Math is so much more important

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private schools don’t teach it either . All bells and whistles

My kid is currently taking a logic class where they go through things like how an argument is constructed and what the fallacies are.

It's been known how to properly teach critical thinking since the Middle Ages:

1) since you can't reason about something you don't understand, stuff young brains with facts. Young brains are literally proven by neuroscience to be better at taking in knowledge than older ones anyway.
2) once you have a good ground of knowledge and your brain is developing, learn how to reason (this would happen late elementary/early middle depending on brain development per kid)
3) once you know how to reason, learn how to present your reasoning eloquently in both writing and speech

I'm sure your kid is a real Aristotle.

Her first philosophical treatise is due to be published any day now.

Kewl

I have a kid who has a similar profile. I was similar, too, all through school (perfect scores on every verbal SAT/PSAT and lower math scores).

The key is just to support and encourage reading and writing. If he has an appetite for it, as he gets older, there are writing camps and competiitions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private schools don’t teach it either . All bells and whistles

My kid is currently taking a logic class where they go through things like how an argument is constructed and what the fallacies are.

It's been known how to properly teach critical thinking since the Middle Ages:

1) since you can't reason about something you don't understand, stuff young brains with facts. Young brains are literally proven by neuroscience to be better at taking in knowledge than older ones anyway.
2) once you have a good ground of knowledge and your brain is developing, learn how to reason (this would happen late elementary/early middle depending on brain development per kid)
3) once you know how to reason, learn how to present your reasoning eloquently in both writing and speech

I'm sure your kid is a real Aristotle.

Her first philosophical treatise is due to be published any day now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private schools don’t teach it either . All bells and whistles

My kid is currently taking a logic class where they go through things like how an argument is constructed and what the fallacies are.

It's been known how to properly teach critical thinking since the Middle Ages:

1) since you can't reason about something you don't understand, stuff young brains with facts. Young brains are literally proven by neuroscience to be better at taking in knowledge than older ones anyway.
2) once you have a good ground of knowledge and your brain is developing, learn how to reason (this would happen late elementary/early middle depending on brain development per kid)
3) once you know how to reason, learn how to present your reasoning eloquently in both writing and speech

I'm sure your kid is a real Aristotle.

I really don't see the need to supplement here. It's great you child is so advanced on reading and writing but that doesn't mean they are advanced in maturity. It's not like they will get anything reading Kierkegaard at this age. Just let them read whatever they want and just enjoy not having to worry about supplementing.

I also agree with focusing on logic if those classes exist. Math is very important too, because it is logic based. I am a lawyer and I have encountered so many liberal arts majors turned lawyers who can write nice big words and flowy sentences but they are not logically coherent. There are many different types of "writing" and if your child has the natural vocabulary down, I would focus on developing logic.

Anonymous wrote:My ADHD/autistic son was an early reader and always scored in the 99th percentile in verbal reasoning on his WISC evaluations, etc. He was diagnosed with a math disability (dyscalculia), which we bolstered with tutoring.

He just read a lot, and I made sure that his reading list included a lot of classics. Now in college in a humanities major and doing well.

It's nice that your son is gifted in this department, but if I were you, I would pay attention to the things he's NOT good at... otherwise it's going to cause problems later.

She didn’t say he’s not good at anything. He’s on target in the 5h grade level in math. He doesn’t need help with the other subjects. History is time consuming but it’s so worth it.

Anonymous wrote:My son is very advanced in reading and writing and vocabulary (always scores highest possible percentage in those areas on standardized tests and highest grades in school) and teachers are always commenting on his everyday use of "big words" and the very advanced insights that he gives in class in areas like social studies and language arts. He can do high school analysis on these subjects and has a very strong grasp on the context of the material.

His math and science are pretty grade level satisfactory for a fifth grader.

And yes, because this is DCUM and I know it will come up, every child here seems to be gifted so he isn't unique. All I know is I can't get answers from his school because he seems to be a rarity there and they aren't differentiating for him outside of giving him more advanced books to read. I am hoping it will be easy to find answers from those here in the same situation. Thank you.

It doesn’t matter if he’s gifted or not gifted, what matters is he has an interest in it and that’s all you need. I wouldn’t put him in a class or tutor that’s not interesting.

With regard to history - There are plenty of museums in the area and they usually have speakers and events in their specialties. Libraries too have many activities and speakers. Look in the adult events and speakers not the kids. I brought my son to adult speakers ant that ahe and it was fine.

Watch documentaries together. He will learn a lot from history documentaries. Eyes on the Prize is a documentary that’s about the Civil Rights era down South where Black people were pushing for the right to vote and to desegregate the schools among other mistreatment of Blacks specifically Mississippi and Alabama. He will be amazed that this type of violence and degradation was happening in our country.

Ken Burns is a great historian. He has books and documentaries on all kinds os subjects and historical people. He has documentaries on Jackie Robinson, the Roosevelts, Benjamin Franklin, Muhammad Ali, Baseball. He has documentaries on The USA and the Holocaust, The Vietnam War, Lincoln’s address. 27 so far and some still in production.

Documentaries The Agency: A History of the CIA. This is an excellent documentary and it will teach him some important history that they might not teach in school.

Discussions with you will be just as important as watching the documentaries. Maybe at dinner he can describe what he saw and learned in the film. That’s an important skill to have.

So much history! So much to learn! What’s he mostly interested in American, Asian, wars, historical leaders. ?

My daughter was very advanced in reading and writing, and I wish I had spent a little more time on math skills when she was younger. She did okay with a math tutor in high school and college, but it is something I would do differently now.

I found writing programs for her in middle and high school. When they like to read, it’s easy to just make sure they have access to books, and there are so many museums and activities for kids all over the area that it should not be hard to find stuff.

Anonymous wrote:My ADHD/autistic son was an early reader and always scored in the 99th percentile in verbal reasoning on his WISC evaluations, etc. He was diagnosed with a math disability (dyscalculia), which we bolstered with tutoring.

He just read a lot, and I made sure that his reading list included a lot of classics. Now in college in a humanities major and doing well.

It's nice that your son is gifted in this department, but if I were you, I would pay attention to the things he's NOT good at... otherwise it's going to cause problems later.

Me again.

My son attended a well-regarded public school that had a Gifted, Talented and Learning Disabled program, where he received accommodations for his inattention, etc, and was able to take all the APs he wanted with a case manager supervising his progress. One of them was AP Latin, which was great for him, given his love of history, Roman times and general literary interests. Since we are French, he also went to a weekend French school, and read French classics.

As you know, there is no school that caters to gifted kids. You just pick the most rigorous school you can find, and cobble together an enrichment program yourself.

For the topics that he's not interested in... you need to keep an eye on them, especially if you have specific college ambitions for him, because these days admissions are cutthroat and kids can't get into any selective university unless they show they are very functional on all fronts.

He should be more focused on math since he’s mediocre

Anonymous wrote:My ADHD/autistic son was an early reader and always scored in the 99th percentile in verbal reasoning on his WISC evaluations, etc. He was diagnosed with a math disability (dyscalculia), which we bolstered with tutoring.

He just read a lot, and I made sure that his reading list included a lot of classics. Now in college in a humanities major and doing well.

It's nice that your son is gifted in this department, but if I were you, I would pay attention to the things he's NOT good at... otherwise it's going to cause problems later.

The above poster is very wise. I was a voracious reader but suboptimized on math because it bored me.

Having lived the "gifted child" experience, lots of reading was enough to put me well ahead of peers. It's still true.

Math, EQ, and having a growth mindset are areas that I should have focused more on as a child. The world was different then.

Any type of extended reading is more differentiating now than it used to be (it's far more rare).

You might curate your child's viewing of high-value videos (TED Talks, video history courses, documentaries, etc.) Many bright children prefer visually augmented learning to b&w text.

Look at Varsity Tutors. They did some free classes during the pandemic that were worth it. I can't vouch for their paid products.

Anonymous wrote:Great logic classes at Dominion Christian and other classical schools, both formal and informal logic. They have a debate class in 8th too.

You could look at CTY but at that cost you may as well go to a classical Christian private like Dominion, Ad Fontes, etc. Like a session of logic at CTY is 7200, and tuition at classical Christian is about 15-18k.

AoPS has language arts classes.

OP may not be Christian.

A couple ideas-
-odyssey of the mind team (great for problem solving, creative thinking, executive thinking, public speaking, all skills that are tough to get elsewhere)

-an instrument (not what you’re asking for but it expands the mind in ways that pay off in many ways, plus for my kids, I was looking for a hard challenge and learning a new language or an instrument scratches that itch)


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Try Lukeion online