Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Math enrichment in K, 1, 2, 3?

Can anyone help me out? My K child is working on grade 3 to 4 math at home, grade 2 at school, and the school has told us that they want to work on enrichment rather than acceleration. I am trying to figure out if the enrichment will be interesting or will be things she's already mastered.

What sort of topics are covered by enrichment at each of these grade levels? I have found general lists, but nothing grade specific.

I've been told the same thing at my DS8's school for the last year and a half. (He's in 2nd grade now.) If I hear "we want him to go deeper, not wider" one more time, I might just scream! My kid doesn't need to go any deeper with understanding what 7+0 is! Sorry, got on my soap box there...

What I finally realized is that my DS really doesn't need more extensions. He needs to learn more. That's what his brain can handle and what he needs to stay motivated. So my advice would be to advocate for opportunities for your child to "prove" that he/she knows and understands the material, so that he/she can move on. I sure wish I had done that for my DS...

Yes, it was in the Assouline and Lupowski-Shoplik book. One of these days I'll quote them to the school.

kcab, do you think these are more second grade or kindergarten level? She's in K and they've tested as far as second grade and she's working at 3rd - 4th, depending on the topic. I want to figure out what they'll do to enrich at K level, or at 2nd level, and if they'll be something we've already thoroughly covered. And I'm working with a five year old who can't tell me what she had for lunch.

In our experience, it's hard for early elementary ed teachers to truly get that a child is beyond the regular curriculum. From what we've seen, the teacher is usually pleased that a child tests as knowing all the curriculum during the fall assessments, but it never really occurs to them that that means the child is ready for different work. When we've managed to convince a teacher that something more is needed, the enrichment they have come up with is almost always problem solving skills.

Last year when DS was in 1st, he was given problem solving worksheets to work on completely on his own. Things like, "If student A is sitting in the middle desk in the front row, student B is sitting behind student A . . . where is student H sitting? or "There are 10 people waiting for a movie. Three of them are going to see x. Two of them are not going to see Y. How many of them are going to see Y?" DS got very frustrated that he had to work completely on his own with these after he finished the grade-level work, I think because he was unused to having to actually think at school. Interestingly, he could do the work completely on his own at home because he was used to thinking at home. It took a period of adjustment (and a subject acceleration) for him to see that he needed to actually pay attention and work at school.

Since DS's 1st grade teacher was willing to do enrichment but not acceleration, we sent in a few workbooks for him. The ones that we felt like met his needs were the Flash Skills Grade 3 Problem Solving workbook. He also really liked Primary Grade Challenge Math by Edward Zaccaro, but that required more one-on-one time with him and a teacher or aide, so that wasn't done as much in school.

Thinking back to when DD was in K, they "enriched" by having her work on more complex patterns, graphing data, and answering questions about geometric shapes, but it wasn't nearly enough.

Has your DD's teacher given any indication of her feeling about the need for enrichment or her understanding of your DD's current level of math?

I don't know. At our big meeting, the principal asked if she really understood what she was doing and the class teacher and math teacher said emphatically yes. And they were all amazed at something about the timed simple addition/subtraction test they did. But then they followed up with talking of enrichment instead of advancement. She has just started individual lessons once a week with the math teacher, so hopefully she will see where she needs to fill in gaps and where she needs to work on harder things. She's also going to provide the classroom teacher with materials.

Have you asked them why they want to push for enrichment over acceleration? Once you understand their motivations and reservations, it might be feasible to find a way to address their concerns as well as your own.

Also, have they been specific about what they mean by enrichment?

Val

Do you know what math curriculum the school uses? I ask because our school uses Everyday Mathematics. The plan behind this curriculum is a spiraling sequence. Meaning, they hit the same topics each year, just in greater depth and complexity each year. So, if you enrich a K curriculum, you basically get the 1st or 2nd or 3rd grade curriculum, depending on the level of enrichment. This could be a good thing in that she will essentially be accelerated through the curriculum. But this could be a bad thing in that she will essentially be accelerated through the curriculum. It could meet her needs, but it could also compound the problem of her being beyond the curriculum and force her to sit through even more repetitive material as she advances through the grades. If every teacher she has is willing to "enrich" her and move her through the curriculum at her pace, then it could work. I'd be a little concerned that she's only getting math instruction at her level once a week, although it will be a nice opportunity for that teacher to see how quickly she progresses and at what level, exactly, she needs to be taught. Are they open to discussing an acceleration for next year to address her needs, in case next year's teacher is unable or unwilling to continue to "enrich"?

No, they haven't been specific really, and I'm waiting to see what they do before I ask for more.

Mnmom, it's not Everyday math, thank goodness! If it was I would be trying to keep ahead of them on purpose so she wasn't thrown off by being asked to do things without explanation.

We don't want an acceleration next year, and neither do they. She's a young five. We're doing math at home as well, and the class teacher is supposed to be getting materials from the math teacher. And she's doing a GATE pullout group once a week. And we're all communicating via a folder (be interesting to see how it pans out). TBH we're really pleased that she's getting the one on one lesson from the teacher. I think once the teacher figures her out it will solve pacing without putting her in a situation where she would flounder (socially, writing, reading in K are all right for her). She could not cope in a group of nine year olds. It will most likely continue next year, and they're going to find a supportive classroom teacher.