Gifted Homeschoolers- Deciding the Grade Level

[PennyP]

Cross posted in "Parenting the Gifted Child".

I'm keeping my son at home. At least for the foreseeable future. He's turning 3 in 2 weeks.
I was shopping yesterday for workbooks to do with my son and also a birthday present for him, and I couldn't decide what age range to gear it for. Do I get the workbook that is for 3-4 year olds that he could pretty much do it all right now? Do I get the workbook that is for 4-5 year olds that he'd definitely be able to do 85% of it right now? Or do I get the post kindergarten workbook (labeled "going into first grade") geared towards kids at 5-6 that he could definitely do the beginning and much of the middle and work his way through the book until he reaches the more advanced stuff at the end?

And when it comes to presents, if they're educational games, do I get him something that is right for a 3 year old or for older kids? He is capable of doing so much more than the typical 3 year old that I almost feel it is a waste of time and money to get something for his age if it won't actually be an educational tool because he knows it all already.

I'm a borderline unschooler, but I wanted to ask you homeschooling moms- when deciding on a curriculum, how do you decide what age to go for with your gifted kids?
The stuff meant for his age would be beneath his level, but I'm not sure the older aged things would be suitable for him for emotional reasons. (His age appropriate fears would cause him to be afraid of stories written for older kids, most probably.) And his dexterity isn't above average for his age, so certain things he'd be intellectually capable of, he isn't physically capable of handling. (He can't button his buttons himself and still holds a pen/pencil/crayon funny, even though he is able to draw complex pictures and write words.)

In the end, I got him a game for his birthday that contained many games with many levels of difficulty and it was meant for ages 3-7, and I got him the kindergarten workbook after sitting down with him in the store and saw that he definitely could easily do at least the first 10 pages of it now before his 3rd birthday.


So, how do you decide what age level is appropriate for your kid, especially if his intellectual ability isn't in sync with his physical or emotional skills.

[jenfl]

Originally Posted by PennyP

So, how do you decide what age level is appropriate for your kid, especially if his intellectual ability isn't in sync with his physical or emotional skills.

I think you do what you did and make an educated choice by actually looking at the materials instead of going by the "grade level". I think that's the point of homeschooling -- you can choose what's appropriate for your child instead of being stuck in with the average. If you kid is ahead in one area and behind in another, you personalize.

I never look at those age guides. I just look for material my child is ready for and will enjoy. I don't know why you'd buy something that some stranger said was for "meant for his age" instead of something I knew they would get use out of.

[PennyP]

Originally Posted by jenfl

I never look at those age guides. I just look for material my child is ready for and will enjoy. I don't know why you'd buy something that some stranger said was for "meant for his age" instead of something I knew they would get use out of.

Sometimes the packaging doesn't tell you enough about the level of difficulty or exact details about the thing you're buying, so all you have to go on sometimes is the age level written...

[Jennifer3141]

I frequently get both types of supplies for my children who do have a medical label of "gifted" - both in vastly different skill sets.

I get books that will stretch them and books they can whip through and laugh about to give them more confidence. And then I switch them and give them the opportunity to teach each other.

I've also made it very clear to my children that the grade means nothing, it's simply a guide.

[AAK]

Ignore the labels--get what is right for YOUR child. At that age, I would probably get the one that you said 85% would be easy. Just for it to be fun. Also, it is a great boost of confidence for the young ones to know a lot!

amy

[Callimom]

I think it depends on what your educational goals are and what kind of kid you have.
I'm not a big workbook fan especially for younger kids but if you have one of those kids who likes them and you want to give them confidence and get them into a routine of doing these then I would pick something that they will succeed at but which has a bit of challenge to it - unless the lack of challenge will completely turn off your kid.
If you are hoping that workbooks will provide the spine for his education I would move towards concepts he hasn't covered.

I say this gently - most 3 year old boys, regardless of intellectual level, are not going to get much from a workbook. Developmentally they are experiential learners, physically they are often still developing the fine motor skills and if the content is not new to them and/or you are going to have to do the writing component for them then why bother unless you have other educational goals.
If you are looking for some kind of academic structure to your day, you might try something like Come Sit by Me or Five in a Row which are literature and activity based and supplement it with some non fiction reading on the topic.

hth
Karen

[One_Girl]

I looked into the material and chose things based on where she was at not what the grade level was. I didn't do a lot of structured stuff outside of math because it wasn't necessary. I used the district standards to make some of my decisions as far as the scope of our activities to make sure I hit everything on her grade level in math, but we also went for a deeper understanding when she showed an interest in a subject. For a kid so young I think that just continuing what you are doing without workbooks is fine. If he is interested in numbers or reading then introducing some fun play based lessons may be enjoyable. Workbooks are great tools but I think they should be used in moderation.

[kanga2roo]

When our son was that young we didn't use any school books. We bought him tons of regular books whenever we could, and let him choose almost anything. We continue to add to our home library, and now that he's seven have an awesome collection of books.
At that young age you might try open ended toys that will let him create and do however he wants. Wooden unit blocks and a block building book, Quadrilla, good musical instruments. Little ones, no matter how intellectually advanced still need to spend lots of time developing their whole body, imo. I know my son gravitated towards some things, but I am glad now, looking back, that we deliberately guided him towards things he could DO more fully.
You might want to check out Handwriting without Tears. They have a good preschool/kindy program. Read to him and expose him to everything you can ( zoos, museums, outdoor spaces, art materials, good music, quality toys). You could always create some sort of work baskets with cool "work" such as lacing, puzzles, paint mixing stuff, whatever....Would that work for him? What are your goals for him this year?

[OkiMom]

I ignore the ages a lot of the time. Its hard because I live where a lot of what I get has to come from online, buying online can be a headache. If I find a set of books we really like then Ill buy the whole series and just work through them at her pace.
As for games ages don't mean much. I have everything from games for 2 year olds to games that are suppose to be 6 and above and my girls love all of them. THey are 3 and 21 months. I find that if they won't understand all the rules I can easily alter them or throw out part of them. For example I have a game where you are suppose to be going around Magic Kingdom (my oldest loves mickey and minne so she loves this game) visiting attractions, well part of it is to follow these cards for extra challenges/helps. Since neither reads and seemed to be confused about the cards I dropped the cards and now we just visit the attractions together.

[Dar]

Originally Posted by Karenwith4

I say this gently - most 3 year old boys, regardless of intellectual level, are not going to get much from a workbook. Developmentally they are experiential learners, physically they are often still developing the fine motor skills and if the content is not new to them and/or you are going to have to do the writing component for them then why bother unless you have other educational goals.

I agree. There are so many other ways to learn with 3 year olds that are more developmentally appropriate, provide more educational benefit, and are just more fun. IMO, most workbooks for young children are more about giving them something to do to keep them busy and occupied (which makes them useful for things like waiting for a meal to be served in a restaurant) and developing fine motor skills (which can be frustrating when kids really aren't ready).

Lillian has a couple nice pages about homeschool activities for preschoolers and young children - here and here.

I think games are another story - assuming they're fun games. I knew a 3 year old who ruled at Apples to Apples, which is marked "Ages 12 and up" (we played the regular version, not the junior one). Well, actually I thought he picked his dad's card too often, but he certainly could play and play well... with a group that included a number of other players both far younger and far older than 12. As long as he's not physically or mentally too frustrated by the game, why not?

At three or four, Rain loved a lot of the Gamewright games... Rat-a-Tat-Cat, Slamwich... I think she was a little older when we got Frog Juice, which she adored for years.

[accidental_hs'er]

So, how do you decide what age level is appropriate for your kid, especially if his intellectual ability isn't in sync with his physical or emotional skills.

I have struggled with this in the past. For us it is getting easier as my son gets older.

My ds was reading Magic Treehouse books by his 4th birthday. Even now he is about 6-7 grades ahead of his school age with reading and comprehension. At 7 1/2 he still can't ride a bike (awkward mobility and fear) and writing is a huge chore. I've spent years wondering how far to let him go and how fast.

For games and toys I have always ignored the ages on the box. I go with interest and could care less what the manufacturer suggests. Books were an issue too. Just because he could read long historical books doesn't mean he was ready to learn about the holocaust. For subjects like math, I just let him progress at his own pace without pushing. That means we are probably at grade level or a little behind in math because he hates book work. I know when we sit and discuss math with him he has a fabulous comprehension and could whip through it quickly but getting pencil to paper is still a fight I haven't really fought yet. He gets a little better on his own as time goes by. This year we are trying out an online program and think that he will move along much faster since he is pretty good at typing and loves all things computer related.

Subject wise, ds pretty much decides where he goes. I don't have a prescribed curriculum so subjects like history or geography just happen. Like if he is interested in oceans, he learns about oceans. How far he delves into it is out of my hands. It can be as simple as learning the names to how ocean currents effect weather or marine microbiology. I never know where we'll end up.

I find my gifted kid is really easy to unschool and have a feeling that might be typical. I can't stop this kid from taking stuff in. I just work with his less refined fine motor skills and keep an eye out for things he isn't emotionally mature enough for and run with it.

[elizawill]

my nephew is also very gifted. he enjoys all levels of toys and such (even ones that are meant for younger kids). so we just focus on buying what he wants, as we figure he'll enjoy that the most. he has a lot of electronic toys that are very advanced & he especially loved building elaborate train sets when he was 3 (watching youtube tutorials in how to make them run backwards, etc). he's older than 3 now, so of course he can choose now for himself, but even as a toddler, he knew well enough what he wanted my sister to buy and was rather vocal about it. so i'd trying going that route.

[kgianforti]

Originally Posted by PennyP

I'm a borderline unschooler, but I wanted to ask you homeschooling moms- when deciding on a curriculum, how do you decide what age to go for with your gifted kids?

I always have a variety of levels available and ready to go especially in math and science - where my big girl seems to make leaps and bounds in. Even if you have stuff at a higher level and aren't using it, it's there. That way you're not placing frantic orders at Rainbow Resources because your kiddo finished everything you had for them in math!

I don't call us "unschoolers" but we school relaxed, child led with curriculum.

ETA: if you start using actual curriculum for math, most places offer placement tests too.

ETA #2: agreement with accidential hs'er - you can't stop these kids from taking EVERYTHING in and progressing rapidly, which is why unschooling works so well. Just make sure you aren't in a state with requirements and reporting, like we are.

[PennyP]

Originally Posted by kgianforti

ETA #2: agreement with accidential hs'er - you can't stop these kids from taking EVERYTHING in and progressing rapidly, which is why unschooling works so well. Just make sure you aren't in a state with requirements and reporting, like we are.

Where I live, there are very strict homeschooling laws... but none are relevant till kindergarten, so I still have a while to go.

[moominmamma]

Originally Posted by PennyP

Where I live, there are very strict homeschooling laws... but none are relevant till kindergarten, so I still have a while to go.

I live in a province with lax homeschooling laws, but am part of a voluntary program which provides financial support in exchange for planning and reporting curriculum requirements that look very strict on paper.

In practice it is easy to fit our unschooling into that mold, because my kids are so far ahead. We can do anything we want, comfortable in the knowledge that if we were ever required to prove mastery at grade level, or if our methods were ever called into question, the kids would be poster-children of academic achievement and quickly set the nay-sayers straight. If I do no active teaching or directing of their learning, my 7-year-old will still add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators, my 13-year-old will still plot trigonometric functions using programming language and my 11-year-old will still write incredible poetry with perfect spelling, beautiful similes and tasteful alliteration.

Miranda

[kgianforti]

Originally Posted by PennyP

Where I live, there are very strict homeschooling laws... but none are relevant till kindergarten, so I still have a while to go.

I'm sure unschooling can be done in strict states but I'm not "that good" yet! LOL! We also have required testing too but my kiddo is so far ahead as well, that it shouldn't be an issue either.

[zebra15]

Originally Posted by kgianforti

I'm sure unschooling can be done in strict states but I'm not "that good" yet! LOL! We also have required testing too but my kiddo is so far ahead as well, that it shouldn't be an issue either.

You can 'unschool' everywhere... you just need to learn how... hooking up with a good homeschool/unschool group either inperson or online will show you how. Just because it looks tricky and strict doesnt mean it is.

[kgianforti]

Originally Posted by zebra15

you just need to learn how...

Yup! That's when I'll become "that good"!

[Lisa1970]

I never ever pick books according to the number on the cover. One publisher might call something 4 yr old and it is the same stuff as a 2nd grader by another program. Some programs come from other countries where the grades are written different. Gifted or not, it is best to just pick what works. I look at if I like the style and scope and sequence, whatever is presented. If I do, then I just figure out what level my child needs. My son has some 4th grade level things mostly, one 5th grade level thing and 1 2nd grade level thing. This is because they were programs I liked, and those were the levels that fit. BJU English has kids diagramming in 4th grade. They label parts of speech in 2nd and write decent sized papers. So, I decided to do 2nd grade BJU with him. My daughter, who is years advanced, used 2nd grade BJU English when she was by public school age, 3rd grader. Yet, she did more than the public schools were doing. My son should have been a 3rd grader this year. I love Spelling Workout and used it with my daughter, but tested my son and he clearly belonged in 4th grade level. For math, he placed in to either MUS Delta, Singapore Math 2B/3A, or BJU 4. While we are not following a science program, he has been reading the BJU science 5 and asking to do the experiments so I need to go buy the teachers guide and such.

I hope I have helped!!!

[Lisa1970]

I want to add, one HUGE advantage to not using grade levels is that it opens your child up to anything. I think grade levels are just confining itty bitty boxes that public schools (and many, but not all, private schools) ram kids in to and won't let them out of.