Ok, so we decided to do the k12 this year, and it's working out well for my ds 6. He started late, and is already ahead of where he should be if he'd started on time in math. Anyway, we have done 2 lessons a day lately because he's flying through it and some of it he already knew from K Here's the issue. After homeschooling all of her children my mil is learning to be a professional teacher, and she's putting her two cents in with my schooling of my son. So she told me that I shouldn't be letting him move on quicker then one lesson a day because she was told by her schooling that by the time he's in third grade it will all balance out and he will just level out to grade level. This all started when she began all her teaching courses. I'm getting frustrated. My son wants to move on, he gets it and gets frustrated if I don't let him move at his own pace. He is a bit above average intelligence, but not a genius or anything. I just want to keep him interested in learning, and I feel like I'm being pressured to do the opposite. Even if he does average out at the 3rd grade age level, does it really matter? If he's in a higher grade when he gets there, why would it be such a big deal?
Ignore it. My dd was advanced in K and could read on a 3rd grade level at 5. The school told me it would all even out in 3rd grade. Well, by the time 3rd grade came around my child didn't love learning at all. She had learned that she didn't have to do anything or use her brain with school. She just automatically got A's b/c she was ahead of what they were learning. She is in 4th grade now and we are homeschooling and she is doing awful. Not b/c she can't learn the material, but b/c she doesn't know how to study or read for comprehension. She was sitting in the class bored for 3 years and now it shows that she didn't learn a few things b/c she didn't have to put in the time and effort. If I could go back and change anything, then I would have homeschooled her from the beginning and started off with 1st or 2nd grade material so that she would have kept her love for learning and her desire to push herself to learn more.
well does he like going fast-paced? I don't have kids yet so i'm not speaking from experience, but IMHO if he likes the pace that you're going at then go at that pace. It isn't like its going to damage his brain to let him go at a faster pace. according to the psych class i took last semester, the more you use your brain at a younger age the more neurons you get. it slows down majorly around age 4/5 (depends on the individual) but continues until about age 14. and in my personal experience with myself, i was reading at an 8th grade level in 3rd grade and math was a breeze... but the teachers decided that i was too far ahead of my grade level in reading so they wouldn't let me get books from the school library above 6th grade until i was actually in 6th grade, and by then i could barely read at an 8th grade level. Also math continued to be too easy so i just didnt do my work in math class for another 6 years or so... then when i got into high schoolthey wouldn't let me go into high school math classes for another TWO YEARS because i had been 'struggling' in math for so long. they put me in applied math 1 & 2, which was another name for special ed, and then finaly i skipped algebra because i already knew algebra from doing stuff at home because i was sick of being held back by the school, got into geometry in 11th grade and decided to join a vocational program in the school and skip out on math halfway through my 11th grade year because i knew that i would never get passed algebra 2 during high school anyways... so until now in college i never even learned trig when i could have been in advanced algebra in the 9th grade and been to calculus by 11th or 12th grade. i guess that doesn't apply to you as you're homeschooling him, but i don't think you should hold him back. IMHO it's cruel
Here's what I had thought, but I may be wrong: Even if he levels out at whatever age 3rd grade is, if he's reading at say a 5th grade level at that point, won't he just advance from there?? It may get harder after that point for whatever reason, but he'd still be in a 5th grade reading level...This makes sense to me, but maybe I'm wrong????
I, too, am going to college for a degree in education but I can not understand her thinking on this one. (I disagree with a lot of what I "learn" in school). If a homeschooled child was only to level out at 3rd grade, how come so many homeschool children graduate earlier than if they would have went to a public school?
Interesting. I agree with the others, he wants to learn, so let him! If we all would have held our children back when they wanted to learn, they'd be in bad shape! They do go in spurts. My oldest and youngest were very young when they had the insatiable urge to learn everything! Thy di great. My middle one was older, but once he was 6 we couldn't stop him for 3 years. They all eventually slowed down, and did level out---meaning they didn't advance at as fast of a pace. However, you're right, they were STILL ahead of "grade level" in most things, and we just kept going from there. One thing is, that they may shoot ahead in math for awhile and be way ahead. That's where a lot of the energy is going, and they have a hard time switching it off! They may start lagging in some other subjects, where they may be at"normal" level, just not advanced like they are in math. That's why many homeschoolers don't even use "grades". Grade 5 is so relative---what does that really mean? It's different in one county or state than another! Maybe you can say something about that: "I'm going at his pace. When he finishes one level, we go to the next. I am helping him build up his neurons so he can think better. Don't you want your grandson to be a good thinker?!" And that's just the tip of the iceberg on why he should not be held back from going at his pace! My oldest ds was way ahead in reading. He went to K and 1st at a local Christian school. His K teacher was WONDERFUL! She encouraged him and another boy who were quite the readers, and got books for them at their levels and helped them with pronunciation and spelling, etc. When he went to the first grade, that teacher put her kids in a "box" for their curriculum. My ds and the other boy were miles ahead of 1st grade stuff, but she made them start at the first book of the reading series and go through each book. They flew through them cuz it was so easy. Then she gave them the VERY first book, that is for struggling readers, and had them do it as homework!!! She didn't want to take the time to plan anything out for them. When my ds brought it home and cried, I asked him what the problem was. He's not a talker, but he was soooo frustrated he finally told me. I told him he did NOT have to do that as homework and went and talked to the teacher. I asked why he couldn't just go to the 2nd grade level reading series. Her jaw dropped open and she said, "Then what would he do next year?!" Ummmm, he'd do whatever level he was on at the time! Nooo, she wouldn't let him go ahead. I told her, though, that I did NOT want him doing that one book as homework! So she agreed to that. There was 3-4 weeks left of school, so I had him finish that year, then we started to homeschool. But, he had gotten sooo very frustrated with the reading situation that it made him HATE reading! THis is my little one who had ALWAYS adored reading! He was always carrying a book around. If I knew then what I know now, I would've caught on to the problem sooner. I regret that immensely!!! When I started homeschooling him, he wouldn't read at all! He would cry at even the thought of it! So, I read a lot to him, and would point to certain words for him to read. Whew, we worked through that in time,, and he came to tolerate reading, and even wanted to read certain books, but that one thing really changed him, and it was not right and not fair for him!!! I tell that because I wouldn't want that to happen to your children---to be frustrated enough to begin hating schoolwork! Do what you feel is right, he's your son, and you only want what is best for him! Best wishes! More prayers for you!
The only ones who "all even out at 3rd grade" (a phrase that makes my blood boil every time I hear it!) are the ones who give up. They're the ones who've been told "no" so many times, that they've either conditioned themselves to be like the herd, or they've learned to pretend they're not bored. Look at examples on the other side of the coin. Not ALL children even out by 3rd grade. Those who are allowed to work at their own pace and who are encouraged to march to their own drum are the ones who excel.
Here is what I had to convince my hubby of a few times... WE are his PARENTS, she had her turn to raise or mess up her kid(s), now it's time for us to do the same! We usually don't get too much flack for homeschooling, but hubby used to go to his mom for everything kid related, she would give her advice and he would come and undo every rule/punishment I made because his mommy said so. Thank goodness that has stopped finally, but it took me convincing him that she didn't need to know everything that happened in our life... I know he still tells her too much, and she still prys at him to know everything, but he is a man and he learns slow
Hm. Even if it all "evens out" in 3rd grade, so what? Just because he's "ahead" now doesn't mean he won't hit a rough patch later. A so-called "head start" now jsut gives him cushion for when he hits more challenging work. Not that he needs a cushion - he doesn't have to keep up with anyone. I think your MIL is very enthusiastic about her studies, and hasn't quite worked through it all yet. Once she has a few years of classroom experience as a teacher (very different from homeschooling) to contextualize what she's being taught, she may sing a different tune. (or not - JMO).
lol it was so bad for a while she knew more about my menstral cycle than I did. Hubby has come a LONG way.
LOL!!! So you're bleeding all over the place, and your mil is saying, "Oh, but you've stopped two days ago! It's all in your mind!!!"
roflmao. I was lucky, my "teacher", oldest dd, drove her professors crazy with "well my brothers do...and my mother said..." ha ha. I was always worried about her common sense, but of course if she is quoting me, she is going to be fine. :lol: nothing worse than an educator getting educated unless it is a hypochondriac in nursing school.
OMG... that is SSSOOOO my sister... she is in school to be a PA, you wouldn't believe the things she has diagnosed herself with! If you earned free medical care for your trips to the ER, my sister would never have to pay to be seen by any medical professional.. EVER.
