I am planning to homeschool my son next year. He has always gone to public school and is currently in 5th grade. My question is what is the best way to find out what grade I should purchase for him? He is in the gifted program, always scores extremely high on standardized testing, and he took an IQ test last summer as a requirement to get into the gifted class. I know I can obtain that information. Academically, his public school moves with the child but I have heard that most homeschoolers are a grade ahead. I know he would not have a problem going ahead, but I am concerned about him missing something. Also, is there an inexpensive way to do this?
some box companies have assestment tests that can be purchased cheap to find out what level they are in. SChool of tomorrow (ACE) has a free assestemt on their web site. which i use to gauge their process.
Calvert has a free assessment that you can send in. You print it out and the kids go as far as they can comfortably go. Then you send it in and call in a week for the results, or they will call you. They let you do it even if you aren’t sure about using their program. Of course we used their program, but you don't have to at all to get the assessment scores. They even tell you the weak spots, and it's all FREE!
aop has tests that you can take prior to getting the curric, as well as several other companies out there let you check to see what level your childwill fit into. Even Saxon Math has one you can print nd have yoru ds do.
A lot of curriculum companies have placement tests. I have to say, honestly, the only subjects that I think need real "placement" assessment are Math and Language Arts. In public school (and in most boxed HS currics) Science is the same (Life, Space, Simple Physics, Simple Chem) repeated each year in increasing detail with each grade. So you could really pick a broad scope (like a curric geared for 4-7th grade-ish) curriculum and add/take away based on his skill. I also find that History, really, you can just pick up what you like to study....For example - if you want to do US History, pick one that spans grades or pick a grade level he would be in school (which sounds like 6th next year). I'll use us as an example. I have a 3rd & 5th grader this year. I'm using a 4th Grade US History Curriculum (Abeka) for both of them. I'm expecting less from my 3rd grader (i have more of his stuff pre-written for him so he has simple 1-2 word answers), for my 5th grader, I'm expecting her to keep a notebook, and answering the text questions in that notebook - and phrasing the question in her answer and having it be more of an "essay" type answer. Hope this helps.
I know this seems like a pretty big question right now, but honestly, you are going to know so much more about where he is and what he needs in a few months that it will blow you away. You need to be pretty close on his level for math. I think saxonpub (google Saxon Publishing) has a placement test (click on Saxon Homeschool), but as I remember it is a little optomistic. The rest of the subjects have a lot more flexibility built in. It really doesn't matter what a child studies in history or science each year in elementary school - it varies from state to state, for example. Here's my advice, as a 15 year veteran : Do some placement tests and pick out a math curriculum - probably within a year of his current grade in school. Get a language arts or reading, writing and grammar curricula that looks interesting and is close to his current grade level. Don't get too ambitious, you don't want to discourage him. Have fun with science and history. Get some unit study stuff or something that looks just fascinating. We love the elementary science curriculum from Apologia. It's real science (unusual in elementary school) taught in an interesting, hands on way. For history, choose a time period you want to learn more about and immerse yourself in library books, biographies and non-fiction books on the time period. Just use any history text to remind you of the order things happened in - use real books. You will definitely make some mistakes in choosing curricula the first year - most do, but it's okay - you are all going to learn so much this year it's amazing. Welcome to the adventure of a lifetime! Melanie Young
Singapore math has a series of placement tests on their website - pick his current grade and give him a test. If he score more than 80%, move to the next test (each grade is broken up into two levels, so you will need 2 tests for each "grade" level). Once he scores less than 80% on a test, that tells you he needs to start there, whatever level it is. It is a different way of learning math, which can make it difficult at first, but my son did 6th and 7th grade math with it and now is very strong with math. There are also several curriculum providers (beautiful feet books, Sonlight) that offer lesson plans and book recommendations based on a range of grades (ie grades 4-6 or Jr. High) and you could use those to help you figure out where he is and when to move him up. As a homeschooler, grade level is rather arbitrary, so don't focus on that - focus on what he can do and find resources that can will work well with him and his learning style. Good luck!
ACE has a free online placement test, AO has some you can order, BJU has some you can order, and Christian Light has some online you can print out free and administer. The thing to remember about "placement tests" is that they're designed by a company so you can get the proper placement in their curriculum. Fifth grade in one curriculum might be the equal of fourth grade in another, or sixth in still another, so it might not be that much help. In orher words, pick your curriculum first, then use their placement test. I agree with the others -- you only need "placement" in language arts and math. Especially math, because you're going to want to make sure you're not "missing something important" that other stuff later will build on. Science and social studies can be completely done by "delight-driven" choices from the library at least through elementary school.
We liked the Alpha Omega Life Pac placement tests, this shows the weekness areas and what they missed in sections. I wished I would have done this yrs ago. It does cost to get the tests though, but well worth it. Sam
