Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Advocating for acceleration at a GT school

I am not going to bother with this this year. However, I've come to the conclusion that I need to try to get DD further accelerated in math next year. I don't think I've seen her get a problem wrong all year, unless she skipped it (rare). At this point she's working on mid-year 3rd grade concepts (she is in second). They generally keep these kids about a year ahead, but she could definitely do more.

She complains that math is too easy; however, she isn't particularly interested in learning math in her spare time and I haven't tried to expose her to much. Considering hothousing her a bit this summer--like, 15 minutes a day, even. Thoughts on an easy way to do this? She picks everything up very fast and gets impatient with repetition (I know I'm preaching to the choir).

Basically I guess I want her to look ready for 5th grade math. Hmmm...sounds like quite a jump when I think about it, but she just grasps things so fast. Do I want Kumon? Khan? FTR we did have some Singapore math books around when she was younger, and we didn't like them much. She hates all this manipulative stuff where she has to draw little boxes and so on--I assume because her innate math sense makes it unnecessary. She does not need a lot of explanation and becomes impatient with constantly doing the same skills over and over. We have not had great success with typical online math "fun" stuff, either--she does not enjoy coordination-based games all that much.

I guess...basically...I am looking for something where she can learn a lot in a short period, which she is fully capable of doing. It does not need to be gussied up with pictures, games, and elaborate methods of helping her "get" things like multiplication. She is fine with tackling a sheet of straight-ahead math. Like, right now, I know she would much rather do a big sheet of multi-digit subtraction with carrying--which she finds kind of fun--than something "conceptual" that is slowly explaining the concept of division.

Just realized that my title doesn't match where I went with my post. As I wrote it, I realized that I need to make sure she has the skills down first. But the next part will be figuring out how to make this happen at a GT school--so I'm looking for advice from others who have done that, too.

I'd go to a used book store and look at the available text books and also check out a home school supply store for the same. See what she likes then start working through it.

Your end goal is to get her to begin Algebra, so finding a canonical curriculum that you can stick with would be a plus. Perhaps a two-book series, one being pre-algebra and then algebra.

You could also look for a geometry text. Geometry can be a lot of fun.

We're using Singapore math for the summer, and my rule of thumb is, "if you can correctly solve 4 out of 5 problems from the Complex Word Problems that go with that chapter, you've passed the chapter." If she wants explanation before tackling the problems, we look in the textbook, or go over one of the worked problems, first.

Does Singapore get less picture-heavy/faster as it progresses? I have 1B here, which we fooled around with a bit when DD was in K. Looking at it again, I know exactly why she disliked it. It's actually a bit reminscent of Everyday Math, which she also didn't like. What am I missing? I know it's popular. I ordered it online so have never seen the higher-level books.

ETA--still trying to articulate what I want. We need something that moves very fast but that also does not assume familiarity with even basic concepts--for instance, she does not know how to manipulate fractions or multiply multi-digit numbers yet. So it's not like I can just hand her a 4th grade textbook. But even if I did sit down with her and work on that 4th grade textbook, she would probably become impatient with the slow speed of it once she "got" the concept. Oh, you guys know what I mean, right?

I would recommend Aleks. They still have the two months free trial available (http://www.aleks.com/webform/tm_203, sign up ahead of time since these are processed manually and it takes a few days to get access).

Pluses:
1) concepts are broken down into small units (about 100 concepts per grade level),
2) new concepts become available to learn as the child builds mastery,
3) only needs 3 correct answers in a row for a concept to be marked mastered,
4) child can pick and chose concepts from different domains every day (ordering fractions, parallel vs. perpendicular lines...)
5) each level in elementary pretty much contains all the levels before, so there is review built in if instruction wasn't systematic (when we started my son could do 4th grade operations but hadn't learned anything about time)
6) aligned to school curriculum, and let's you print a report of concepts mastered against your state's curriculum (which might matter when advocating for acceleration)
7) you can print lovely worksheets with 16 questions on 16 different concepts (which my son likes much better than grinding through one page of the same thing)

Minuses:
1) there isn't really any instruction, mostly explanations that walk you through a sample problem -- your child might need some parental help to generalize for some concepts,
2) I have found that the path of dependencies isn't always perfect, sometimes a concept becomes available before the child is quite ready, leading to frustration,
3) can be dry

I think the pluses hit your wishlist and the minuses wouldn't be too bad for your daughter's profile.

If she is working on 3rd grade stuff you can start her in the 4rd grade class, then depending on how well she does on the initial assessment let her finish or switch the class (<25% -> go to 3rd, >85% go up to 5th).

The website has the list of every single concept in every single class, if you are curious.

Have you tried any of the Harcourt "Math Skills" Family Learning Workbooks? They are about $7.00 at a place like B&N. If she doesn't mind the paper-pencil thing, you could just get a sample of grade-levels and she could complete problems (as many needed for proficiency w/out boredom) across grade levels.

I've used these with my DD. They have enough color to be interesting but tend more the traditional format but it doesn’t sound like your DD would mind that if nobody is forcing her to keep going and going when she already knows something.

If my DD knows a lesson/section, she skips it and if she really loves a concept so I “make up” similar problems on sheet I make and print myself or sometimes you can google it and get free worksheets online for that type of lesson.

For drilling there are a variety of math-fact type programs free online.

Thanks--I am going to check out ALEKS for sure. I haven't seen the Harcourt books at all, either, so will take a look. Her math curric this year is Harcourt-Brace and it's worked better for her than Everyday Math did.

And here is a thread about Aleks that will give you a better idea of the potential pitfalls:

http://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ubbthreads.php/topics/120000/ALEKS_Issues.html

geofizz has a good review somewhere online about what I find to be the worst weakest part, namely the lack of generalized, conceptual instruction. There is some useful reference if you click the links introducing a new term, but it remains skimpy, and I am fairly sure a bright child could end up "mastering" concepts without an actual solid understanding of the subject.

Also, not much writing, which my son loves, but is not a good preparation for "show your work" school tests. Standardized testing, yes.

But your daughter seems to have the right profile to make it work, as long as you are aware of the pitfalls.

Right now we have slowed my (AS) son's progression, since he is working 2 years above grade level and per his therapist (who is very set against acceleration in general) this is working to his strengths rather than his weaknesses (word problems!) *and* is going to further worsen his issues with cooperative work in small group settings .