Math supplement for advanced 3-year-old (almost 4)?

[PokerDad]

Looks to me as though you put her in a Ferrari math-wise (Anzan) and are now wondering why she's zipping so quickly through more normal curriculum. Two and Three digit addition & subtraction are things I didn't get to until 4th grade! 3rd grade I did times tables.
It looks like the advice ITT has been good - to up the challenge. 

[Mandabplus3]

I shall look through both programs and let you know. I have been meaning to do it anyway. I was leaning to Saxon as it seems to be the one everyone says has the most success for preparing for university based math. I liked that it's very independent of me, for my 8 year old, 
I would let her do as much math as she wants to. I can't see her burning out. Plus it's a subject like reading the more you do the better you get, even if the practice is easy. you will know when to pull her back. If she loses interest, just take it away for a week or two, then offer it again.
As to the other activities 
I didn't know she was doing Suzuki! How Is that going? What do you think of it all? It's not an option for us but I was thinking of teaching my daughter flute using their methods.
If you want to dump something from the list to make more room, Dump handwriting and spelling. ( hear the pin drop as every one reading says oh she's crazy!  ) spelling she really doesn't need as she learnt to read using whole words methods. That means she will be very good at knowing WHEN a word she has written is spelt wrong. Test her out on this. Type a page of words, with each word having three spelling choices and get her to circle the correct one! Over time she will naturally learn to spell it properly, and make attempts to get the phonics right. She does so much reading she is learning to spell as she reads anyway. The only reason to keep doing it is if her reading and thus spelling  is getting mixed up due to her multi language reading abilities. ( eg English and Spanish spellings)
Handwriting....well I would only do that if my kids didn't form good letters, in the right direction, once she can draw all the letters legibly in the right direction then just let her practice by writing notes to friends and shopping list for you. In about 6 months time the time you spend with hand writing will be much more efficient. So if you need to find time, shelve this one temporarily. Handwriting is aquired quicker with a bit more age. In the overall picture these two things can come later with no loss of skill acquisition. 
It is interesting what you have listed as "school work". I assume you mean structured time as opposed to free play time? In my house art, music, martial arts and science are considered play activities  My kids see them differently. ( our science is very hands on and usually messy, crafty, or just plain fun!) These are the activities they would do anyway, with or without me suggesting it.
Art Atlier? What is this? I am looking for some art extention ideas. Particularly drawing skills.....
Thanks for the math books you mentioned, they look great! The library only has 1 but i put it on order, hoping the kids like it.  Do you know if you can buy them As a full set? The dragon of pi is the one we can get now.

[nadia0801]

Happy birthday Ella! More blessings to you!

Do you have the Singapore 3A already? We have the books+workbooks. I'll send it tru e-mail as a birthday present

We have started with it and found it to have just enough challenge. For sure she'll fly through it (again). It's amazing she can work through workbooks alone at her age! That's a rare gift!

How about some math game software? I've been looking for a good quality game software as Cammie likes to play, play, play all day. Even at soroban lessons, there have to be some kind of a game or story involved. If there isn't, she'll invent and incorporate silly stories into our lessons. Sometimes, I get carried away with the stories and barely get through the lesson itself!

[carpe vestri vita]

Beast Academy is fantastic. Something to look out for: only 3A and 3B are released, 3C should be out sometime this summer, and 3D before the end of the year. From what I understand the levels are going to be released every 4 months (which means only 3 of the 4 levels per calendar year), but they are trying to remedy the bottlenecks causing that schedule. Depending on her pace that might not be fast enough for you.

We like MEP (Mathematics Enrichment Programme). Lots of atypical problems, mental math, and other goodies. And it's free, I like free.

[Kimba15]

I think you are doing a great job Aangles. My daughter and your daughter are opposites while my dd does not like maths she loves Spelling and espeicially readin comprehension and writing. She is also becoming a precocious reader because I sent her to her room for being naughty and I called her to come out and face me after she 'served her time' and she refused to come out because she was reading. I think if she is loving maths why not just roll wit it for the time being and then step up with the writing and the spelling later.

My dd is flying through all about spelling and doing reading comp questions from www.readingtheory.org. I figure f she loves it so much why not. I do however, need to find her math niche to get her going on maths.

I am doing little music but had to stop soft mozart because she just refused to follow any instructions.

I think Ella will grow into a fine young lady with a real talent for math and still be well rounded in other areas becuse you will make sure she wont let it all go for maths.

[Kerileanne99]

Hhhhhmmm...
A fantastic supplement to loads of math and science, not to mention a lot of fun. These 'toys' come with a manual as well. I originally purchased a small set for chemistry demonstrations, but they are definitely an inclusive maths/geometry set...I then realized they could be used at home with Alex, with quite a bit of help. She will continue to use these for years, gradually gleaning more and more from them!
Primarily geometry, but you could use them for a lot more...
We bought Creator 1--you can download the free manual from their site to get more of an idea.

http://zometool.com/resources/

[aangeles]

Mandab,

Yes, she is taking Suzuki violin and we both enjoy it a lot! She has had 13 lessons so far (30 minutes each lesson) and she has 5 more pieces to learn before finishing Book 1. We practice everyday for 40-45 minutes, except on Sundays. As you probably already know, the Suzuki method emphasizes ear training and does not teach note reading in the early stages, so I find it a good complement to Soft Mozart which teaches her to read music fluently. Suzuki also has a strong emphasis on performance right from the beginning so Ella has been able to give a recital and perform in a public concert already. I found that Ella has an excellent auditory memory and also unusually good hand-eye-brain coordination, so it usually takes her only 1 sitting to learn an entire piece, then the rest of the week's practice is devoted to only fine-tuning her technique (tonalization, bowing, etc.) So she is progressing thru Book 1 more rapidly than usual.

With regard to handwriting, I wasn't doing it formally until recently because she has been able to figure out how to write her name and most of the letters with just a little guidance here and there since she was 2.5, and she is getting a lot of practice writing her numbers  with Soroban. But, she loves to write letters and stories and it bothered her a lot that she couldn't make her letters "as pretty as the ones in the books" (Did I mention that she has quite a perfectionistic streak?) So she literally begs me everyday to do the HWT workbooks that I had ordered some time back but never got around to using regularly.

We have tried a couple of art programs before without much success, but now we really like the Atelier Art curriculum http://www.homeschoolart.com/, and have been using it regularly. I also like Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes: http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-With-Children-Creative-Beginners/dp/0874778271/ref=pd_sim_b_1

[aangeles]

Hhhhhmmm...
A fantastic supplement to loads of math and science, not to mention a lot of fun. These 'toys' come with a manual as well. I originally purchased a small set for chemistry demonstrations, but they are definitely an inclusive maths/geometry set...I then realized they could be used at home with Alex, with quite a bit of help. She will continue to use these for years, gradually gleaning more and more from them!
Primarily geometry, but you could use them for a lot more...
We bought Creator 1--you can download the free manual from their site to get more of an idea.

http://zometool.com/resources/

Wow, Kerileanne! I bought something like this for Ella from Learning Resources ages ago, but a cheaper version and much much more limited in the number of structures you can build. She loved it but has outgrown it. I was considering getting her a couple more sets to extend her play, but now, I think I will just get zometool! Now, my problem is which set to get? The chem major in me wants the Molecules set, but I am sure she would love the geometry ones, and she would go crazy for the bubbles! Can you make geometric bubbles with Creator 1 too?

[Kerileanne99]

Aangeles-
Glad you liked the look of them! We first came across them at a conference for the profoundly gifted in California that we took a nephew to.  They really are a phenomenal investment, as there are just so many possibilities!
Yes, you can do some bubble work with creator 1 (we recently did a close-packed crystal demo, but it was a stretch!)
From what I have read of Ella (and Cammie, if you are reading this Nadia0801  ) I would not buy anything smaller than Creator 3 as she will progress quickly!) The Geometry set would be my recommendation, and you can always add extra parts!

[Kimba15]

@ Kerileanne99  Zometool = AWESOME thanks for the link.

[Tanikit]

I was also going to say try MEP (Maths Enhancement Program) as it is free and problem based - you may need to pick out the harder problems if she is going very fast.

We cannot yet get Beast Academy here, but have heard a lot of good things about it - at her age you can always try something and back away if it doesn't work or is too much. Your problem seems to be that she is flying through everything too fast to keep up with her

[Mandabplus3]

Thanks aangles for answering all my questions
I think I will teach her flute using the Suzuki method. I think both of us could handle that...plus she won't get fed up with it before she actually learns to play a tune! That's why I like soft Mozart. They don't spend 2-3 years doing boring bits before they get to play something recognizable. Very important for motivation. When Ella was first learning Suzuki did she struggle with the weight/ holding of the violin? A flute is heavy, we can't buy a small one but I do have a bent head so she can reach the keys. She will probably only last 5-10 mins tops in the beginning!
So if Ella is a perfectionist then I would suggest you definately stick with the handwriting practice AND add cursive as fast as you can. My oldest is a perfectionist and her cursive is slowing her down ALOT as she tries to make it all perfect. Her handwriting is really very neat, but apparently not good enough for her! Just get that one out of the way early 
MEP would be good for Ella ( if you haven't already looked at it) as a supplement but my kids just zoom through the whole book in one sitting. So it won't last you long. But it does make them think and analyze so it's worth doing. Plus you can revisit the same questions a few months later.  Also it's a whole lot of printing  Which is why I prefer IXL for my kiddos. More practice and no printing. IXl probably won't be great for Ella though, unless she loves doing work on the computer.
Oh that art program looks great! I am going to send them an email full of questions I am sooo fussy with this subject, so many programs are just not teaching anything much at all!

[jane_dmitrova]

Aangeles-

A little bit offtopic, but you mentioned Atelier Art. Could you please tell a bit more about it? I also tried different video lessons but found them either too simple or too difficult (i.e assuming that parents have art (drawing) background). Would be interesting to hear about this program.

[hinata]

For math there are some fantastic books:
Fibonacci: http://www.amazon.com/Blockhead-Life-Fibonacci-Joseph-DAgnese/dp/0805063056/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341866808&sr=1-3&keywords=fibonacci

Pythagoras:  http://www.amazon.com/Whats-Your-Angle-Pythagoras-Adventure/dp/1570911509/ref=pd_sim_b_4

A beautifully illustrated book by Demi : One Grain Of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale http://www.amazon.com/One-Grain-Rice-Mathematical-Folktale/dp/059093998X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341867252&sr=1-1&keywords=demi+math#_

Also for older kids -or very advanced little ones- there is a fantastic book called "The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure". It is very funny as well. http://www.amazon.com/Number-Devil-Mathematical-Adventure/dp/0805062998/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341867148&sr=1-1&keywords=devil+number

[aangeles]

Hinata,

I just finished looking at your recommendations on amazon. They look FANTASTIC!!! You don't know this, but another of Ella's passions (apart from math) is stories about historical characters. I think her interest comes from my reading stories from Chinese history and historical characters to her since she was little. She has read almost all the Usborne Young Reading books on Alexander the Great, Tutankhamun, Leonardo da Vinci, etc. and still loves to read and re-read all her picture books about the great composers, artists, and explorers. So I think the books about Fibonacci and Pythagoras will be just perfect for her!

We actually have One Grain of Rice by Demi and she loves it. I have also collected Demi's other books about religious and historical figures which we read when I was teaching her about the major religions in the world. She especially liked the ones about Buddha, Gandhi, and Mother Teresa.

Thank you so much for recommending the other books! I can't wait for them to arrive and see the expression on her face! 

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