I'm considering using TOG next year with my gifted 5th grader (and her younger siblings). I'm wondering if it would be best for her to use the D level books. Anyone using them with their gifted kids?

Arwen

Hi my 5th grader has read all of the dialectic books in addition to the upper grammar books because he is a voracious reader. That said...the dialectic work/questions has been to hard form him. I give him a mixture of dialectic and upper grammar work. I look at each week and see which ones he can do. That said. Many people use a mixture of dialectic and rhetoric for 9th grade so your daughter would have already read much of the dialectic. Something to think about.
Christine

Lots of gifted kids use this program. I don't think you can say that the TOG recommendations are for "average" kids, and that you should go up from there for gifted kids.

The only fifth grader I've put through TOG so far is gifted in this area, and UG was fine for her in fifth grade (she was a young fifth grader). I did have her read some of the D books that her older sister was reading, and that worked fine, but any time I tried to have her answer the D accountability questions, I tended to run into trouble.

If you think the UG work is too easy, you could consider using more of the recommended supplements rather than bump her up a level. Tapestry is very rich, and when you're at the lower end of a new level, it's very easy to be asking a student to do things that she's not ready for, either intellectually or emotionally.

The good thing is that you don't have to make a commitment up front. You can start out trying the level that you think will work best, and adjust as you go. You lose out on the convenience of ordering all your books at once, but you'll learn more about your daughter.

I really like what Christine did. DD is always on the lookout for good books so the D books could be for free reading and the UG books for school.
Thanks,
Arwen

Thanks! This was helpful for me in figuring out what to do with my smart 5th grader for next year. I didn't quite know if I should bump him up into dialectic or stay in UG next year. I think, based on your conversation, I'll try to have him read and respond to a few of the dialectic books for the rest of the year to 'test the waters' to see how well he does. I think this will help me know what to order by the end of the year for next year's books.
I appreciate that I quickly prayed and asked God to help me to know what to do, and you were the second thread I read!
PTL!
Carolyn
Mother of 3 graduates (some of college), 9 yob, 4 yog :-)