Question about Moving Beyond the Page

[EKS]

I am looking for something to supplement the curriculum I've already got for my 6yo son. I am already sensing that it isn't going to be enough for him this year, not level-wise or even depth-wise but just... I don't know how to explain it. He finishes what I have planned so quickly and then wants more. I don't want to go faster (because we are already close to bumping up against the too-much-writing ceiling) and I think what we have is quite good but he just needs more.

I need something that he can do fairly independently with some input from me that will be interesting and will get him thinking. I need it planned out because I'm maxed out with the planning as it is. We used K12 for this purpose last year but it was too teacher intensive and had too much busywork to suit me.

He is highly gifted in language arts and reads comfortably on a 6th grade level, though for his free reading he chooses books that are on a 3rd-4th grade level. I would love to have something that integrates literature with other areas as I think he would really respond to that.

Would Moving Beyond the Page be good as a supplement in this situation? How much can a child do independently?

Thanks!

[love2read]

From my use of MBTP, it is best suited for children who are gifted across the board. It's not really advanced reading dependent, although the books that they use would be a year or two above the average age. The program is based more on concept development and the unique feature that we enjoy, is that the ways in which the concepts are developed, and that the child is challenged, change from activity to activity.

You would need to get your son started on the activity and if he thinks at a higher level, then he'll be able to do the work alone. For example, my dd is 7 and is using Concepts 2: Change (I think that's the one ) Yesterday she studied several pages in "A Street Through Time" and analyzed the changes in various things (clothing, food, worship, transportation, etc.) over time. She had to briefly summarize these things in a chart (no advanced language skills needed for that) and then discussed the effects of these changes on the environment, the people, etc. The first part isn't that difficult, the second part requires that the child have more abstract thinking skills than the average 7 year old. The next activity relates to the previous two and has the child make predictions based on the observations of the changes in time. My dd has probably gleaned more from our discussions about the activities than she would have from doing the activities alone.

On the surface, this program doesn't look very different from others, but if you follow it and resist the urge to move the child along in his or her thinking (prompt, give hints, etc.) you'll find it's a very satisfying program.

The ages seem to fit more of an average than a gifted child. The manual we are using is for 7-9. I think 6-8 would be more accurate.

If you were to use the literature units, you may find them to be something more doable. I have only used American Heroes and the activities are not challenging, but Poppy seems to be very popular and something he could do.

I hope this helps. The author is good about answering questions too, so if you have a specific one about a manual you should send her a note. There is also a yahoo list.

Have you ever seen the Tin Man Press reproducable books? They are excellent supplements and challenging. If you are looking for something to hand to a child to keep him on his toes for 10 or 15 minutes, that's the way to go.
http://www.tinmanpress.com/
After reading that, click on "Our Products" for samples. I think rainbow resource still carries these books. Really ideal for the child who can't get enough cognitive stimulation to be happy. OK, I'm tired (insomnia) and won't be proof reading this post, so please ignore any errors.
:sleep:

[EKS]

Thank you for your reply!

I guess I didn't mention that my son is globally gifted, but has this particular strength beyond that in language (as opposed to math or spatial stuff). What you describe about MBTP is what I think I'm looking for. When I say I want him to be able to work independently I don't mean that I would just hand him the curriculum and walk away, just that I would like there to be some independent elements.

Thank you also for the recommendation about the Tin Man Press materials. I'll look into these too.

[OhElizabeth]

Kai, I got a couple MBP guides for my dd for last year (Family Under the Bridge, Poppy). Now my dd was 8 at the time we did Poppy, so it was extremely independent and on the easy side for her. She didn't engage with it as much as I had hoped and found it babyish, though granted she was at the upper end of the target age. But if you want the dc to do it independently, they'd need to be on the upper end. Otherwise you'd end up needing to tell them what to do, etc.

I'm not sure how MBP really fits what you're wanting. For us, it was a glorified comprehension guide and didn't really add anything to her understanding of the book. There were comprehension questions, some activities, some compare and contrast, etc. Some of it was cute or interesting, but I'm not sure it would have stimulated my dd, even at a much younger age. When a dc gets things naturally, when they see the themes already and aren't learning anything from the work, they aren't going to enjoy it. I think that's what it boils down to, that it was trying too hard to teach things through it, dragging out the book, etc., and she didn't need that process. It finally became tedious to her and we dropped.

I'm not saying I would never use MBP again, but I'm suggesting that it's not as romantic as the concept seems. You said you didn't want more writing, and the lit guides, if done fully, would involve writing. I actually would have suggested one of the science guides to you. They have some for older kids that use a series of kits I thought looked interesting. I'm not sure if the questions and whatnot in the tm would make the kits come alive or become a layer of tedium, don't know. In any case, they did interest me.

When I looked at your list of what you're doing with your 6 yo, I noticed no latin, so I would suggest adding that in. He could start Prima Latina or Song School Latin quite comfortably this year, and it would play to his linguistic strengths, be intellectually stimulating, and not require a lot of writing. On the reading, I'd make sure you're providing enough for him to read. Are you fleshing out your SOTW with lots of books? You might look at the VP catalog to get ideas for more books to use with him. At that age, my dd began reading a significant amount of her history using books from the VP lists, and she's been reading lots of history ever since. With the VP books, I would hand her a pile each week to correspond to the card we were covering. Your ds might also enjoy the Childhood of Famous Americans series, which he could simply read through. There are 60-some in print and over 200 total oop available through amazon, bookfinder, etc. He could listen to books on tape while he plays. At that age my dd loved things read by Julius Lester, the Chronicles of Narnia, the Little House series, etc. She'd read the books, but then she'd still listen to the books on tape, go figure!

It also might be good to broaden out. Are you doing any art? Discovering Great Artists is easy to implement and would roughly correspond to your history study. My dd has found the projects very memorable. I know every dc is not artistic (certainly I wasn't and am not!), but my dd happens to enjoy sculpture, of all things, and be rather good at it. I keep large bins of sculpey, artists clay, etc. handy and she can make projects any time. There might be another medium your dc enjoys. He might enjoy pursuing a sport. My dd did ice skating at that age almost daily. Bright kids sometimes excel at sports because they have an ability to understand instructions and focus beyond their years.

[WendyK]

I have a 6 year old as well. I bought some workbooks from this place:

http://www.criticalthinking.com/index.jsp

My son enjoys them. They are fun puzzles to him. I don't have to do anything.

My son moves so quickly too. I have to submit a plan of instruction to the state (I live in NY that is the requirement) and although I thought it was plenty I am thinking we will be done with everything by the middle of the year. Yikes!

[EKS]

Thanks for this review of MBTP and for the other suggestions. I'm thinking that we'll add Latin at the end of this year when we study the Romans and then continue with it from there. You're right, he would do well with it. He does love and do well with Spanish. Also, I hadn't thought to have craft/art stuff lying around (beyond markers and paper) for him to use. That's a good idea. He will be having an outside art class as well but he does like to make things. And I also hadn't thought of the books on tape idea--I'll have to try that too!

Thanks again!