If your child is working above...

[Indecisive12]

One of my DC is working well above his year expectations for maths but the whole class are getting the same work for homeschooling. The work he is getting he could have done before he even started school (year 2 now). He’s bored and disinterested because the work for maths is too easy. We have been giving him his older siblings maths to do which he has done with more ease than his sibling.

Would I be a total pain asking the teacher for more challenging work for him given they’re already under pressure?

There really are plenty of maths things online he could be doing. Why not also get him to do more of what he is not so amazing at. E.g. Get him to do more English. He could be reading books and writing reviews; he could be writing a story or a report on something that interests him. If he is great at maths, move him into doing something else. I think pushing for differentiation just for him is a bit much at the moment.

@Indecisive12

If your child has been playing chess for years maybe get him into bridge. There is some free learn-to-play software here www.bridgeshop.com.au/learn-to-play-bridge.html

You should have a local bridge club who will be delighted to have a new young player to nurture. And it is a great way to make new friends as it is a partnership game.

Thanks for all of your suggestions, I’ll look at the sites suggested. It will be good to get him doing different work from his older sister so she doesn’t start to feel bad. I was constantly compared to my much more able brother and it’s caused a lot of damage to our relationship so we consciously try not to but I don’t want them picking up on them being the same ability too much. DS is working above in all areas but it’s only maths he gets frustrated at.

I've got a similar dilemma with my P1. She's in a mixed class and has often been doing the P2 half of the class's work as well as the P1 bit, including for homework. Today's "work" was counting up to and down from 30 - she went up to 100. Similar for phonics, normally she does the P2 sound as well, so she went on Mathseeds.

After lunch is outdoor learning and it's chucking it down!

My Y5 has discovered Oak Academy maths is more bearable if you put it to play at 1.5x speed (and it is still totally understandable!)
We are doing what is requested, and then using CGP stretch books for more of the same topics.
I'm not contacting school. They know his maths ability, but the Facebook chatter seems to be the work is too hard already. I can challenge him myself.
I dont give him his older brothers work. That just breeds resentment.
There were some fab bbc/white rose maths family challenge sheets last school closure. We used to do that as a family, along with games and puzzles in NRich.

My ds's class of children with complex needs (all with EHCPs) are all getting the same work - the class covers years 3-6 and has children who are on every stage reading book, every year group of maths etc.
I adapt what I can to ds's needs and fill in bits with what I can find online.
It's not ideal - but after months of this, I've got better!

I would email and say that he isn't doing the maths set but is instead doing xyz. No work for the teacher but he doesn't have to do the too easy work. You could say you will keep an eye on the learning if there are bits that are new to him.

I think he deserves to learn as much as the other kids do. If you politely mention it to the teacher it might be as simple as giving him access to maths work set for the year above. If you don't get a good response then carry on giving him his older sibling's work and don't do the maths that's too easy. There's an organisation called Potential Plus that has gas good advice on thus subject.

My DS is above in reading and maths. We purchased our own Key stage books to stretch. Also generally engaging on extra things eg triangles algebra pie charts etc. Also generally encouraging DS to find other areas of interest such as learning continents, now he’s done that countries, population etc. Good to broaden outside of just work set by the school, so we do our own timetables at bedtime for example

Yes, just gets some extra workbooks yourself if you want him to stay ahead.

@TierFourTears

My Y5 has discovered Oak Academy maths is more bearable if you put it to play at 1.5x speed (and it is still totally understandable!) We are doing what is requested, and then using CGP stretch books for more of the same topics. I'm not contacting school. They know his maths ability, but the Facebook chatter seems to be the work is too hard already. I can challenge him myself. I dont give him his older brothers work. That just breeds resentment. There were some fab bbc/white rose maths family challenge sheets last school closure. We used to do that as a family, along with games and puzzles in NRich.

DD1's cottoned onto this one as well. Since I tend to put uni lectures onto 1.25 speed, and some particularly ploddy ones get to 1.5 or 1.75 I can't really comment on it negatively as long as she's grasping the content which she is. I did catch her using the google conversion tools to convert units of measurement the other day - I was impressed by the initiative but she got made to work them out properly in the spirit of the worksheet!

She was working above - till last lockdown wrecked their education and she slipped right back - don't think they've fully made up that lost ground yet but right now I'm just focusing on maintaining a routine for her rather than trying to extend her massively.