summer
05-07-2008, 12:57 AM
My 6 yr old is very bright and has taught himself everything so far. So, even though I am definitely a math person..I am so afraid I will pick the wrong math program!!!!
To give you an idea as to how he is, he taught himself how to read veery early. He was reading 3rd grade level (phonetic awareness/decoding and comprehension) when he was 5, but before old enough (by state cutoff dates) for kindergarten. The public school tested him so that is how I know this. He is not a fast reader though (and he is speech delayed so does not like reading outloud, so maybe he is a fast reader and just reads slow when outloud, who knows) so he is not exactly out there reading books like Box Car Children. But if shown a paragraph from one of those books, he can do it fine. He just does not have the patience/ability to read that volume of words in a book.
BUT...Here is a good example. He recently stumbled on a puzzle of the United States. Each state is in the shape of the state it represents. He found this about a week ago, stashed in a cupboard, it had never really been used as no one was interested before now. He has been putting it together over and over again for the last week. And already, he can tell you off the top of his head what states border any state you list. He did this for the doctor today, he did it for my parents yesterday. He memorized all this just from putting together this puzzle.
So what do you do with this? I am speaking math programs. It is possible that he learned how to read from a computer game (which he does not play anymore) or a PBS show, I just never taught him this at all.
He already adds 3 digit numbers in his head without carrying (i.e. 232 + 431, etc). He always surprises me with what he can do so I have no idea how he is learning this stuff. He can tell time, count money with ease-and then tell me how much more money he needs to buy this-or-that Lego set or Playstation game. You get the idea.
My older children were definitely more of children that one would teach. They did not do this stuff at this age. In fact, neither older could read att 6 really, it was closer to 7, while this child was reading at 4 (simple books of course),
Is there anything you suggest? I am soo struggling over this. I am familiar with so many programs and I do not want to risk doing things.
I will also add that while he may be very smart, he stresses a lot and has a lot of anxiety. He does not have the patience to sit and do worksheets or workbooks much. And his handwriting is more like he is a 6 yr old boy..so he is in no way advanced there.
What do you think?
To give you an idea as to how he is, he taught himself how to read veery early. He was reading 3rd grade level (phonetic awareness/decoding and comprehension) when he was 5, but before old enough (by state cutoff dates) for kindergarten. The public school tested him so that is how I know this. He is not a fast reader though (and he is speech delayed so does not like reading outloud, so maybe he is a fast reader and just reads slow when outloud, who knows) so he is not exactly out there reading books like Box Car Children. But if shown a paragraph from one of those books, he can do it fine. He just does not have the patience/ability to read that volume of words in a book.
BUT...Here is a good example. He recently stumbled on a puzzle of the United States. Each state is in the shape of the state it represents. He found this about a week ago, stashed in a cupboard, it had never really been used as no one was interested before now. He has been putting it together over and over again for the last week. And already, he can tell you off the top of his head what states border any state you list. He did this for the doctor today, he did it for my parents yesterday. He memorized all this just from putting together this puzzle.
So what do you do with this? I am speaking math programs. It is possible that he learned how to read from a computer game (which he does not play anymore) or a PBS show, I just never taught him this at all.
He already adds 3 digit numbers in his head without carrying (i.e. 232 + 431, etc). He always surprises me with what he can do so I have no idea how he is learning this stuff. He can tell time, count money with ease-and then tell me how much more money he needs to buy this-or-that Lego set or Playstation game. You get the idea.
My older children were definitely more of children that one would teach. They did not do this stuff at this age. In fact, neither older could read att 6 really, it was closer to 7, while this child was reading at 4 (simple books of course),
Is there anything you suggest? I am soo struggling over this. I am familiar with so many programs and I do not want to risk doing things.
I will also add that while he may be very smart, he stresses a lot and has a lot of anxiety. He does not have the patience to sit and do worksheets or workbooks much. And his handwriting is more like he is a 6 yr old boy..so he is in no way advanced there.
What do you think?