Reading List for My 7 Year Old

I didn't do a Literature List this year like I have in past years. I'm choosing not to assign literature, and The Kid is more inclined to choose her own books than read whatever I put in her library bin at this point. But that certainly doesn't mean we didn't read! We had a lot of reading with the Cultural Geography study, we continued to have family read aloud time every night (though we switched to mainly using audiobooks for this), and we listened to audiobooks in the car. So, at the end of the year instead of the beginning, here's the summary:

The entire Harry Potter series. Yes, the whole thing. It was immense and it took months. But The Kid is now fully obsessed with HP.

We read both Ramona Forever and Ramona's World this year, finishing up the entire Ramona series.

We also worked on finishing up a full tour of Roald Dahl's fiction this year, a project we started a few years back with The Minpins. I think The Witches is one of the scariest of Dahl's books, and we therefore left it to near the end. DD loved it, though - the visual language in this book is wonderful! And the little boy and his grandmother teaming up so well to work against the witches is fantastic.

I don't know how this one of Dahl's got left so late! It may be my favorite of the whole bunch. A brilliant little girl with horrendous parents, who eventually finds her way with the help of a lovely librarian and a supportive teacher. Plus, a little bit of magic, which always helps.

This was an amazing and imaginative story about a girl who was fed a bit too much moonlight as a baby, making her powerfully magical, and the witch, swamp monster, and Perfectly Tiny Dragon who raise her. It's a coming-of-age tale, written for middle grades but appropriate for younger readers who are ready for the themes typical of fantasy books, including grave danger and death. Winner of the 2017 Newbery Medal.

Middle grades book that is appropriate for younger readers who are okay exploring the theme of loss. Newbery Honor Book.

Planning, Then Throwing It All Out

I’ve been deciding what we’ll do next year. Much of it isn’t difficult, as I’ve leaned more and more unschooly, which means I have to do a lot in the moment, but far less planning. Too bad, really, because planning is a strength of mine.

Except maybe not with this kid. 

She teaches herself. Which is awesome. Really. 

By that, I don’t just mean that she reads the book, answers the questions, and doesn’t need me. I mean she thinks about a concept, comes to logical conclusions, then thinks about that conclusion and thinks about logical conclusions, and so on.

Recently, she was thinking about fractions. Half of 4 is 2. That’s easy. Half of 7 is 3 ½. Also easy. This seems to mean that she can write any number as X/2 and then simplify. Is the same true of other unit factions? Yes. Is the same true of other non-unit fractions? Try out several problems and… yes. Cool, figured that out. How about division? I don’t know exactly how she made the leap here, but she did. Somehow, she knew how to divide fractions without ever having seen it or having been told it. 

And she was correct.

We already use Beast Academy, which is the most difficult curriculum I can find for elementary. And then we hit five chapters in a row with material she had already self-taught. Half a year’s worth of material! I tried to just have her do the starred/challenging questions. She did them. Half a chapter in half an hour, and she thought they were boring and not challenging. 

While figuring out how to move on, I’m readjusting my plans. 

Giftedness doesn’t mean more. It doesn’t mean faster. It doesn’t mean… well, a lot of things. It means different. And I’m finding that even parents of other gifted kids aren’t always the most helpful in navigating these waters.

Onwards, upwards, outwards, and beyond, and all plans be damned!