How can an English major raise a math wiz?

[peggyv]

I'm not sure where I should post this, so I'll start here. I have a six-year-old kindergartener who is testing at the 99.9% in math and language skills. I can help him with the language skills, but I'm clueless when it comes to math. We're considering enrolling him the Johns Hopkins University's Center for Talented Youth internet program. Do any of you have experience with this program? Do you have any other tips on how to deal with a math wiz -- from a parent's or kid's perspective? How do you feel about skipping grades?

[Dandelion]

Purchase advanced workbooks for your child. In school, he may complain that he is bored, and you may be tempted to stop your child from learning at home. This is what happened to me. Don't do this. Not only does this not work, but in the future when your son begins to compete in math competitions, he will be at a disadvantage. Perhaps your child's teachers can help him individualy. Older students are even better at offering support. But don't push your son too hard, he will only resent it. Instead let him have fun doing math, like I do. Good luck! Even if your not that good at math, you should still be able to help him for a number of years.

[akatookey]

And by the time you cant help him...he can use this site!

[andy17null]

I higly recommend the Johns Hopkins programs. My parents used their distance education program for math while I was homeschooled, and I ended up doing algebra in 5th grade . Yeah. If you don't use the distance ed, use something extracurricular. Good luck...



-Isaac

[Naga]

About skipping grades.. I think it's OK if your child is born before the end of the year. My second one is an October kid. And he is doing fine. Though my older is a May child, he was forced to skip a grade because while he was given advanced curriculum in language arts and Math in the second grade, the third grade teachers refused to do the same. He is doing fine but I am not very happy with him being so much younger than the rest.

If your school allows to advance your child's curriculum, make sure that it will be supported all the way through. The school agreed to give my younger one 5th grade math in the 4th grade. I got a committment from the principal and the 5th grade teachers that they will support advanced curriculum when he moves to the 5th. We did not have the experience to do this with the first.

I am from KS too.

[cellular_mem]

More on skipping grades. . .

I feel that people (teachers, school psychologists, etc) tend to overestimate the impact of age difference on social interactions. It's not as if being 12 automatically means you are best suited to interact with other 12 year olds.

I was skipped a grade in primary school and then took above grade level course work in middle school. Luckilly, I attended a school that regularly practiced this sort of acceleration. The teaching staff was prepared for problems arising from age differences. The school also boasted a number of "8th grade" math classes composed entirelly of 6th and 7th graders.

The ability of a child to adapt to skipping one or multiple grades is dependent upon his/her disposition and the disposition of teachers/administrators. Teachers can be downright hostile to parents (and their children) if they believe a parent is challenging some cherished educational dogma.

[gauss202]

I think that children should be placed in the classes that are most appropriate to challenge them, but also where they can learn and feel successful. Social interactions can be hard regardless of grade level and age differences. Anything within two years of their peers' tends not to be too big of a difference, especially if they stay in classes with them all along. It's more the stigma of being "advanced" that causes isolation in most cases. It really depends on the childs individual personality though, and on how common this sort of thing is at the school.

It goes without saying though, to just be supportive and encouraging of whatever your childs interests may be. The best way to encourage a child is lead them to interesting books on whatever they may be interested in. As they get older, a mentor of some type can be really helpful also -- maybe a friend or relative with a forte in that subject that they can talk to and learn from from time to time.

I have heard good things about the John's Hopkins Program but I don't know anything about it first hand. I can't see any harm in looking into it though. I find it useful on many levels not to refer to children too often as gifted or talented though. It reinforces the idea that things should always come easily to them - which is not the case. You want to reinforce that things come to those who have a passion for knowledge and who apply themselves. That no matter how much you know, there is always more out there. There is always another level of knowledge and understanding. I think that is an important psychological impression to make on them early.

[tokenadult]

Peggyv asked,

[confuted]

I'm not sure how young your son is, but you could play some simple number games with him occasionally. He'll learn basic math without really realizing it... just randomly ask him things like "if I had two apples, and then you gave me three more apples, how many apples would I have?" If he's tolerant enough for it, you could also try flash cards. But I'm sure you know addition through multiplication enough that you can teach him that stuff without much difficulty as fast as he is ready for it. If you don't know basic algebra, you could probably learn it fairly easily by reading a book or two, and then you could teach him that too. Oh, and throw in stuff like how to find the area of simple shapes in some creative way too. If you can succeed in teaching him all that stuff at a fairly early age, he'll have a great start and you/he should be able to figure out where to go from there without much difficulty. I learned algebra "officially" in seventh grade in our advanced program, but I had done a lot of it earlier because I was ready for it. We did a little bit of right angle trig in sixth grade, and my parents had told me very basic things about variables. Programming also helped with the concept of variables, because they are used all the time. TI-Basic for the calculator and QBasic for the computer were not beyond the capabilities of my friends and I to understand in fourth and fifth grade, and programming is great for thinking logically. If he shows an interest in computers, you may want to consider introducing him to programming as well. I would not suggest C, C++, or Java until he was older since they are far more advanced and difficult to use, and would not suggest any other programming language unless he shows a true interest. Feel free to contact me if you want more information about getting a kid started in programming, because it isn't exactly something a lot of people know how to start. Personally, I asked my dad how programs were made and he handed me a book, telling me that he hadn't read it because he didn't understand it. I read the book and the help files, and had a go at programming Anyway, I hope I've been of help.