Asking for more from a teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I found second grade to be the absolute worst for advanced kids. The read gifted programs typically haven't kicked in yet, and the schools are laser-focused on making sure all the kids can read, add, and subtract before the step-up in work in third grade. (The famed, "learning to read vs reading to learn" transition)

So the best thing to do now is probably take advantage of the DL environment to supplement with cool, interesting things that make their brains work, but aren't necessarily related to the content they'll learn at school

This is so true. I have a third grader who is in FCPS's AAP program this year. She was bored to tears in second, but is much happier and more engaged in third.

This is spot on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I found second grade to be the absolute worst for advanced kids. The read gifted programs typically haven't kicked in yet, and the schools are laser-focused on making sure all the kids can read, add, and subtract before the step-up in work in third grade. (The famed, "learning to read vs reading to learn" transition)

So the best thing to do now is probably take advantage of the DL environment to supplement with cool, interesting things that make their brains work, but aren't necessarily related to the content they'll learn at school

This is so true. I have a third grader who is in FCPS's AAP program this year. She was bored to tears in second, but is much happier and more engaged in third.

This is spot on.

+1

My advanced reader was bored to tears in second-grade. In third grade, they aren't learning to read anymore, they are reading in the service of learning content, they are working on writing skills, etc. The projects generally have a lot more scope -- i.e., kids who are not as strong academically can do X, but kids who are more advanced can do X + Y + Z, or delve even deeper when writing a report, etc. Some of that requires me to push a bit, since doing the minimum is pretty easy for her, but it's not about gritting your teeth to get through more phonics instruction, it's about learning about topics, finding evidence for your claims, etc.

Also, we do talk about the need to show your work, and prove to the teacher that you have learned something. It's not enough that you know you know it, you need to be able to demonstrate it. The teacher needs to know that you know it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I found second grade to be the absolute worst for advanced kids. The read gifted programs typically haven't kicked in yet, and the schools are laser-focused on making sure all the kids can read, add, and subtract before the step-up in work in third grade. (The famed, "learning to read vs reading to learn" transition)

So the best thing to do now is probably take advantage of the DL environment to supplement with cool, interesting things that make their brains work, but aren't necessarily related to the content they'll learn at school

This is so true. I have a third grader who is in FCPS's AAP program this year. She was bored to tears in second, but is much happier and more engaged in third.

This is spot on.

Ugh. My 2nd grader is bored to tears, and it's a constant battle every day to get him to pay attention to DL. It's going to be a very long year.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for these perspectives. I appreciate them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are in 1st and 2nd grade. Both need more challenging work from their teachers. Both are grade levels ahead in reading and in math. I've asked for more, generally speaking, and gotten answers like 'we are using the programs Dreambox and IStation for differentiation'. I 100% recognize that teachers are doing their best during this situation. Also, I really like both of their teachers and think they are doing their best. But - my kids need more. What specifically can I ask for in this era of online learning? My oldest is in the Gifted program already, but he only gets to go to that 2 times a week for 20 minutes each time. Do I just leave it alone and do extra stuff at our house? I hate to do this because I don't really want the kids to have more homework - just harder homework.

At that age my kids were school levels ahead. Like reading and math at the norms for middle school and later on high school level.
Hate to breakout to you but neither one's a genius.

Just let them read

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are in 1st and 2nd grade. Both need more challenging work from their teachers. Both are grade levels ahead in reading and in math. I've asked for more, generally speaking, and gotten answers like 'we are using the programs Dreambox and IStation for differentiation'. I 100% recognize that teachers are doing their best during this situation. Also, I really like both of their teachers and think they are doing their best. But - my kids need more. What specifically can I ask for in this era of online learning? My oldest is in the Gifted program already, but he only gets to go to that 2 times a week for 20 minutes each time. Do I just leave it alone and do extra stuff at our house? I hate to do this because I don't really want the kids to have more homework - just harder homework.

Buy a workbook, a big fat one with hundreds of pages, at Costco. Here you can get it as advanced as you want! Good lord...I suggest starting with sixth grade level. Sounds like your gifted 1 & 2 graders will find a challenge with those. The teacher doesn’t need one more thing to do right now during distance learning. It is on YOU!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You might want to consider homeschooling. Otherwise, your best bet is to provide enrichment, but that doesn't have to mean "homework". Keep in mind that any acceleration (teaching them standard curriculum at a faster pace than their peers), will compound your problem later. While distance learning undoubtedly makes differentiation less likely, advanced learners were often left unchallenged even in school pre-COVID era.

If you do decide to homeschool or accelerate (or even to catch any gaps caused by DL), the series What Your _______Grader Needs to Know by E. D. Hirsch, Jr. , provides an excellent general reference.

The Hoagies website has an area that offers links to fun enrichment for kids in all subjects.
https://www.hoagiesgifted.org/links.htm

Brainpop has animated lessons on a multitude of topics.
https://www.brainpop.com/

The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives lets kids play with and explore math concepts online.
http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html

Sir Cumference books by Cindy Neuschwander provide an introduction to geometry topics.

For history, you might try the Timewarp Trio series, the Magic Treehouse series, and Ben and Me. I've heard good things about a series called Horrible Histories, but have no experience with it.

Play games. They almost always have a math component (keeping score, making moves, etc.) and encourage logical thinking. Some, like Sleeping Queens and Monopoly, incorporate math more directly.

Logic Puzzles are great. DD loved Rush Hour. Magic Squares and Sudoku are also good.

Mathisfun has games, puzzles, and explanations of math topics
https://www.mathsisfun.com/games/index.html

Cooking is excellent for fractions. For added challenge, you could double or halve recipes.

Crafts can be great for math. Many projects involve measuring, calculating perimeter and/or area. Origami helps with geometric thinking.

Give the kids tape measures. Timers can also be fun.

Secret codes might be interesting for them. Seymour Sleuth mysteries by Doug Cushman are picture books featuring codes and puzzle clues. The Third Grade Detectives series by George E. Stanley explores secret codes in the context of chapter book mysteries.

Encyclopedia Brown and Einstein Anderson are mysteries for the reader to solve.

Madlibs is great for an introduction to parts of speech.

Schoolhouse Rock

Freerice is a program that donates rice as you play their quizzes. If your kids are charitably inclined, it might motivate them to work on vocabulary words. There are other subjects as well.
https://freerice.com/about

TV can be a great asset. Magic School Bus is excellent for Science. Cyberchase is great for math (although I think the focus has shifted in recent seasons, I think old episodes can still be found on the PBS kids website.)
https://pbskids.org/cyberchase/videos/?selectedID=331ac4a3-bfe1-4ef1-b6e4-db8204f97796&episode-id=2883225c-0ec9-4490-9f88-7890cfb1689a
PBS shows are generally good.

My kids loved Zoombinis and The Incredible Machine computer games.

If your kids are interested in computers, Scratch is an excellent introduction to programming. It's a programming language designed by MIT to teach programming to kids intuitively.
https://scratch.mit.edu/parents

If your kids are interested in foreign language:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyY3Wd5x85o8AKXjYSoxFAQ
https://www.Duolingo.com

Historical fiction should not be the primary way kids learn about history.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You might want to consider homeschooling. Otherwise, your best bet is to provide enrichment, but that doesn't have to mean "homework". Keep in mind that any acceleration (teaching them standard curriculum at a faster pace than their peers), will compound your problem later. While distance learning undoubtedly makes differentiation less likely, advanced learners were often left unchallenged even in school pre-COVID era.

If you do decide to homeschool or accelerate (or even to catch any gaps caused by DL), the series What Your _______Grader Needs to Know by E. D. Hirsch, Jr. , provides an excellent general reference.

The Hoagies website has an area that offers links to fun enrichment for kids in all subjects.
https://www.hoagiesgifted.org/links.htm

Brainpop has animated lessons on a multitude of topics.
https://www.brainpop.com/

The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives lets kids play with and explore math concepts online.
http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html

Sir Cumference books by Cindy Neuschwander provide an introduction to geometry topics.

For history, you might try the Timewarp Trio series, the Magic Treehouse series, and Ben and Me. I've heard good things about a series called Horrible Histories, but have no experience with it.

Play games. They almost always have a math component (keeping score, making moves, etc.) and encourage logical thinking. Some, like Sleeping Queens and Monopoly, incorporate math more directly.

Logic Puzzles are great. DD loved Rush Hour. Magic Squares and Sudoku are also good.

Mathisfun has games, puzzles, and explanations of math topics
https://www.mathsisfun.com/games/index.html

Cooking is excellent for fractions. For added challenge, you could double or halve recipes.

Crafts can be great for math. Many projects involve measuring, calculating perimeter and/or area. Origami helps with geometric thinking.

Give the kids tape measures. Timers can also be fun.

Secret codes might be interesting for them. Seymour Sleuth mysteries by Doug Cushman are picture books featuring codes and puzzle clues. The Third Grade Detectives series by George E. Stanley explores secret codes in the context of chapter book mysteries.

Encyclopedia Brown and Einstein Anderson are mysteries for the reader to solve.

Madlibs is great for an introduction to parts of speech.

Schoolhouse Rock

Freerice is a program that donates rice as you play their quizzes. If your kids are charitably inclined, it might motivate them to work on vocabulary words. There are other subjects as well.
https://freerice.com/about

TV can be a great asset. Magic School Bus is excellent for Science. Cyberchase is great for math (although I think the focus has shifted in recent seasons, I think old episodes can still be found on the PBS kids website.)
https://pbskids.org/cyberchase/videos/?selectedID=331ac4a3-bfe1-4ef1-b6e4-db8204f97796&episode-id=2883225c-0ec9-4490-9f88-7890cfb1689a
PBS shows are generally good.

My kids loved Zoombinis and The Incredible Machine computer games.

If your kids are interested in computers, Scratch is an excellent introduction to programming. It's a programming language designed by MIT to teach programming to kids intuitively.
https://scratch.mit.edu/parents

If your kids are interested in foreign language:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyY3Wd5x85o8AKXjYSoxFAQ
https://www.Duolingo.com

Historical fiction should not be the primary way kids learn about history.

DP here. I agree with you and I am having a horrible time finding a good history book that is engaging to young readers but is secular. Everyone keeps suggesting Story of the World but that book is not secular. A pity really.

Any recommendation pp?

[Anonymous]

Story of the World is not secular, but it does try to be neutral. You can always talk over your belief systems regarding the myths/religious stories/fables/epics shared.

[Anonymous]

Wow, we have so many smart kids. Why do we need to worry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You might want to consider homeschooling. Otherwise, your best bet is to provide enrichment, but that doesn't have to mean "homework". Keep in mind that any acceleration (teaching them standard curriculum at a faster pace than their peers), will compound your problem later. While distance learning undoubtedly makes differentiation less likely, advanced learners were often left unchallenged even in school pre-COVID era.

If you do decide to homeschool or accelerate (or even to catch any gaps caused by DL), the series What Your _______Grader Needs to Know by E. D. Hirsch, Jr. , provides an excellent general reference.

The Hoagies website has an area that offers links to fun enrichment for kids in all subjects.
https://www.hoagiesgifted.org/links.htm

Brainpop has animated lessons on a multitude of topics.
https://www.brainpop.com/

The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives lets kids play with and explore math concepts online.
http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html

Sir Cumference books by Cindy Neuschwander provide an introduction to geometry topics.

For history, you might try the Timewarp Trio series, the Magic Treehouse series, and Ben and Me. I've heard good things about a series called Horrible Histories, but have no experience with it.

Play games. They almost always have a math component (keeping score, making moves, etc.) and encourage logical thinking. Some, like Sleeping Queens and Monopoly, incorporate math more directly.

Logic Puzzles are great. DD loved Rush Hour. Magic Squares and Sudoku are also good.

Mathisfun has games, puzzles, and explanations of math topics
https://www.mathsisfun.com/games/index.html

Cooking is excellent for fractions. For added challenge, you could double or halve recipes.

Crafts can be great for math. Many projects involve measuring, calculating perimeter and/or area. Origami helps with geometric thinking.

Give the kids tape measures. Timers can also be fun.

Secret codes might be interesting for them. Seymour Sleuth mysteries by Doug Cushman are picture books featuring codes and puzzle clues. The Third Grade Detectives series by George E. Stanley explores secret codes in the context of chapter book mysteries.

Encyclopedia Brown and Einstein Anderson are mysteries for the reader to solve.

Madlibs is great for an introduction to parts of speech.

Schoolhouse Rock

Freerice is a program that donates rice as you play their quizzes. If your kids are charitably inclined, it might motivate them to work on vocabulary words. There are other subjects as well.
https://freerice.com/about

TV can be a great asset. Magic School Bus is excellent for Science. Cyberchase is great for math (although I think the focus has shifted in recent seasons, I think old episodes can still be found on the PBS kids website.)
https://pbskids.org/cyberchase/videos/?selectedID=331ac4a3-bfe1-4ef1-b6e4-db8204f97796&episode-id=2883225c-0ec9-4490-9f88-7890cfb1689a
PBS shows are generally good.

My kids loved Zoombinis and The Incredible Machine computer games.

If your kids are interested in computers, Scratch is an excellent introduction to programming. It's a programming language designed by MIT to teach programming to kids intuitively.
https://scratch.mit.edu/parents

If your kids are interested in foreign language:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyY3Wd5x85o8AKXjYSoxFAQ
https://www.Duolingo.com

Historical fiction should not be the primary way kids learn about history.

DP here. I agree with you and I am having a horrible time finding a good history book that is engaging to young readers but is secular. Everyone keeps suggesting Story of the World but that book is not secular. A pity really.

Any recommendation pp?

Usborne Encylopedia of World History
Pandora press History Quest
Who Was book series

[Anonymous]

People who are supplementing a lot, are you still having your kids log in for grade level DL ? Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who are supplementing a lot, are you still having your kids log in for grade level DL ? Why?

Because one loves her teacher and the other is actually learning from DL. We always supplement anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are in 1st and 2nd grade. Both need more challenging work from their teachers. Both are grade levels ahead in reading and in math. I've asked for more, generally speaking, and gotten answers like 'we are using the programs Dreambox and IStation for differentiation'. I 100% recognize that teachers are doing their best during this situation. Also, I really like both of their teachers and think they are doing their best. But - my kids need more. What specifically can I ask for in this era of online learning? My oldest is in the Gifted program already, but he only gets to go to that 2 times a week for 20 minutes each time. Do I just leave it alone and do extra stuff at our house? I hate to do this because I don't really want the kids to have more homework - just harder homework.

Just do extra - can they do it during class if class is so easy? My first grader breezes through the math lesson in 2 minutes when the teacher allots 15 minutes. (And yes, it's all correct.) I made a stash of math supplement sheets that he can work on while he's waiting for the remaining time to be up. Or he can practice writing his numbers (his handwriting isn't great). The class is working on adding numbers up to 10 and today he was working on numbers in the hundreds and thousands, doing various equations (100+81 = 200 - x , etc). It more or less builds on what the class is doing anyway, just with bigger numbers and doing addition and subtraction simultaneously.

If it were reading he was ahead in, I'd have him read a more complex book or do some writing practice. He is very much not ahead in those areas, however!

If your kids are young you or DH are likely home with them, right? So put together supplemental stuff they can do. Or purchase flash cards, activity books, more in depth reading material, etc. Biographies of historical figures are great. We're reading one on MLK Jr. Very basic of course, but it introduces all kinds of important topics while helping DS work on his reading and reading comprehension.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who are supplementing a lot, are you still having your kids log in for grade level DL ? Why?

Because even though it pales in comparison, he still gets to see his friends, and it's maintaining a routine for when we eventually do return to in-person school. He also gets a lot of encouragement from and feels seen by his teacher.

And I don't want my kid to think that just because he's advanced, he gets to disregard people who aren't at his level intellectually or academically. It might be painful for him to sit through a math lesson that's moving at a snail's pace for him, but he needs to understand that we're all different and all have our own strengths and weaknesses.