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C is an extremely mathy little girl. She is just flying through her math. We started 2B in January and she's just about done. I see her finishing it in the next few weeks. Lately she's been "sneeking" her math book at nap time and going ahead. It's always correct. So... we have about several weeks left according to the Bigger guide, but I'm not thinking it will take us that long. I guess I'll be ordering 3A for her pretty soon to make sure it's here when she finishes 2B. My concern I guess is the pace she's flying. Do I keep letting her go this pace? She has honestly never been challenged with math and with other things she tends to balk when she's challenged, so I honestly think it's probably good for her to be challenged some. She does tend to think that if something doesn't come easily the first time then she shouldn't mess with doing it. I'm just a little concerned that if she continues like this that we'll be to pre-Algebra WAY too early. I'm also worried about this "brick wall" I've heard about - that kids reach this point where they just don't have the reasoning skills available to be able to do the higher level thinking that pre-Algebra and Algebra require. Should I be concerned about that? Or should we just keep going at her pace? I know there's an awful long time between where we are and pre-Algebra. I've also just heard that Singapore is about a half a grade advanced so that means when we finish 3A she would be about the equivalent of finishing 3rd grade math? Oh, and she's fine with math facts. She knows all the mutliplication and division facts that we've learned so far with Singapore (2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 10s, and she can figure out the rest when she thinks about it). And she can add and subtract very quickly in her head. She had absolutely no problems learning to add and subtract money recently.

Oh-C is 7 and would be in 1st grade in ps, but we've always counted her as the next grade higher since that's more what she seems like and she only misses the "cut-off date" for that grade by a month.

I am not an expert but this is what I would consider doing. First I'd pinch myself just to be sure I had a child who loved math THAT much . Then, after realizing it is TRUE I'd do one of three things (or all). I would rejoice first! Then I would consider supplementing her with some of Singapore's extras. She is obviously loving math and up to the challenge. Look at Singapore Intensive Practice and Challenging Word Problems books. It has been recommended to me on a few occasions to choose the IP and CWP books half to one year behind where she is at with her regular SP math. So if she is nearing the end of 2B consider CWP 1 or IP 1B (or perhaps 2A). I have heard, though I have not used these materials yet, that they are quite challenging and progress fairly quickly in challenge, esp. the CWPs.

I would probably let her move forward to the next level but stay VERY engaged in the process with her . . . Although Carrie does not offer HIGs until later levels of Singapore you may find that you like the teaching ideas, mental math practice or game ideas contained within them. Again, I am not a user of these items yet but if I had a math hungry child who needed to "eat more" I would consider using them.

Another idea, if she continues to move quickly and you'd like to pace her (slow her down), is to intertwine the "extras" with her regular Singapore work as scheduled in HOD. Beginning with Level 3 there are no longer hands on HOD activities scheduled so that makes it pretty easy to do. If you search the message board here you will find a few threads where some Moms who feel the need to use Singapore extras talk about how they do it. Try searching using the words Singapore CWP.

I dream of having a child who loves math so much. I am very thankful for HOD's way of presenting Singapore and I'm thrilled to be starting it at the beginning with my middlers. I am in the process of seriously considering switching my oldest over to Singapore so that he can use the hands on math plans in Bigger. He would love the layout of the book and the hands on activities. The short lessons will make his year too! But, I don't have any math LOVERS here just yet. More like math TOLERATORS. I hope and pray that love for math will grow in our home as it has in yours!!! Your girlie must be a delight to you!

Thank you so much for the suggestion. Of course! I hadn't thought about adding those! What I think I'll do is finish up 2B with as many of the hands on activities as C will let me do (we enjoy them, but when she skips ahead like that it's hard to get to ) and then I'll see about starting one of those extras in 2A as we start 3A for her actual math. Then I can alternate days - one day "extras," one day "regular" lesson. Great!!! That helps SOOOO much. Maybe I can spread things out a little bit that way.

I know how blessed I am that she loves math. My little ones love it too. We start our kiddos out with a different program that teaches the kids to think the same way Singapore does, and they requested starting it so we did and the little ones love it. I guess we just have a math-loving house! (I wished C loved handwriting too, but ah well, I'll take what I can get....) But yes, I am definitely blessed. It's just a challenge keeping up with her. That's one of the many reasons we decided to homeschool (the fact that she was ahead in math like this) but there are just times you're not sure, you know? I just am so afraid of getting her too far ahead. I'm excited about having a good challenge for her. Also, stepping back some, that will be a great review to make sure that she still has some of the older concepts. Genius idea! Thanks again for suggesting that!

That is a wonderful blessing! I agree to allow her to progress but caution you to make sure that she is indeed getting it. It will get more intense as you continue to progress. You may even find that you will need to slow down at some point so it's great to have that leeway. I would suggest too that you play some math games and read some math literature as well to perhaps slow the pace down a bit. That can be a fun way to supplement. As you continue to progress, later on you can add in extras like Life of Fred or other fun supplements. If math is her thing, then enjoy it and go with it! We are progressing a bit faster than scheduled also because I have a child who loves math. I have one though that likes it and doesn't love it and I am trying to keep them together. We would probably be moving much faster if it were just my ds. At some point I may decide to separate them. My dh and I have been discussing other ways that we can allow him to progress in math and Life of Fred was one that we were considering. We are just finishing 3B and will start 4A in a few weeks. Probably in the fall, I'll include Life of Fred fractions too. That's just another thought for you in the future if you need some more fuel for your hungry math student!

I think C would love Life of Fred when she's a little older. I'd probably use it as a supplement to something else.

We already read lots of math books. Those are her favorites when mommy gets around to going to the library. We've read all the Sir Cumference books, plus some of those easy reader math books. And several other things. Grapes of Math I think was one of them. We also do a lot of logic puzzles. She is good at Sudoku. I have her tell me what I need when we double and triple recipes while I'm cooking. So those are great suggestions. She just really likes math! Oh - we also started with a different math curriculum that focuses on games, so we still play some of those games and I'm planning on getting the actual games book since we already have all the cards. Thanks for the reminder! I think she'd love it.

Ladies, thanks so much for talking this out with me. I just didn't want to get ahead of her. But this is definitely easy for her right now. It's such a hard balance!