Hi all! I know I'm always singing the praises of Singapore Math for home/afterschooling, but...
As we finish up Singapore book 2B, DS6 is bored with math. Frankly, so am I. It's been so easy, so basic, so concrete that we've been doing a unit per day (so that's doing a semester's worth of work in about 9 days!). There's just not enough actual THINKING. I looked through 3A, and it seems like more of the same stuff we did in 2B, even though Singapore is supposed to be MUCH better than most about not spiraling through the same curriculum over and over. But if you can add and subtract 3-digit numbers, then adding and subtracting 4-digit numbers is not exactly a challenge for an HG+ kid...and that's what's coming up. The whole 3A book, actually, seems pretty <meh> that way.
So, my question:
What would you do to jazz up math for this kid?
Limiting factors:
DS6 has learned how to multiply, but at the advice of MANY people who should know, including 2 different psychologists (not to mention my own intuition on the subject!), I'm not pushing him to memorize the multiplication tables yet. We worked on it a little, and it just made him hate math time. He'll get there when he gets there, and I'm okay with that...
Also, I am not a math person. I took all the way through college calculus, but it was definitely something I did because I had to. I do not love math. I do not want to pass on my blase'-ness to my son.
What I'm thinking/doing so far:
I'm getting my hands on the British Scholastic book club's series called "Murderous Maths," and I'm hoping those will form a lesson plan or two for us. They're things like codes, fractions, averages, trig, formulas, etc., and they're presented in a fun way, so I'm hoping they will appeal to him.
I'm also checking out every book on geometry that I can, since that seems to be the math that most fires him up. I may even go so far as teaching him how to do proofs, since he loves rule-based stuff. (If proofs are a flop, it will be a one-time experiment and we'll move on...but it seems worth a try.)
Any other suggestions for teaching a very bright, very verbal 6.5yo some off-road math?
Any topics in math that you think might be winners?
Other curriculum ideas are welcome, though I probably won't go with a Saxon/Kumon/etc. style program, since I am generally very happy with Singapore. We just need to jazz it up a little for a while.
I think what I'm really looking for is something more conceptual. I feel like 3A is (and 2B was!) just too concrete for the kid. I want some higher-level thinking skills in action, as I think that's what he's craving.
Thanks, everyone! I appreciate any help you can offer!
