Regressing, but still above grade level. Enrich or not?

[Anonymous]

Probably it is not a big deal, but I am a bit pissed. My child was above grade level in reading and math by a lot a lot before he attended public school k. His current public school k curriculum still does simple math and basic reading. No motivation, no homework, and no teacher to push him, and I find out that his reading level and math level going down even though they are still above grade level. I am not a tiger mom, but I can’t stand zero progress plus regress.

He used to love math and reading because his preschool teacher pushed for them. He spend too much time on computer these days and not challenged at all. Should I enrich or not in this situation? I think all he needs is a review refresher and have someone to keep track and give him a push because I don’t think I can rely on public school teacher. I don’t want to be that person (exhausted), so I either have to let it go, or pay someone in person or print out homework for him to do.

His teachers know that he is smart and above grade level, and they won’t do anything extra for him.

[Anonymous]

Maybe try Beast Academy for math?

The reality is that we can't rely on most public schools to push our kids beyond grade-level material. They simply have too many other things to worry about and hardly enough resources. Hell, at many schools (if not most in DC) the majority of kids are BELOW grade level, and all the more so this year.

[Anonymous]

Preschool
Should not have been pushing this for starters. Do you read with him? If you want him to get better at reading then you help him.

[Anonymous]

Is he actually losing skills or just not progressing along the same trajectory?

The best enrichment at that age doesn't involve work books. Read to and with him. Talk about math in every day life --- cooking is especially good for this. My math loving child loved the book Bedtime Math at that age.

But regardless of what you do, early readers don't necessarily stay the most advanced readers as everyone learns how to read.

[Anonymous]

Op here. His private preschool provided the right environment to motivate him on math and reading, and it was he supplemented himself at home with available resources without parent intervention. He had the drive and passion in learning back then before attending public k.

I don’t want to brag, but either he is really smart or a bit gifted that he memorized and understood the concept of multiplication table and simple division at age 4. He knew how to read simple books words by words at 3. We let him explore math and reading endlessly at his own pace, and we did minimum back then because he had the passion and drive to do that on his own. We have been busy with work and projects , so we don’t follow up. I think either the passion is gone or he really needs someone to give him a push or the nurturing environment is gone or no one challenges him. I am just sad.

He can definitely catch up because after I remind/hint at him, he remembers them all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe try Beast Academy for math?

The reality is that we can't rely on most public schools to push our kids beyond grade-level material. They simply have too many other things to worry about and hardly enough resources. Hell, at many schools (if not most in DC) the majority of kids are BELOW grade level, and all the more so this year.

This. Our DS is above grade level in math and English. We supplement both, math we outsource, English we support at home. We want him to be challenged and continue progressing.

[Anonymous]

You're upset that your kid isn't that much above grade level in kindergarten.

Your kid knows multiplication at age 4.

You're not a tiger mom.

No offense, OP...but your post reads like you're queen of the tiger moms, not just a subscribing member.

[Anonymous]

I think enriching (feeding a child’s interests) is great. It has nothing to do with their ability level and academic progress. Having a child, myself, who was years ahead of grade level, the further ahead they are, the more it creates problems. Focusing on art, science, social studies, etc., will probably be your best bet. Ecen if you have a mathy kid (as I did), focus enrichment on breadth and keep it fun.

Hoagies has links for enrichment for all ages and subjects.
https://www.hoagiesgifted.org/links.htm

[Anonymous]

He is in K? Let it go. In K there is a huge difference in abilities, so while it seems your child may be super advanced, they probably arent

[Anonymous]

The problem is you pushed for too much acceleration before K and no school is going to create a separate curriculum for just your kid to keep him accelerated from where he is now. If you want to keep him going at that pace academically, you will need to supplement outside of school (or homeschool).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem is you pushed for too much acceleration before K and no school is going to create a separate curriculum for just your kid to keep him accelerated from where he is now. If you want to keep him going at that pace academically, you will need to supplement outside of school (or homeschool).

Op here. I understand school will not do anything, but I want to defend myself that I did not push him on academic before k. It was not me teaching him how to read, and it was him learning phonics from daycare and then he read on his own starting from there. I don't even read book to or with him at home. It was him asking us to play sight word games and spelling game, and I push myself to play with him. For math, it was him learning basic simple math from daycare plus youtube, and then I don't even recall where he learned multiplication and division because we never taught him. All I recall is that he asked me to get him multiplication table chart one day, and I ordered online per his request. For almost a year, he asked me a few times per werk to test him with math questions, and he wanted challenging ones, so I started from simple ones to more complicated ones. It was he himself pushing him on academic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think enriching (feeding a child’s interests) is great. It has nothing to do with their ability level and academic progress. Having a child, myself, who was years ahead of grade level, the further ahead they are, the more it creates problems. Focusing on art, science, social studies, etc., will probably be your best bet. Ecen if you have a mathy kid (as I did), focus enrichment on breadth and keep it fun.

Hoagies has links for enrichment for all ages and subjects.
https://www.hoagiesgifted.org/links.htm

Thank you, I will check it out.

[Anonymous]

Hey OP! We supplement with Aloha Math, mainly because I'm an immigrant and us immigrants think that math in the US sucks lol. It's been great and my kindergartener and first grader love it. There is also Russian Math which is an excellent program. All the immigrants I know supplement with math. With reading, just read, read, read at home. I also enroll my girls in the free county nature programs. I was just talking to a high school math teacher at APS who told me that most students in middle school are horrendous at math. Curriculum is just weak.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP! We supplement with Aloha Math, mainly because I'm an immigrant and us immigrants think that math in the US sucks lol. It's been great and my kindergartener and first grader love it. There is also Russian Math which is an excellent program. All the immigrants I know supplement with math. With reading, just read, read, read at home. I also enroll my girls in the free county nature programs. I was just talking to a high school math teacher at APS who told me that most students in middle school are horrendous at math. Curriculum is just weak.

Forgot to add there is also AOPS/Beast Academy but its for gifted kids I believe and I think they start at an older age.

[Anonymous]

Get him out of the school that uses computers so much and focuses on hands on education