Originally Posted by squirt
I read somewhere in some thread about math and "going deeper instead of higher". How do you do that at elementary levels?

Check out Ed Zaccaro's materials.
http://www.challengemath.com/

Originally Posted by squirt
...if the school is completely against acceleration, what would be the point of having my son (6.5) do EPGY or another program to challenge him at home? Wouldn't sitting through school math be just that much more boring?

If your child is gifted in math, he/she will probably already know the math concepts before they are taught regardless of any math enrichment you provide. I have provided minimal math enrichment and my dd knows 95% of the grade level material before it is taught. She learned about multiplication two years before it was taught in school because she asked me a question about it on the way home from school.

Also, because of the way math spirals, a gifted child can be taught the basics of a concept and extrapolate by herself/himself or ask questions until his/her curiosity is satisfied. My dd learned to tell time by the hour on an analog clock in kindergartern. She wanted to know more than just the hour. The teacher would not instruct her because she was not scheduled to learn more until 1st grade. My dd came home wanting to know more so I explained it to her. She learned the concept in minutes.

It really doesn't matter whether they learned the material 6 months or 6 years earlier. The process of listening to the teacher explain a known concept to the other students and waiting for the students to learn will still be boring.

So why provide enrichment at home? One reason is because these kids often beg for it. My dd loves ALEKS and is unhappy with me right now because I didn't renew our subscription. I have been told that the district has purchased a license for my dd (and about 50 other GT students), but it is not ready to be activated yet. Still, my dd asks me about it every few days.

Also, I believe that children should be engaged or challenged in areas of their strengths especially if this challenge is not provided at school. I personally do not want my dd to spend 5 years not learning any math.

I find it interesting that we tend to look at math differently than we look at language. Would any of us deny our children the privilege of reading a particular book because they will have to read it again in a higher grade? Math kids hunger to learn more math the same way language kids devour books.

I recommend providing opportunities and following your child's lead.