Just give them some legos, knex or similar toy which will help them intuit many things about mathematics without trying to pressure them to be a top student. Show them interesting books and documentaries about animals, plants, and insects. Parental pressure to succeed is the destroyer of passion and joy in learning. Let your kids be kids and they'll learn what they need to along the way. Are they really going to start learning any science and math to get a head start on in kindergarten anyway?
Ask HN: Teach a 5-year-old math and science over the summer?
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Re: Ask HN: Teach a 5-year-old math and science over the summer?
#12Is it just me, or is it a little bizarre to give a 5 year old a head start on math and science? Why not just have fun with the kid?
Re: Ask HN: Teach a 5-year-old math and science over the summer?
#13Because my young kids always got suspicious when I tried to “teach” them something, I found a way to weave it into real life. One kid would ask me for 7 Froot Loops, so I’d give them 4 and ask them how many I still owe them. Or we’d be out on a drive and I’d ask them if trees are alive. Then I would be adversarial with them: “if they’re alive, why don’t they move?” “What do they eat?” The adversarial thing works real…
I did something almost exactly the same when my kids were ~3. They picked up addition and subtraction really quickly by using their fingers and even understood negative numbers before the age of 4.
We home schooled during the pandemic and the amount they learned in one year was incredible. Tailoring the curriculum per kid was extremely effective but not sustainable so now they are back in a private school but they enjoy the social aspect much better.
Re: Ask HN: Teach a 5-year-old math and science over the summer?
#14Is it just me, or is it a little bizarre to give a 5 year old a head start on math and science? Why not just have fun with the kid?
Nah, these types of posts always give off that “tiger mom” energy. Let your kid enjoy their time off, ya know, let them be a kid…
Re: Ask HN: Teach a 5-year-old math and science over the summer?
#15Prodigy Game: Perfectly suitable for a 5 year old with a parent there helping. They learn math while playing a fun RPG game.
Re: Ask HN: Teach a 5-year-old math and science over the summer?
#16Is it just me, or is it a little bizarre to give a 5 year old a head start on math and science? Why not just have fun with the kid?
Young kids enjoy learning, but most kids eventually dislike school so ~5 is a critical age to get them interested/ahead of the curve. It helps separate the dislike of school from the dislike of the subject the same way getting kids interested in reading before they need to read books for class works.
Re: Ask HN: Teach a 5-year-old math and science over the summer?
#17Because my young kids always got suspicious when I tried to “teach” them something, I found a way to weave it into real life. One kid would ask me for 7 Froot Loops, so I’d give them 4 and ask them how many I still owe them. Or we’d be out on a drive and I’d ask them if trees are alive. Then I would be adversarial with them: “if they’re alive, why don’t they move?” “What do they eat?” The adversarial thing works real…
> so I’d give them 4 and ask them how many I still owe them
That works once and then they demand all the froot loops. They might not be able to do math but they are still criminals.
Jokes aside, sport is a usual goto if the kid is interested. Counting points or asking by how much the other teams is ahead.
Re: Ask HN: Teach a 5-year-old math and science over the summer?
#18For math:
- buy a bunch of math manipulatives (number blocks, base 10 blocks, Cuisenaire rods)
- watch the TV show 'Numberblocks' on Netflix or BBC (there are ~50 episodes, and you can rewatch them)
- use books like Beast Academy 1A and 1B if your kid is ready
- Khan Academy Kids (free app)
- Dreambox (paid app: $150 for 10 years) if your kid is ready
Re: Ask HN: Teach a 5-year-old math and science over the summer?
#19Is it just me, or is it a little bizarre to give a 5 year old a head start on math and science? Why not just have fun with the kid?
Nah, these types of posts always give off that “tiger mom” energy. Let your kid enjoy their time off, ya know, let them be a kid…
There is a real difference between giving your kids the tools to succeed and forcing them down a narrow path.
IMO, everyone should know the basics of a wide range of things from cooking to statistics. It’s just a question of diminishing returns. Failing to understand the basics of say investing is really costly even if all they do is dump 90% of their money into a low cost S&P 500 fund and forget about it that’s vastly better than what most people do.
The same applies to school, teach your kids the basics of reading and math let’s them coast for years.
Re: Ask HN: Teach a 5-year-old math and science over the summer?
#20Because my young kids always got suspicious when I tried to “teach” them something, I found a way to weave it into real life. One kid would ask me for 7 Froot Loops, so I’d give them 4 and ask them how many I still owe them. Or we’d be out on a drive and I’d ask them if trees are alive. Then I would be adversarial with them: “if they’re alive, why don’t they move?” “What do they eat?” The adversarial thing works real…
> Which is why I wish I could home school them, because no teacher or school I’ve found can seem to customize their lesson plan enough.
I believe this is largely why private tutoring can also produce exceptional results.