Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Math resources for verbally gifted 7 year old?

Hi all--

I'm looking for math resources for my 7 year old daughter. She's a very fluent reader (going into 2nd grade, reading at about 5th grade) and absolutely loves science. She's wanted to be a vet or work with animals as long as I can remember, but I keep telling her that she'll need math to go with her science. Problem is, she hates math. She claims it's boring--and it probably is in the way that her first grade did it.

I'd like to give her something to do at home (maybe math games online?) to build up her confidence in math. She's not terrible at it--on the Woodcock Johnson Achievement, her Broad Math was a 126, which put her about a grade level ahead. But her general intellectual ability (IQ) from the WJ Cognitive was 152, so I think she can probably be doing better. Her processing is slow--on the WJ-III, her fluency score was an 89 (below grade level), and on the WJC, her cognitive efficiency was lower too. I think that she's got a mixture of slow processing (she's still adding on her fingers) and boredom that's adding to the dislike of math. I, too, was a verbally gifted kid who hated math, and it wasn't until high school trig and pre-calc that I discovered that math can be really fun. I'd like her to figure that out a little earlier!

Any recommendations?

Thanks--
Stacey

She might like ixl - I *didn't* like it so take the recommendation with a grain of salt, but we used it at home for a little while for our kids when they were in early elementary and their older brother was doing more rigorous after-schooling in math. It's got a wide range of grade levels (and most likely more now than it did then), and it has graphics/games etc that younger kids love. It also (when we had it) didn't require your child to go in any particular order, so you/she can pick/choose based on something that's fun for her at a level she is comfy at to start.

I also wouldn't worry too much about her hating math right now - that can change (even if it didn't change for you until much later in school!)... as well as she might find math motivation in a few years anyway once she's a little older and the real connection between needing to achieve a certain level in math before you take a certain science course kicks in. So I wouldn't panic yet

Best wishes,

polarbear

DS8 is also an avid reader and fan of science. Math- not always so much. One problem is that at this age so much of what they are doing is memorizing math facts which is, frankly, boring.

Ixl didn't do it for him. But we have had some success getting him to understand that math can be fun by letting him play games like Electric Company on PBS kids (graph work) and dragonbox (iPad game that has no calculations but teaches you the basic rules of algebra through a solitaire type game- really fun!). He's starting to get that there is fun math ahead but that we have to get through these math facts to see more of it. When he's really frustrated with math facts we set them up as algebra problems (7x=21) and that somehow makes it more fun for him. My husband is also excellent at finding every day math things for him (eg. asking him in the car how long it will take us to get to our destination based on our current mph and distance left). All of this helps build that excitement that I think is vital to slog through the math facts.

IXL has fact practice just like that; here's a sample:
http://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/solve-for-the-variable-multiplication-division

There are also some less drill-y practice resources out there in print, like this. Math facts are used in all the problems, but they're all different. I remember that the "math for the gifted" workbook series had some fun problems too. I'd also check out the other usual suspects: Life of Fred, Ed Zaccaro's Primary Grade Challenge Math, Murderous Maths, Perfectly Perilous Math, Mathematics Enhancement Programme, Sunshine Math, etc.

We have used some of the Kumon workbooks at home. it is a drill and kill thing but surprisingly, my kids haven't minded doing them. We only do one page a day though. It has helped ALOT with math facts.

Bedtime math . Com will email you a new word problem every day. We think it's fun.

Have not looked at this yet, bookmarked it for when I get a round 'tuit.
http://www.geogebra.org/cms/

Skoolbo http://skoolbo.com/ is a free website that is being developed by the people who created Mathletics / Spellodrome. It combines both spelling and numeracy, and is great fun to use. It's good for all platforms: iPad, PC/Mac etc.

My son's school offers the children a Mathletics account, but his teacher set him at a level which is way below his capabilities, and no amount of chasing around has helped him move up any level, despite his cries of boredom and frustration, so I have purchased a separate account for him (approx $50/year) This allows me full control over weekly 'tasks' or assignments and numeracy subjects...and I set the system to match his learning levels. It also allows for a variety of school systems - from International Baccalaureate to localised state curriculum.
www.mathletics.com

There's lots of Apps that are free too. Do a search under "education / maths" and see what sparks your child's interest and run with it.

Wow--thanks everyone! I'm looking forward to exploring those resources with my little math-phobe!

I like Kumon. We used one of their workbooks to teach DS how to tell time. True, it's very drill and kill, but also logical and clear.

I wasn't sure how to proceed with telling time... I never taught DS's older sister. She could just tell time, and before her class covered it, so I'm not sure where she learned it. (Does it sound bad that I don't know? LOL) DS didn't pick it up as easily, and the Kumon book made teaching it to him very simple.