His school has tried to give him some exceleration with math, but even going up a couple of grades (they get the materials from higher grades and give them to him in second grade) does not help at all. His teacher taught sixth grade last year and said he feels pretty sure that my son already knows most of that as well, so they have kind of run out of ideas for him for elementary school and he is only in second grade. Hard for me to figure out what to do!
Thanks again!
Anne
This part here 'screams' Davidson YSP. Make sure that you highlight this part, and get the teacher who taught the 6th grade math to write a letter about how 'unusually gifted' he is.
There are no agreed upon definitions of MG/HG/PG, but here's my 'off the cuff' idea of how your child compares to other gifted kids. I'm out on a limb here, so if any families with 'Mathy' kids could add a comment and correct or support me a bit, please do.
An MG kid might need 3rd grade Math in 1st grade, but even if Math was his strongest subject, one would expect that the child would have to 'work' to stay up with the fastest 3rd graders.
An HG kid might be happy doing 6th grade math in 1st grade.
But being ready for 'beyond' 6th grade math in 1st grade/2nd grade - that really is unusual, even for Davidson YSP kids who are all 'PG' by Davidson's definition.
BTW, the 'obvious' choice for what to teach after 6th grade Math is (drumroll) Algebra. Obviously you don't have to rush, but that's the material I'd reach for to bring back topics from.
What kind of resources are available to teach Algebra?
from -
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/online_hs.htmAlgebra 1A and Algebra 1B Introductory Algebra course, interactive, with homework, quizzes and tests (with key) (NROC)
Patterns, Functions, and Algebra Basic Algebra course; interactive with online video. Originally designed for teacher training. (Annenburg/CPB)
Supplement this course with free online Algebra I textbook, Understanding Algebra (Boise State University)
Supplement this course with video lectures for Algebra
NOTE: Requires broadband connection
I'm also fascinated with
http://www.khanacademy.org/totally free, and you can start with Pre-Algebra. Let me know if this helps anyone, ok?
Not free, but cheap and easy to monitor is Aleks.com
When we did this 5 years ago, it was terrific for giving problems and tracking what my son knew how to do, but not so good at explaination. My hope is that they have improved, or if not, one can supplement with Khan Academy or just googling the topic.
