Suggestions for stretching a bored Y2

[MrsDoylesLovechild]

I've been reading the thread from the Parent of the bored Y2 girl with interest as I'm in a very similar position with DD who is around the same age.
I'm not convinced she is properly in the category of gifted, but is very bright and currently about 2-3 years ahead of her class (formally assessed), particularly in reading. She enjoys a lot of aspects about school, but is beginning to complain about being bored with the school work. She's actively asking me to do harder workbooks with her outside of school, but I'm in two minds as it seems to be exacerbating the problem and pushing her even further ahead. School seem reluctant to discuss her actual level of capabilities, just commenting she is ahead of milestones - slightly cynically I think this is because if they did, they would need to do something about it. 🤔

So as per the other thread I'm interested in your stretching suggestions outside of the normal curriculum. What worked for you? Any specific subjects that would be both interesting and useful? How do you find a language teacher for example, for a 6 year old? Also, books that are challenging enough but with subject matter that is also age appropriate for a younger child?

Reading children's newspapers having interesting chats on what they've learnt
Rock watchers magazine as a member of the geological society that runs activities during the year
DD has always like language as a tool so learning riddles and things, she also likes Shakespeare so we started on children's versions before progressing on to more traditional ones.
Going to the theatre there are several in our area and not all shows are very expensive
Continuing to read to her far beyond when she could read to herself but more classical books with more challenging language but also allowing easier books for reading for pleasure. DD is a teen now and still loves classics but moved onto Dorian Grey rather than Jungle Book.

Stretching a child doesn't always have to be complicated, so rolling different size marbles down a ramp to predict which one will finish first could be just that or you could extend it to calculating speed. Often it's about challenging the thought process more than anything.
Lego can be used to construct houses and cars, but it can also be used to teach fractions, or enzymes lock and key process

Learn a musical instrument

Mandarin?

I wouldn’t focus on getting ahead on the curriculum too much. The Weekly magazine and Whizz Pop Bang are great, read more classic novels, go to the library, encourage her vocabulary and creative writing. Watch nature documentaries, go to the theatre, museums, discuss what you find, give her case studies to write about. Encourage creative expression through art and music

A musical instrument is a classic choice as it can help with resilience among its many benefits.

Finding books that aren’t scary can be hard. I can recommend The Wild Robot series and, Eerie on Sea Mysteries but it’s really trial and error! I’d ask both the school and local librarian for suggestions regularly based on what she’s enjoying.

If she’s asking for math challenges encourage her! Focus more on harder problem solving rather than necessarily going to the next phase of the curriculum. NRICH (developed by Cambridge University) is a great resource for this type of math challenge and it’s much more enriching

https://nrich.maths.org/9086

I completely agree with not pushing her onwards on the formal curriculum - it just makes things even worse at school. Though that doesn’t help that much, with the spiral curriculum meaning lots of repetition, but it’s worth trying.

In terms of stretching, we tried a lot of different things over the years and worked out what suited the DC and then focused on those:

• music - choir, instrument lessons, theory (as they got older), after school club that was focused on using GarageBand to create music
• sport - but we found it was highly gendered after YR, and that we had to look for girls-only clubs for some things as in a few sports clubs that we tried, boys dominated and excluded girls
• drama - not just classes, but theatre/ballet cheap tickets, kids theatre if you’ve got one near you
• dance - ballet is particularly stretching as it requires excellent memory, strong listening skills, ability to practise and practise to get something just right
• computer / maths / chess / coding / Lego clubs as we saw them advertised
• library once a week - we got to know the specialist children’s librarian quite well, and her recommendations were great
• magazines - Aquila, The Week Junior (and/or the Science and Nature focused The Week Junior)
• online courses - drawing, lots of the ones from this site (like D&D, philosophy, debating - https://www.p4he.org/)
• practical skills - cooking (not just measuring out, but working out what to cook and what order to do things in to be ready at the right time), how to do things like put together flat pack furniture, help with DIY, do laundry, anything at all around the house (and garden, if you have one) that they can learn about.

I agree with many of the out-of-school suggestions above.
A couple of others:
An online subscription to https://beastacademy.com/ is well worth it for any kids with a natural aptitude for maths.
Teach touch-typing using EnglishType or a similar package. It's not taught by most schools.
Once a basic ability to touch-type is in place, other websites like Duolingo (for languages) are more accessible.

L

1. Advanced Reading:

- Introduce classic children's literature with rich language and themes. - Explore non-fiction books on topics that pique her curiosity. - Encourage her to discuss and summarize what she reads to enhance comprehension.

1. Basic Coding:

- Use age-appropriate coding apps or games designed for young learners. - Introduce simple programming concepts through visual programming languages like Scratch or educational robots like Cubetto.

1. Hands-on Science Experiments:

- Conduct simple experiments at home, exploring basic physics, chemistry, and biology. - Use household items to make learning fun and tangible.

1. Math Puzzles and Games:

- Explore age-appropriate math puzzles and logic games. - Board games like chess or card games that involve strategic thinking can be beneficial.

1. Language Learning:

- Look for language apps specifically designed for children. - Consider online language tutors or local language classes with instructors experienced in teaching young children.

1. Interest-Based Learning:

- Identify her interests and tailor learning activities around them. - For example, if she loves animals, explore biology concepts or create art projects related to animals.

1. Books:

- Beyond the mentioned series, consider "The Chronicles of Narnia," "Matilda" by Roald Dahl, or "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White. - Visit the library and consult with the librarian for more recommendations.

Remember to maintain a balance and foster a love for learning by keeping activities enjoyable and aligned with her interests. Pay attention to her feedback and adjust the level of difficulty accordingly.

Agree with much above. Especially keep reading to her.

Teach her classic card and board games. Cooking is great for creativity, measuring and calculating (and an essential life skill!).

DS became quite interested in wildlife so we did things like nature walks and make bug houses and fat balls for the birds.

Good sports clubs foster a sense of community and are great for inter-generational mixing. Hockey is a great team sport and not single sex at that age. Also she's old enough to start mini tennis which soon becomes a good mental as well as physical work out. It's outing but I regularly say that DS's tennis club is the village that raised him. Neither DH nor I play tennis.

Thanks all, some really great suggestions here. Definitely going to look into the language apps for children, think those would be a big hit with her. She loves the theatre, but might start to think about some older shows for her now.

And some good ideas for potential Christmas presents too.

It is also really nice to have matter of fact answers, I've found when I've tried to talk to (a very small number) of people in the real world about this, they tend to think you are doing some sort of stealth boast rather than actually wanting genuine ideas.

I agree with much of the excellent advice already given, but just wanted to add a specific comment about learning a language.

My DD started learning French aged about 6-7 (we found a lovely French lady through https://www.lajolieronde.co.uk/) and she went to group classes and loved it from the start - the classes were fun and light and lovely. She is still enjoying half an hour per week with the same teacher, aged 13, though it's on Skype these days.

She also does daily Duolingo in a couple of other languages, but nothing beats a bit of time every week with a native speaker.

Hi,

You mentioned having your daughter formally assessed; would you mind elaborating on this please? Did you have this done at school or an assessment centre / privately? I’d like to have my son tested (he’s five going on six in a few months) and currently attending public school.. He’s also began commenting on disliking school lately which is worrying me as he really enjoys learning. I reckon he’s not finding it stimulating or challenging enough (I had a look at the curriculum and was shocked at what the kids in his class - year 1 - are being taught). Mind you I have no idea what kids his age are supposed to know, to me it seemed odd but that may be because I’m gauging it against my son’s milestones perhaps.

His recall has always been phenomenal since age 2 (facts, memories etc and the attention to detail is crazy). Before he even began pre-school (3-4) he already knew his ten times tables, learned the technical terms for different types of dinosaurs and heavy vehicles (anything that interests him); I fear school has been more detrimental in terms of fostering his learning and the only upside is the socialising aspect (being an only child). I’m currently researching other options but I have no idea where to begin heh. He also appears to have dyslexia (he sees letters and numbers backwords as illustrated by his reading and writing- even down to which side of the page he initially wants to begin writing from - right to left).

I began consulting with the school since nursery as I noticed adhd & autism symptoms from early on and as someone who was diagnosed with ADHD at 30 and wished my mother had noticed something sooner, I only want to ensure he has the support he needs from the get-go. Only after I mentioned the symptoms to his nursery teacher(s) did they agree and say that they did notice some of his behaviours did appear to coincide with symptoms of adhd and/or autism (yet did not feel the need to inform me?).

However aside from setting up a plan with the SEN teacher in class now in year 1 (which I am of course grateful for), his intellectual abilities have never been addressed really aside from commenting on how bright he is. I imagine every parent receives this kind of praise for their child haha. I am kind of hesitant to ask about it as at his last parents evening I was kind of put off at the way his teacher issued an almost back handed comment re his recalling abilities stating something along the lines of ‘that’s great an all but he also needs to know how he got to the answer instead of just memorising’ (ie multiplication). I don’t disagree, but it was the manner in which she had said it and also insinuating that his wanting to rush through tasks is a negative thing (?) Of course a few days later on a walk he illustrated his ability [on the matter she addressed] on his own without any prompting.

He enjoys doing mathematics randomly and “testing” himself (and me!).. when I asked him how he knew the answers/ what led him to it he explained how x equals y etc etc; I was shocked and when I asked him where he learned this from he just shrugged and said he did it in his head (as though this is perfectly normal haha).

I’m waffling now (excuse my own adhd haha) but yes, because of the other issues (dyslexia and what have you) I think an assessment may be the necessary first step before I look into other options in terms of education… any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you! :)

Just to add I’m only focusing on maths here because that’s his main interest (aside from drawing) I suppose; but he also somehow taught himself to read; his everyday vocabulary never fails to stump people and make them laugh considering his age; he is clearly artistically inclined -he often comments he wants to be an artist “like mummy” - (mummy abandoned that dream a long time ago haha) and I am just amazed at what he can do at such a young age. Someone once stopped to compliment a painting I was taking out to the car, asking me if I had painted it and was shocked that my son had in fact painted it at age 4 . Anyways, just adding this info as I realise I mainly mentioned recall and maths but he is quite exceptional in many other areas including comprehension, critical analysis etc and he has always been highly emotionally intelligent.

There are language schools near us that offer lessons for children. There are also lessons online.
Learning a music instrument (or two) could be a nice challenge.
Coding
STEM
Kids magazine such as Whizz Pop Bang. DS loves those.
Non-fictional books.
Take her to a local bookshop to see if there is anything she likes. Get her a kindle. Reading level is one thing, reading for pleasure is another. As grownups we don't choose a book based on "reading level".

Don't know if my year 2 DC could be considered ‘gifted’ (they are reading level 20 so have finished year 6) but they have always needed to be kept busy so this is what I do….

2 hour Saturday afternoon music school (choir and musicianship class) (5-10 mins homework 2 or 3 times in week). Been going since aged 2. We do the weekly supermarket shop/have a coffee.
2 hour Saturday morning language lesson at a cheap community language school, (DC is English but they are happy to have non speakers) (10 minutes homework). We go for a long dog walk.
20 minute orchestral instrument and piano lesson during school day (10-15 minute practice on each instrument 5 days a week)
Breakfast/Afterschool clubs Art, Drama, Street dance, cricket and junior choir (no homework)
Beavers (the cheapest, closest and the favourite of all)
Lots of afterschool sport as want to instil importance of this - ensures good night sleep too. Group tennis, swimming and cricket (summer only) (no homework).
Everything is at school or within a 15 minute walk or drive from home, so minimal travel.

Lots and lots of theatre (musicals are a favourite, we are bad parents, we live in London and drive into town after school. DC sleeps on the way back… much cheaper and no ill effects so far).
Recently been to The Globe for family workshops and storytelling on Macbeth. Pricey (so only one parent went) but DC loved it.

Going to see Romeo and Juliet in May so read childrens version, watched a 30 minute a cartoon (was impressed with the amount of ‘Shakespeare quotes’ in it), then DC wrote a song/rap about it. Showed how well they had understood the story. It was great fun.

Science museum and Legoland (annual pass) are favourite days out. Will do galleries, Royal palaces in next few years.

Lots of visits to English Heritage sites. Have found them excellent when they have family events (and dog friendly too).

Lots of reference book for topics at school (love World of Books), lots of classic books at bedtime (Harry Potter, Narnia, Matilda etc), and a library card for the Beast Quest series.

Building Lego with DH (the big expensive stuff 🙄) and other age appropriate Lego.

Lots of games (monopoly, guess who, noughts and crosses, dobble etc)

10 minutes a week maths, working on problem solving mainly as DC rushes and doesn’t always read the question…. DC ‘working at greater depth’ but this is the weaker (least favourite) bit of least favourite subject.

Tried chess, football and martial arts but didn’t love it.

Summer camps tend to be Drama or racket sports. Might try coding/programming or STEAM camp in the future.

It’s good to have a couple of things that require extra practice during the week but I focus mainly on things that DC can learn/enjoy/forget until the following week.

Stuff we do as a family has to be fun for everyone, not just DC. We love the theatre and history (hence English Heritage) and find Legoland bearable for 2-3 hours at a time (hence the annual pass).

Want to stretch DC with lots of activities while they are young and appreciate they will drop some as they get to secondary school.

Most importantly lots of after school cuddles on the sofa and listening to Simon Mayo on the radio 😃

From Year II, my DD taught herself French and Mandarin on Duolingo. Plays 4 instruments and does theory alongside orchestra and choir. Chess and coding.

We go to lectures now she's in juniors on anything she fancies - astrophysics, history, classics. We live rurally but she has a tablet and will watch online.

Lots of quizzes - University Challenge, Tennable, Countdown, Pointless, 1% club, Only Connect, The Chase 🤣. She loves daily apps like Wordle, Connections (NY times), Worldle, Globle etc.

Podcasts - history, physics, economics and business.

She also likes The Week Junior and Week Science and Nature. She had Aquilla but found it a bit childish.

We just let her do whatever she wants.