My kids are similar ages (DD turned 7 in Sept, DS turned 5 in June), and we have a similar challenge. DS5 loves math and so spends lots of time thinking about numbers, playing with calculators, etc. So his skills are about on par with DD7, and DS5 is a bit quicker with many things. So I’ve been thinking about how to deal with that. I’ve also spent a lot of time pondering CM’s recommendation to delay formal instruction until age 6, since both DD7 and DS5 have been ‘advanced’ in several areas. Here’s what I’ve come up with.
First, I don’t think that the ‘family study’ approach will work for most subjects for us, at least right now. DS5 is a competitive type. In the areas that he is on par with his sister, he’ll want to ‘beat her’. In the areas he is not, I’m afraid he’ll compare everything he does and feel frustrated if he can’t keep up. And then there is DD3, who beats to her own drummer in many ways, who will eventually be in the mix. So, other than things like art, music, nature study, and a family read aloud (with no narration), we are going to keep things separate, or do them in ways that don’t lend to comparisons. DD7 isn’t much bothered that DS5 can do math as well as her, because it just isn’t her thing anyway. I can see it being hard for DS5, though.
Second, despite CM’s caution against formal instruction before age 6, I don’t see a need to prevent a child from moving forward, just because of their age. When they have a desire to learn something, I provide the guidance needed. I don’t require anything, I just follow their lead. For example, both DD7 and DS5 were excited about learning to read at about age 4. So I taught them, as quickly as they wanted to. DD7 picked it up in weeks. I’m actually not quite sure how. All of a sudden she could just read. Everything. DS5 worked through some reading lessons, just doing them whenever he wanted, and now reads chapter books.
Here is what DS5 is doing now. Maybe it will help you. He does a little bit of everything everyday, since DD7 is ‘doing school’ and so everyone who isn’t napping joins us at the table, but as I said, I don’t require it. If he is not in the mood, he can just play quietly.
Math: Life of Fred, some of the games from RightStart, and some board games. The games are done with DD7, but I make sure to pick games where it won’t be obvious if DS is faster. I only let each child do 4 chapters of Life of Fred each week, so that DD stays a book ahead.
Fine Motor skills/Printing: I’ve been ‘assigning’ DS some colouring pages, or asking him to draw me a picture of something specific. He just starting being interested in anything involving a pencil or crayon, so he is just developing these skills. He really wanted to know how to write his numbers (math geek!), so I taught him the 10 digits. Now we are working on printing, first working on the letters in his name. His ‘copywork’ has been just copying his name, alternating between first and last. This week we started the letters in the names of other people in the family, and I’ll make copywork out of those. We probably won’t get to real copywork until next year.
Reading/narrating: Once or twice a week I read a selection from Aesop’s Fables or Fifty Famous Stories and ask him to tell me about the story. He just gives me a few words, or a short sentence, but he feels like he is ‘doing school’. There are enough of these to last us a long time, so he’ll have a year long warm up before I really expect him to narrate anything substantial.
I assign him ‘free reading’ time, mostly just to give him some quiet time and keep him busy while DD and I work together. He’s reading the Arthur Scott Bailey books right now.
Hope that helps! Feel free to PM me if you want more specifics.
Joanne
