Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Math curriculum and getting too far ahead thoughts

My DD7 (finishing second grade tomorrow) *loves* math and is always begging for math workbooks. On a whim, I ordered Singapore 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B and Challenging Word Problems 2. According to the Singapore site, there were topics in 2A/2B that she was not taught in her second grade which is why I got them.

In 2 weeks she has finished 2A, 2B and 3A. She thinks the Challenging WP 2 is too easy. She is already about halfway through 3B. It suddenly occured to me that perhaps having her do third grade math prior to third grade was not a good idea. She starts in the GT program next year and they will be doing compacted math (all of 3rd and part of 4th grade) next year, but even so I am wondering if I should have her continue.

She LOVES these books and is already asking for 4A and 4B. But I think that maybe I would like to go a different direction? DH thinks she is not "really" learning 3rd grade math and that she will be fine and I shouldn't worry. (Boredom was an issue for her this year.)

Suggestions for things that would keep her math happy but not necessarily covering the curriculum she will see next year?

First, I bet she *is* really learning 3rd grade maths! As I see it you have two choices: let her get so far ahead that the school will see that they have no choice but to do something special with her; or switch now to something off the mainstream. Frankly I think given how far you've gone on the first path already, and especially since she's begging for more, I'd go further along it - she's probably already learned a substantial amount of what the GT programme were going to teach her next year! So let her do 4A and 4B, make sure she does them thoroughly, make up problems on the earlier stuff for her and check she's really got it; go on higher if and when she needs it too; and then explain the situation to the school at the start of next term and let them deal with it, it's their job after all!

If you do want to go sideways, I think there were good ideas in your earlier thread on this - I'd suggest the Murderous Maths books especially as being good for recreational stuff. Won't meet your DD's workbook desires, though, which is one reason for suggesting that you just go with what she wants, provided she's really learning the stuff properly.

Sorry, I meant my DH's comment as a kind of funny. I know she's really getting it. She's able to work through different kinds of problems and extrapolate what she has learned to other real world problems. I know she gets it.


Do you know a US source for these? I was not able to find them.

I also looked at the Life of Fred books recommended in my other thread and thought they were too advanced for her, but when she finishes 3B I think she might be ready for them!

She loves logic puzzles, but she seems to have this insatiable need to sit down and work math problems!!!

I'm frankly astounded at how quickly she mastered simple multiplication and division. They only touch on it slightly in second grade in our district but once I showed her one example of how to do a problem like 345x9 she was able to do any problem of that type. And when I showed her how to do simple long division (like 345/9) she was able to do any problem of that type. And she's doing multi step word problems that require both multiplication and division to find the answer.

I know a lot of kids here are much more advanced than that, but I was really surprised at how quickly she totally and completely understood the concept.

Ah, I misread your tone - sorry!
amazon.com shows several as available (albeit with "ships in 2-4 weeks") - search for murderous maths (with the s :-)
Or abebooks.com - mostly second hand copies and will mostly be shipping from the UK, but should work.
I know exactly what you mean, it's the same with my DS - what's astonishing is not so much that he knows these things, as that he snaps them up so voraciously. Have fun!

Well, you can send her over here to homeschool math with my 7 year old. They sound very similar. He learned multi-digit multiplication and long division from paying attention to his older sister's lessons...vs. being taught directly. I'm sure they'd have a blast making up problems for each other on our white board.

On a serious note, I wouldn't know what to do if I had a child like this at a public school. I think I'd be inclined to let her do what she wanted and fight the public school to provide at her level, whatever that ends up being by the Fall. You could also throw in some problem solving (check out Art of Problem Solving, Math Olympia, The Math League for resources you can buy) and some other math concepts. Some ideas are converting to and from different bases (binary, hexadecimal, etc), statistics, probability, business math, stewardship, math books like Murderous Math, and anything else not in a typical school curriculum. Perhaps some computer programming might be interesting as well.

Zaccaro books are good as well - Primary Grade Challenge Math.

Forging ahead w/ SM has it's risks. Ask me how I know. On the one hand, you're feeding their interest...on the other hand you're only making the divide wider w/ the classroom. There's no easy answer.

I moved into othe arenas with my son...chemistry and physics and history...but of course that is making problems in those areas later on...delaying the problem.

We homeschool, but I'm still working on reigning in my DS7. I'm not comfortable with him doing higher level maths yet, so we're going for depth and breadth. I had a thread a bit ago asking a very similar question and got some wonderful ideas.

http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....chooling_How_to_handle_ma.html#Post45283

Thanks all! I'm going to give the Zaccaro Primary Challenge book a try.

I would like to order the Murderous Maths books, but money is an issue right now. Our library does not carry them, which is too bad.

BethG - my library system carries the Zaccaro books so you can look at yours for those.

Thanks all for the suggestions. Our library does not carry the Zaccaro books, but I am going to order Primary Challenge. I think working along those lines is a better idea than getting deeper into Singapore at this point!

BethG -- my ds7 is the same way. He likes doing math, and he's good at it. I highly recommend the Fred books for a quick learner -- we have the Fractions and Beginning Algebra, but I think we need to get Decimals ...

A few weeks ago, my ds7 actually asked if he could start "Life of Fred: Beginning Algebra" after glancing through it (we actually bought it for dh, long story). I told him he had to finish the two prereq Fred books before starting the Algebra one -- and now he's 12 chapters through "Fractions." And doing well.

We've always, *always* have a bedtime story -- either two picture books or two chapters (or a bunch of Calvin and Hobbes!). Since he wants to do Fred but doesn't have a lot of free time with full-day summer camp, I've just starting giving him the summer option of having a "Fred-time story" together instead. We'll work one or two chapters together, and then he'll continue on, or switch to reading a book. It's actually relaxing for him and he likes it.

However ... I'm kind of alarmed at how quickly he is progressing, with relatively little effort. His MAP math score jumped more than 30 points in the past year with no homework or afterschooling to speak of, and is now a bit high for my comfort zone! I really, honestly did not think he could progress this quickly -- and I don't know that I should be assisting him to get further ahead, even if he's asking for it!

I'm getting antsy about what we'll do in middle school and high school ...

Check out the Art of Problem Solving website. They have high school math that is at a more challenging level and some additional subjects. Their approach is advanced problem solving, not just the basic skills taught in typical curricula. They suggested that we do a typical algebra course before doing their algebra course as I'll be going into it with a younger student.

Art of Problem Solving

First of all, one can never run out of math activities. There are so many that are never experienced in school books. School still works on the reader's digest version of math.

I also believe that it is up to parents of gifted children to introduce their children to other interests. I remember going to university and looking at the various courses and being upset that I had never experienced them before.

Many other subjects embrace math such as probility and many sciences. My daughter is also learning Latin and Anthropology. We have been with Girl Scouts for six years and she works on badges and other activities that introduce her to fun interests. Some parents just buy the badge books for reference and fun.

Hi all,
I've been trying to check into Life of Fred after reading about it here. It looks as if it could be a really good match for my DD, but I'm not sure where to have her start. She has been meandering through Singapore workbooks independently at school and is in 5B. I think that she's pretty well grounded in fractions (conceptually). I looked at the sample pages on the site and it has a bridge for about 2/3 of the way through that I think she would have no trouble completing. However, since there isn't a pre-test on line, I feel like I'm guessing. Twenty dollars isn't a lot for a book--unless you don't need it So...I'm wondering if anyone who has used both LoF and Singapore can tell me whether she should start with fractions or go directly to decimals and percents. Her concept of percents is solid, her decimal understanding is more skill-based and could use firmer grounding. If she is placed in the same class next year (she's in a multi-age) she will likely spend a lot of time working independently. She enjoyed reading the Number Devil, so I think she might enjoy the LoF approach more than the Singapore. This is a kiddo who enters another universe when reading or drawing, but is completely distractible in almost every other situation. Thus the s-l-o-o-o-w journey through her workbooks despite verbal demonstrations of conceptual understanding. I'd appreciate anyone's insights!
Thanks!
Taminy

WEll the story line is continued from the Fractions books so you miss all the intro info about Fred. Especially if you have a DC coming after your DD, I'd start w/ Fractions ... most kids find it a fun review. From what I've read people generally do LOF fractions after SM 4B or 5A/5B so I think she's at a good point for LOF Fractions.

Thanks for the feedback--that's helpful
Tam

I agree with Dazey. GS9 read through the first 2 like a novel. I spot checked his comprehension on the tests and let him go. In addition, we ordered directly from http://www.stanleyschmidt.com/FredGauss/index2.html and they came autographed! GS9 was tickled to death to have them autographed by the author! I didn't buy the whole series, but we will over the next year or so.

chiming in here with a "huzzah!" for the Murderous Maths series. Our DSnow9 just devoured them ... he was 8 at the time. We were incredibly fortunate in that our alternative public school actually had 6 of the books in their library - but we did order several from

www.half.com

search Kjartan Poskitt (author)

and you can usually find them for $3-4 plus shipping - we were able to bundle some of the shipping, too.

This is a fabulous site for lots of other stuff, as well:

http://www.fun-books.com/mathematics.htm

this one is too:

http://www.horriblebooks.com/

hope this helps!