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Young chidren close in age but at very different levels, keep schooling one and relax with other?
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My 5.5 yr old daughter and 4 yr old son have been doing “school” for a couple of years, just learning to read, numbers, etc. We just started our new school year this week (with my 8 and 6.5 yr old) and I added copywork for the little ones, just one letter every other day. My daughter is miserable, she would always much rather be doing anything else besides “school”, but my 4 yr old, who is very intelligent, enjoys it and retains everything I teach him. He actually reads better than his 6 yr old sister, and grasps many math concepts that will probably take my 5.5 yr old much, much longer to learn. My question is, do I continue with my 4 yr old in copywork/math etc, and just let my 5.5 yr old back off quite a bit even though the 4 yr old will get much farther ahead of her?
I know they are very young, and we usually don’t start formal school until 6 or so, but my 4 yr old is ready and likes it (and it keeps the him out of trouble too:). I forsee it being a continual thing for him to be much more advanced in everything than her, and I’m not sure how to handle that exactly. She has a very hard time understanding everything I try teaching her, it takes many repititions/different ways of explaining things, drawing them, etc. I don’t want her to ever feel like she isn’t smart, etc. Hope that all made sense. Thanks!
That is where it is better to look at school not by age but by level. So if you 4 year old is at a different place by all means let him keep going. If your 5.5 year old needs a different approach and to move slower, that is the beauty of homeschooling.
I just want to caution you not to “label” your children. I’ve had the same scenarios where I thought a younger one would always be “ahead” or there was a child who seemed to be very academically inclined at a young age. Then I was startled later to find that I had to change my thinking because suddenly the older one was shooting “ahead” or the one who I thought loved math, um…. didn’t. The trouble with that is that my actions followed my thinking in very subtle ways. It might be that I expected less of a child then I should have, or the other way around. Children have academic spurts the same way they have growth spurts and it’s wonderful when we can be in tune with them.
I agree that I would adjust for what’s best for each child. My family is a bit similar, thought it’s just come to light more this past year (ds 9, dd 12). My 9yo just started reading books at about the 12yo’s level, seems to be surpassing her in piano, etc. Though for us, I think a large part of it is an interest/personality issue. Ds is just so much more curious and likes to think about things, loves to read, loves to play the piano for fun, etc.
I don’t have much to add, except maybe considering having them do different math programs, etc. so that it doesn’t feel like competition where the oldest one feels not as smart or ‘behind.’ If you haven’t considered different learning styles, I’d probably investigate that…wish I would have sooner. HTH some:) Blessings, Gina
Thanks, I agree with not labeling them, and I’m sure I do that more than I realize. It is also an interest level issue, but also just the way she processes information. It’s just not the same as any of the other ones (and some of them have much different ways of learning). I’ll have to think about the different math program, that would avoid the whole level comparison issue, although I like our program a lot and already have the material for her:)
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