Slow Down question

[KF2000]

Hi folks!

I have a question. Given that Memoria Press is so "on target" with their expectations in the grammar years, I am trying to slow my primary gang down to be mature enough to handle third grade and beyond. I am eagerly waiting for the additional options that will be coming, so that they can each "hang out" where they are and get older. I don't know what to do about math though...

Specifically, in the fall, I will have a seven year old who has completed second, and a nine year old who has completed third...I want to get each of them a year older before they go into third and fourth, respectively. And I would like to keep them able to do the whole core curriculum, if at all possible. So what do I do for math? Just move them along and adjust plans? Use blacklines to just keep practicing and mastering facts? Have a "light" math year that way???

Suggestions would be appreciated!
AMDG,
Sarah

[SaintJude7]

slow down

Sarah,
It is such a coincidence that you should post this. I actually sent an email today to someone about the problems that can arise when homeschoolers try to push ahead beyond their child's maturity level. I think the longer you are at homeschooling, the more you see the need to respect this. We've had times of continuing to review math concepts while using living books and the Life of Fred series, instead of pushing ahead to the next level. I also like the Edward Zaccaro "Challenge Math" books.
Blessings,
Jude

dd 17
ds 14 (special needs)
ds 11
ds 9
dd 7
ds 4
dd 2

[armymom]

I am not sure that math runs into the same maturity issues as other subjects. I was not a particularly mature child in several ways, but did fine skipping multiple grades in math. I think the option to continue is fine, especially if you aren't too bugged by altering the plans slightly. Plus, that gives you time later to loiter at something really fundamental like algebra, or add a class in something that it is a shame everyone ends up skipping over like statistics.

I spent three years on algebra because the little school I went to ran out of classes, but as a result, I was able to pull algebra out and help my husband with the GREs years after my last class. I also took stats multiple times in college and I think I will take my high schoolers study that instead of calculus unless I think they have a future in science. Math is a rich enough subject that I believe of your students are doing well, continue. It will allow them to be ready for an extra topic later, or a slowdown later when they actually are stuck.

[SaintJude7]

mathematical

I think cognitive maturity is just as pertinent in the study of math as in any other subject. It does move from the concrete to the abstract. A child who can grasp the relationship between there being a symbol which represents a quantity might not be ready for using these symbols to perform a calculation. And a child who can perform the four basic operations might not be ready for basic algebra. Have you ever seen the faces of some students when you try to explain imaginary numbers or a circle whose radius is i?
If they are able to understand, you can keep going. Sometimes a child is not developmentally ready to move on just yet. You can push ahead and waste a lot of effort or stop and give them some time for growth.
Blessings,
Jude

dd 17
ds 14 (special needs)
ds 11
ds 9
dd 7
ds 4
dd 2

[armymom]

I agree, there are a lot of abstractions in higher math, and a student can be ready or not. However, there are relatively few interesting topics in math until lower arithmetic is mastered. Repeating multiplication can sharpen skills, but it isn't very interesting. However, if you get to prealgebra and decide that they need another year, there are arithmetic topics they can handle, say practical math applications - interest, money or even basic geometry with constructions and formulas that would be a more interesting math exploration than more and more basic problems. Plus, sometimes you will get a child that is simply confortable with abstraction and then there is no reason that algebra a year early is unacceptable. I mean IF they understand, there is nothing about the subject of algebra that is inappropriate at a younger age. Literature is very different simply because ability to understand the words on the page can get way past the maturity in understanding the relationships in the story. There are plenty of books a child may be capable of reading that are totally inappropriate in topic (even if they might be perfectly appropriate later.) I don't think math is quite like that is all. Which means that, I think, it is more appropriate to stop when you are truly stuck, rather than simply because you think you might get stuck. Lots of kids might need to hang out at some point and loiter on math topics, but the more you already know, the more interesting the applications and side ventures that you can explore while waiting for the abstract mind can catch up.

[KF2000]

I really appreciate the viewpoints both of you have offered. I hope you will both understand that I agree with both of your very important points to consider. I think moving ahead is a great way to go if not only math understanding is there, but also overall maturity is there, as being ahead does allow for exposure to more math than we typically have time for.

So I have thought of continuing, but in my "mom-sense" I think a year of growth is in order. Both kids would move into brand new concepts, third introduces multi/division, and fourth changes gears and has more topics presented, with higher expectations. My fourth is still really working on compliance in school, so making math "bigger" right now does not seem like it will help that. So for both, since I was slowing down, I thought it would be a good thing to hold off on the math too. For me, it is a bit related to whether they will congnitively be ready, but it is even more so if they can maturely handle the increased expectations and frustrations well. I don't think they will. But a year could really help with that.

And yes, this does come from experience of putting younger children into advanced levels because of skill, and hitting the roadblocks of still being very young with higher expectations placed on them, in more than just math. (Which is why MP is such a blessing for us! I just have to get the kids down to grade level now)

AMDG,
Sarah

[KF2000]

Ok, found a solution. Third Grade R&S has a worksheet booklet we did not do. So we are going to rerun through the third grade book, (needing to have better mastery anyway) and use the worksheets as written work.

Same idea for second grader....we have the blacklines which we did not use yet, so we will use those as written work.

Sorry to answer my own question!
AMDG,
Sarah