Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Question about algebra and radical acceleration

I read somewhere in some thread about math and "going deeper instead of higher". How do you do that at elementary levels? I mean, adding and subtracting can only go so deep. Then, you pretty much have to move on to bigger numbers and multiplication and division? Or, am I missing something? And, 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? He can play Monopoly and be the banker and do all that but sometimes still counts on his fingers to add 3 and 6. He's also showed that he can follow the logic of simple algebraic equations (he can't do the multiplication, but he can tell me the steps).

What am I missing?

(Sorry this post got so crotchety - it's been a bad week!)

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


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.

Absolutely not...but many schools do. Sad!

Unfortunately, the only learning the girls have actually been super excited about happens at home. That's fine because I enjoy working with them and we all have a lot of fun.Also, they are getting lots of other things from attending school and at the moment it works well for them.

Neato

Neato, that's happening more and more with GS8. I got a bit rattled when he was accepted in the gifted program for this semester, and I was thinking, "what if he continues to get farther ahead of his classmates?" And I decided I'd deal with it when it became a problem. Then at the beginning of this final quarter he took another reading test which showed he'd gained over a year GE in 1 quarter, putting him at 8.1 GE for reading. And I got rattled again, wondering what we'll do if he continues to get farther ahead. That's when I realized, what we are doing is working! He's getting a lot of other things from school, we have fun after school, and he's learning! It is working well for him, too.

Yes, you need to move on to bigger numbers, multiplication and division. You are completely right, you can get only that far with addition and subtraction. Once you cover multiplication adn division things get more interesting, you can do Zaccaro, you can also look into Singapore Challenging Word Problems (3 and up. I wouldn't really bother with the lower ones).

You can also do things like Venn Perplexors, I suggest LevelB (3rd-6th grade). You don't even need multiplication or division for this. Kriston, your son may like it.

Of course we still add new concepts in like prime numbers, addition of fractions, geometry, ... It's pretty much unavoidable, but like I said you can go deep from a certain level and give them problems which will require some effort.

Oooh! I've never heard of Venn Perplexors. I'm hitting Amazon right now. Thanks, LMom!

Check
http://www.mindwareonline.com

PM for you

Yes - now I have Venn Perplexors on my to buy list.

Thanks for the info!

Our local Hobby Town USA carries lots of these products. I think that is a national chain so if you have one near you, you might check it out before you order and have to pay shipping.