Hi, My two boys (4th and 6th grade) actually attend a "homeschool group" at our church school 4 days per week and I homeschool the other 1 day a week. My question is this: we use 'switched on schoolhouse' and I am very interested in finding out if my sons are learning what they should be! I have no idea what the public schools are teaching (we've homeschooled since pre-k), so I am kind of freaking out that they are behind in what they should know...it was not really a big deal to me when they were little because I could pretty much figure what they should know at a certain age. Now that I have an 11 year old, I am not so sure anymore! For example my 4th grade son is reviewing telling time and still does not have all of his multiplication tables completely memorized....is that normal for a 9year old? Someone please help me calm down!! LOL! Thanks, MOMISMYJOB
I use worldbookonline.com's typical course of study. It gives a nice general guideline as to what kids should be learning in each grade.
you can have the boys take standard testing. You can order them on line. That tells where they are in each subject.
Thank you to both of you. I did a search for 'standarized testing' before I found this website this morning, and I did not see where I could order? If you could direct me further I would appreciate it. Thanks again
Two things you can check which may help you see where other local public school students are at: 1) Check the website for your state's board of education. You should be able to see standards for various subjects and grades. 2) It probably varies widely but school districts should have developed or be developing goals and objectives to meet the state standards. Our district has been developing districtwide curriculum guides as they are doing new textbook adoptions. If they're not online you should be able to request them as they're public records. 3) There's a lot of textbook information online now at the publisher's websites and a look through the table of contents of books and/or sample pages can tell you a lot.
RELAX!!! Your kids are NOT behind! Try to enjoy teaching them, and trust your instincts. You need to de-program yourself, and stop buying the lie that the school "know" and you don't. You are more capable to teach your own kids what's important than they are!
Also, there are books like this to help ease your mind and give you some direction. http://www.amazon.com/What-Your-Sixth-Grader-Needs/dp/0385314671 About the multiplication facts..my son still forgets one or two sometimes. At least you know and are paying attention enough to know he doesn't have them all yet. Do you feel that the homeschool group isn't teaching what they need?
ALL, Thanks for the encouragement! It has helped me and I will go through these links and resources you've given me. (To Crunchy: the homeschool group is meeting all expectations...it's the SOS I wasn't too sure about! Thanks again) Have a super weekend, MOMISMYJOB
I wouldn't worry about it, honestly. I know from DH that when DS gets on the football field and starts talking about the stuff he did in school the kids he plays football with have no clue what he is talking about. They are all in 2nd / 3rd grade. DS is learning about multiplication and the fall of the Roman empire, they are learning about adding still and a watered down version of social studies. I checked out Connections as they are applying for a virtual charter in our state. I was NOT impressed. The curriculum was horrible and we are doing way more then their 3rd grade curriculum and DS is technically in 2nd grade.
I have recently just asked a neighbor what they are teaching in the schools right now. We are still up in the air about next year so I am sort of guessing about where my DD would be right now more for the math and english parts. You can go the library to get the What your ___ grader needs to know. Along with the link mentioned before. Order a standardized test and see how they test on that. If it helps, my 9 year still doesn't get her multiplication facts down quickly.
If you really want to do standardized testing, there are lots of ways to do it. One way is to order from BJU Press. They have the Iowa and the Stanford. They give you the guidellnes you need to meet in order to use either of these. Lots of places, including Seton Homeschool and others, have the CAT that you can order, use, then send back for scoring. There's a place called Crosspointe, in NC, or at least there used to be, where you could get the CAT. There's Hewitt Homeschool that has their own test called the PASS that I think goes up to eighth grade. I don't think you have to "belong" to use it. You could hook up with a homeschool co-op group that does group testing at the end of the year (March, April, or May, usually). They'll probably use the Iowa or maybe the Stanford, or maybe the CAT/5. You could seek out an individual evaluator person, who hires out to evaluate people's homeschool programs and report to the state for them at end-year, who could give a test for you. My state doesn't have this as a requirement although it is an option but most people who use this just get a teacher-friend to write up a letter certifying their program is okaY, so this would not be an option for everybody. You could contact the local school and ask them to let your kids test when they test everybody end-year (probably March, April, or May). They'll probably charge you a fee, and your kids would have to sit in with a group of strangers in a strange setting. If there's an ACE School of Tomorrow nearby that is approved by their own headquarters as a mass-test site, you can hook up with them for end-year testing. They'll probably use the Stanford 10, which is untimed. There will probably be a fee, maybe around $35 each. These are done sometime in April. This would likely be a smaller-group setting than a public school class, and their might be more "independents" present than at public. OTOH, just have confidence in your curriculum. Your kids are no more "behind" than anybody else, and probably much farther ahead than public school. Here is a link with a list of places for testing: http://www.christianhomeschoolers.com/hs_testing.html Another list with some of the same, maybe some different: http://homeschooling.about.com/od/achievementtests/Achievement_Testing_Resources.htm
Hi I haven't read all the responses, so I apologize if I repeat anything anyone said. Here is a website that goes through general grade level course study... http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?curriculum/ Also, check to see if the local schools around you have websites with the curricula and grade level expectations listed. Last year I found a second grade teacher who lives in the next town over that had grade level expectations along with a weekly spelling list on his website. BTW-my son is in 3rd grade (he will be 9 soon) and is still working on add/subtract facts memorized to 18, addition and subtraction with regrouping and those types of things. We haven't even started multiplication or division yet. My son has clocks down. That's his specialty though...he taught himself that in kindergarten. I wish you all the best and please try to relax ;-) (I know...easier said than done).
Honestly, I have never even met an unschooler who was behind. I think you could put your child in front of a game system all day and they would still be fine. Every state sets down their own expectations. But very little tends to be expected before advancing a child a grade. My 7th grader neice does not know her times tables either, but she still does fine in school. My 4th grader neice doesn't know it either.
Aww! You are all terrific! Thank you all soooo much for all of your helpful, encouraging posts! :angel: I know everything is going to be OK...and I am so glad I found this great group of homeschool families on this website that I can run things by if I have any more questions/concerns. Thanks again for welcoming me! I will post an update in a few weeks and let everyone know how we are doing.
I agreee with Pippen's list, you should start with your state board of education site.. tis easy to find just google "state name, school requirements" then there are also books called "what your sixth grader needs to know" ( I think I still have one of these lying around) AOP also has a great scope and sequence you can check things against. As for the mutiplication facts being memorised.. thats a bit relative I think. If you think for a moment does anyone that is not a math nerd actualy have them totally memorized? Probably not, we all have to think for a moment on one or two numbers, but gaining a working knowledge of them is important. Knowing where to go, what to do to remember the tables, that is what is important.
