bumping up Math for 6 yo

[mamaduke]

I am trying to figure out what to do about math being too easy for my ds 6 (almost 7). I am using the kindergarten Singapore workbooks 2a and 2b with LHFHG and I feel these are too easy. He does them very quickly without too much thinking.

We sill have about 8 weeks of of this guide left and then we'll move pretty quickly into Beyond in August or Sept. I'm wondering if I should stay the course with the math workbooks according to the guide or if I should skip books. It seems that would cause him to miss concepts. It should get harder enough as we go.

Thank you for your ideas,

[3boysandagirl]

Sorry, I don't have much of an answer for you. Just my humble opinion. My son really excels with the math in LHFHG, I let it be his confidence builder. I don't want to push him in this subject because he really enjoys it, if I try to beef it up and make it harder for him, I'm pretty sure he would grow to dislike it. He would probably still excel in the higher or more difficult math, but I really don't find it necessary.

Sorry I'm not much help, but I'm sure much more experienced ladies will chime in.

[MamaPajama]

We don't use Singapore, but I'm sure all math programs have a sequence they follow. Because of that, I would not skip books altogether. Like you said, you wouldn't want to risk him missing concepts. Instead maybe let him skip pages in each lesson until he gets to advance to the next book.

We use Math-U-See and my son (also 6) blew through the Primer and Alpha (addition), but about 1/3 of the way through Alpha we had to slow it w-a-a-a-a-y down. You never know when he might encounter something that challenges him more than you'd expect.

[creativemommy]

If you have only 8 units left, I would just stay with the LHFHG math as written and maybe add in other math games (if you have them on-hand) or let him play something on the computer like (http://www.iknowthat.com or http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm). My son loves these computer math games!

We're using Singapore and originally my son tested for 1B but I realized some concepts were too much for him so we went back to work through 1A. there are some days they are too easy but other days a bit more challenging. IMO, I wouldn't skip any books with Singapore. If something is more simple, go through it quickly. Then when it becomes more challenging you can slow down. The Beyond guide will have the plans for the Singapore 1A & 1B math as I'm using it for the math plans for my son right now, though we won't start the guide officially until the fall.

[busymama]

Mamaduke,
I was in the same situation, so I thought I'd share what worked for us,maybe that will help you out. My son will be 8 in September, and math has been ridiculously easy for him (from my point of view anyway, math was always my worst subject lol) since he was a wee babe. I did not want to skip guides, because even though math comes easy to him, he still needs to learn it. Such as the metric system, or fractions, etc. So what I did is went through each guide, but at a much faster pace. This past year, we actually did Primary Math 2 A& B, and 3 A&B. And next year I suppose I'll still continue at a faster pace but then when we come to a point where it starts getting harder for him, we'll slow it down. And that point will come. Right now he just seems to be soaking it up, and he really loves it, so I want him to be not bored, not overwhelmed, but properly ...engaged, if that makes sense.
So that is what I'd recommend. It's really not been that difficult. I just think of it as one of the joys of homeschooling, that we can customize it to our own children's individual needs.

[my3sons]

It's good to hear from you! I'm glad math is going so well for your sweetie. I do think 1A/1B is a step up, and looking ahead, Singapore does get much h-a-r-d-e-r. I'd finish it out and clip along faster if you want. It may be a good idea to give him the Singapore placement test on their website (it's free). That will be a surefire way to see if he's really needing higher level math or if he just did very well with the gentle start in the Earlybird series.

In Christ,
Julie

[jenntracy]

I ditto MamaPajama.
My son has done the same thing. He is in Math-U-See. He is 6 and blew thru Primer and now is about 3rd way through the Alpha.
I wouldn't skip anything ,but just use it as practice to boost confidence.

Jenn D.

[mamaduke]

Thank you all for the good advice and thoughtful responses. I think I'll stay the course for now. I'm sure it will get harder. I do like following the HOD guide and the associated math activity. Moving ahead would mean rewriting the math box and I don't want to do that unless truly necessary.

[blessedmama]

I have not started HOD yet (I will be in the fall and have read through the material exstensively) but I have been using Singapore Math for the last two years. When I bought the HOD I noticed we were way ahead of what HOD had for our particular age groups. What I plan on doing is just keep going with Singapore at our own pace. It is nice the HOD has extra activities you can do with your child but if you buy the teacher's guide to Singapore they do also. And, what happens if you are following the HOD guide and your child only gets stuck in Math but the rest he/she is doing well at...do you stop all your other subjects so that you can stay on task or rush through the Math so you can stay on task? Just a thought. My ds (7) is also extremely bright in Math so following the HOD guide will not work for us but that is o.k. maybe we can use the suggested games from HOD for review.

[erdrmom]

We have had your same experience. I ordered the EB 2A/2B without really looking at them and when we worked on them, they were as easy as they looked for my dd. We worked through them at a bit of a faster pace for LHFHG, and then about 2/3 of the way through started 1A and finished it up in Beyond. Since we started 1A before I had the hands on activities that are described in Beyond, I made stuff up. Once we started with the Beyond program, I looked through the math activities and found where we were and went on from there with the activities. The math does get a bit harder at times in 1A/1B, which may cause him to slow down, it did for us. I have pretty much let her move at her own pace and spend more time where she needs help with the concepts. We are not quite finished with Beyond and will be starting 2A in the next couple of weeks. Since you are where you are, you might consider sticking with the program sequence and just moving at a bit of a faster pace that is comfortable for his learning abilities.

HTH

[Carrie]

Julie,

You've already received some good suggestions, so I'll just pop-in to share what we've found through our years with Singapore. With my first son I also thought that Earlybird K seemed simplistic. However, we did it at the pace in the LHFHG guide and my son rarely missed anything. We made sure to do the hands-on activities in the LHFHG guide, which he thoroughly enjoyed. As we've moved through the Singapore levels and are now on 5B, I am so grateful that we did not rush ahead! My son has always enjoyed math and felt very confident he could do it, yet if we'd rushed ahead I am quite certain that by the time we'd gotten to 5B (and 6A/6B), I would have been helping him so much more. Honestly, by 5B and up the kiddos are really working through algebra concepts (done the Singapore way) and this takes some higher level thinking and maturity that doesn't come to kiddos at a young age.

Now, as we're moving through Singapore with my third little guy, I can see so much of the foundation that is laid in the Earlybird K and 1A/1B books that I didn't really notice the first time I went through them with my second son. By 2A/2B Singapore already takes quite an advanced turn. By 3A/3B it is feeling much more advanced scope and sequence-wise from other math programs. So, I'd encourage you to enjoy the pace in the HOD guide and feel confident in the seeds that are being planted by doing math the Singapore way. My mathy son is still mathy, even though we didn't hustle the pace for him. He still scores in the 99th percentile in math when he takes his standardized tests, and he loves his math time! He can do what he's being asked to do and loves the mental math portions. We pushed way too hard with my oldest son, who was also mathy, and left him feeling like he wasn't good at math when he really was! Just some food for thought as you ponder.

Blessings,
Carrie