My daughter has been on an emotional roller coaster since we moved here. We have been butting heads since moving here and offically teaching her. We have 20 weeks left and she still hasn't been able to reach her goals. She can read three letter words but past that she breaks down. Getting her to skip count she breaks down. Today she refused to listen to me explain her math and got lippy with me. I love her with all my heart but as a teacher OMG I would be looking forward to passing her onto 1st grade with a new teacher. I have seen her do some of her brother's first grade work, when she wants to. For the most it's been a struggle and hard but I keep going. If I can teach her I can teach anyone. Motherside of me wants her to advance to the next level. Teachside of me wants her to repeat with different material. We have 20 weeks left of this school year. I do not wish to teach during our summer so the kids can go to summer sport camps (oldest) and school age care camp (younger two) so I can have a break. Plus my husband will be deployed again by the time summer arrives I know he just got home but it was only for a very short time. I don't know why I am having an issue with this. I had my oldest repeat 4th grade English because she tested out with a C in 4th when she did the evaluation to see what level she be in. I guess because she is young and who would keep a Ker in K again? Has anyone else repeated with their younger ones? Hope everyone has slept well we are off to our afternoon activies. TIA
((hugs))) Sounds really frustrating!! My dd is in first. I will tell you, slipping from cvc to any word longer was... a bit frustrating for us as well. What helped was practicing words with 'ee' or 'oo', so that there is still only three sounds in the word. That way, dd felt more confident tackling longer words. It's still slow for us, and dd has a harder time 'hearing' the entire word than she did with only three letter sounds, but practice is helping. To be honest, I prefer 2 syllable words she can break in half over words that use digraphs. ARG. Maybe you both could take a break? I don't see anything wrong with 'holding her back'. My ds is about to be subjected to the 1st grade phonics lessons with his little sister because I am not overly impressed with his reading ability- or his spelling ability. I don't see it as 'holding him back' though. I'm still new to homeschooling.. but what I'm coming to realize is that 'grade level' is sort of.. something that doesn't entirely exist. Every child has gifts above what they 'should' and all lag somewhere in something else.
Is there a reason (legally) why you would have to label her K again next year? Can't you just move at her pace and say she is in whatever grade she would be in PS by age? My 1st grader is by no means on a 1st grade reading level (by PS standards) and won't be by the end of the year either. I'm not pushing it. He's not ready. But he's well above grade level (by PS standards) for science. But we just say he's in 1st grade cause he's 6, almost 7. Next year we'll say he's in 2nd grade. I've said it before, and I'll say it again....Just because public school is the most common means by which a child in our nation is educated does not mean it is the best way to educate a child, nor does it mean we should measure our homeschool by its standards. IMHO, I see no need to tell a child that young she is being held back or hasn't met her goals. It could have some very negative consequences. Kids develop at different rates, she may not be ready for some material yet even though many or even most kids her age are. And I think that's okay. Everyone is different and, if you homeschool, each child can have an individual education instead of a canned education for the masses. You say she does her brother's 1st grade work when she wants to so it may simply be lack of interest or lack of understanding the purpose for WHY she needs to learn a concept you're trying to teach her. Take a breath and don't stress out mama, you're not going to ruin her if she can't skip count at 6 years old. But-I unschool my 1st grader-so take my advice how you will
Okay...I don't think it's wrong to have her repeat K if you feel she's not getting the material. But I would suggest something further - maybe it's the method - maybe it's not her learning style? I struggled with this with my son (middle, only boy). When we were working with learning letters, I tried all the same things I did with my daughter (oldest) to no avail. He just could not recognize them. I read to him every alphabet book, we had every letter puzzle imaginable, we did flash cards, etc. etc. NOTHING seemed to work. A friend of mine gave me a LeapFrog Letter Factory video for my oldest daughter (who was already reading, and totally bored with the video). But my son wanted to watch it every day. After two weeks, he knew all the letter, shapes of Upper and Lowercase, the sounds they made, etc. And he took off from there. All this to say, maybe YOU like what you're using, but maybe it's not her learning style. Cathy Duffy's Top 100 Picks has a very extensive few chapters on how to determine your child's style then goes on to help you pick things that go with that style. I've found it to be VERY accurate! LOL
I have to agree with the others, I wouldn't tell her she isn't advancing and I would try a different method of teaching her. We don't really use grade level. My daughter is 5 and her work is all 1st grade level but we say she is in K. We were in a store and the checkout lady asked her what grade she was in and she looked at me dumbfounded, she had no clue. I just said K because that is the grade most 5 yr olds are in. Instead of waiting for summer, why don't you try a different curriculum now? Maybe you can go to a lighter schedule through the summer which will help her retain what she does know. Once you figure out her learning style and she has success in her work she will be much less frustrated. I had to change my daughters math from Math U See (which worked fine last year) to CLE two months into this year because there was so much frustration with the MUS. It didn't fit her learning style, but now with the CLE, math is her favorite subject.
I wouldn't hold her back. I don't know about where you are, but around here, a graduating PS kindergartener is expected to count by 1's to 100 and read 2-3 letter words. That's ALL. They don't even mention science or social studies until the last quarter of the year, and then it's just 10 minutes a week for dress-up time as a policeman, fireman, etc. to talk about what they do, or to go outside and pick flowers as they talk about seasons. IMHO, I think you're perfectly fine moving onto 1st grade, but as others have said, reevaluate your teaching method and goals. If what you're doing right now isn't working, there's no reason why you can't stop and switch directions mid-year. No reason to keep going as you are for 20 more weeks, because it'll only frustrate both of you.
Four of my kids have gone to PS kindergarten and first grade and if she is reading three letter words and counting, she has already met most of the goals that would be expected in K. As a homeschooling mom, you can use whatever materials at whatever level and still call her a first grader next year. I plan to keep my son at the grade of his PS peers no matter what level he's working on because it affects many other activities (sports, library programs, Sunday School class).
I am with everyone else on this. And I also believe she has already met the goals for K for my area too.
I'm also dittoing Sonita's post. Work her WHERE SHE'S AT, and don't worry about grades. Shoot, I had Phillip doing second first grade math, second reading, and science/history with the older girls all in the same year. So what grade was he that year? Tehcnically first. But that's just a reference for OTHER people. Faythe is currently in 9th grade, and she's finishing up the Pre Algebra she started last year, the book Rachael finished in 6th grade. But I'd rather Faythe take her time and really understand it than to push her through and have it all go over her head. But she's STILL in "Ninth Grade".
I agree with OP's don't tell her she is being held back. It will likely make her feel like there is something wrong with her. That could lead to new roadblocks. Just take the material you want to cover and redesign the presenting of it. My DD sounds like yours I was really frustrated with the skip counting thing also. Until one day on her own she figured all she has to do to count by two's was drop one out of the lineup. So you can see her counting by ones in her head but giving the right numbers orally. One day I am sure it will click for her as she loves patterns but right now it's not important we move on with our other maths. As to reading just keep going over the material and try some simple level reading books with her daily. Once she has confidence in her smaller words she will likely be ready to try bigger words. My daughter is six in March and is just getting her three letter words down. I had to slow down as I realized she isn't her brother. That trap of comparing our kids to the next kid over was setting in. As to her being 'lippy' it's likely a defensive approach she is taking to not getting the work. Let it pass save the work for the next day and move on with something else.
I agree with everything in previous post. I have been homeschooling my four children since the beginning. What works for most doesn't work for all. I have a set of twin boys that are by no means the same. One is far more advanced than the other in a lot of areas. When we started schooling them at the appropriate age for Kindergarten one of my boys didn't want to do anything. It was a daily struggle and still is on most days. He's 15 now and has a bad attitude about school. I wish I would have listened to my motherly instincts and not my husbands insistance that I MAKE him do the work. He clearly was not ready for it and I have regretted for years. He is advanced in some areas and struggles in others. As long as he's learning I'm happy with it. After all we all learn the right things sooner or later. I have three kids that are all in high school and do something in every grade. So, what grade would they be in? According to their age my 13 yr old would be in 8th grade but she started when she was 3 so she's right up their with her brothers. Which according to their age is 10th. I think you should take your break and come back with a perspective of letting her lead. She'll get it and you never know her leading may be just what you need. Don't stress over it she's still so young.
I agree with others. Work at her level even if she is at different levels in different subjects. Advance her to the next grade based on her age.
