore. I rarely need to do a lot of teaching with her, although I did with long division, fractions, and a few things.

 

What I've seen is that my dd did best doing math her way, but as she's grown older she has to be able to show her work. She's 10 now and this week finished SM 6. She could have been done sooner, but decided she didn't want to do that much work once she finished SM 3.

 

For reading, I did Phonics Pathways coupled with Bob books for her, and with Dick and Jane for ds--he did better with Dick and Jane than Bob books because he liked them. I did learn, however, to cover half a page of PP for my dd because she is highly vs and was overwhelmed with the volume on the page. I didn't have to do that for ds.

 

But if she's not begging for it, I don't see that you have to get her workbooks at 4. 5 or 6 is fine. And you don't have to do a workbook approach. I remember vivid threads on whether or not workbooks are good or bad. IMO, some of them can be helpful tools, but it's great to do things "outside the box" as well.

 

We had plenty of trade books of our own when they were younger (still do) and we use the library quite a bit. My strong-willed eldest learned most of her science this way for several years, coupled with a few homeschool science classes. She has impressed people with her knowledge and understanding of what she knows, and she did most of it independently.

 

I've also followed my dc's passions when they were 4 and 5. My ds was very much into physics and metaphysics at 4, so that's what we handled. He asked deep, penetrating questions, and sometimes we had to go years above his age level to satisfy his questions. He reads many books now at 8, but has spent a large amount of time reading about airplanes.

 

There is no need for formal instruction at 4 if she's happily learning already. My motto has been to choose my battles wisely. In our house, there are always battles over something (having to do hated subjects, chores, things like that) so I decide what are the most important issues at each age for each child. That's gone a bit off, but since you're concerned about sparks, I thought I'd bring it up.

[FO4UR]

Karin - you read right into my life LOL! I do think a teacher-led, teacher-intensive program would backfire on me. She can mentally do most of the work her brother is doing, but she is still a young-4yo at heart and the *discipline* of a workbook is not there.

 

I spent some time planning out April and May. I am going to try having a more structured time in the morning to present new info in a casual way. I'm going to use the idea of using a white board for phonics, and go through the old Blend Phonics book on Don Potter's website. I'd like to breeze through it in those 2mo - I think she'll take off with that. (ds will benefit from the review as well)

 

For math, I'm going to let her sit in with ds6 when we do SM TB (she already does this) and on days we don't do a TB page, plan a RS Alabacus/Miquon activity geared for her (and let ds play too for review). Then, in the afternoon when ds2 is napping, get out the RS math games and let them play together.

 

 

Thanks for letting me think outloud here, and keep the good ideas coming!:001_smile:

[Storm Bay]

Karin - you read right into my life LOL! I do think a teacher-led, teacher-intensive program would backfire on me. She can mentally do most of the work her brother is doing, but she is still a young-4yo at heart and the *discipline* of a workbook is not there.

 

I spent some time planning out April and May. I am going to try having a more structured time in the morning to present new info in a casual way. I'm going to use the idea of using a white board for phonics, and go through the old Blend Phonics book on Don Potter's website. I'd like to breeze through it in those 2mo - I think she'll take off with that. (ds will benefit from the review as well)

 

For math, I'm going to let her sit in with ds6 when we do SM TB (she already does this) and on days we don't do a TB page, plan a RS Alabacus/Miquon activity geared for her (and let ds play too for review). Then, in the afternoon when ds2 is napping, get out the RS math games and let them play together.

 

 

Thanks for letting me think outloud here, and keep the good ideas coming!:001_smile:

 

This sounds like it could work well. More structured than we were at 4 for my younger two, but it sounds like it will be fun, which is the key component here, I think. If she decides to do Miquon on her own, that's okay, too. One of the ideas behind that is that they do the math whichever way works for them.