Hi there! I will be homeschooling for the first time next academic year, and I was hoping to find out how much worth you give to the State Academic Standards? I didn't know if I should be picking our curriculum based on the standards, or just choose them based on my son's ability and grade? I have so many great ideas swimming around in my head. Thanks!
Welcome Allsmiles! I find it easiest to work out the curriculum first, then look at the standards and see if there is anything missed. Usually you've covered everything already, and at worst you might have to add one or two things in. The standards are a minimum, so if you base things on them, you can end up with a smaller curriculum than you might like. Good luck!
I agree. State standards are just the very bottom of the lake when it comes to things a child should learn. It's what they hope all kids will reach before moving on, even those who are struggling, and it's what they base their testing on. Choose a curriculum that works for you. Unless you plan on going back to PS at some point, there's no reason to look at state standards anyway. You'll almost certainly exceed those standards using almost any HS curriculum.
I have my own standards, that's why we homeschool! :lol: Seriously, I don't stress about the standards, it's honestly a bunch of simple terms put into big educationalese words that some government official dreamed up.
I think there are some basics that all people should learn during their childhood, but I don't think there should be a strict time table to do that on. I also think that there are basics and then there are a lot of unnecessary items on many standard lists. So, I think that you should go with what level he is on and also take some time to follow what he is interested in. I believe that a child can learn a whole lot without dissecting it all into different subjects. I know one thing that stands out as an unnecessary item (IMO) is useless memorization of sometimes useless information. One glaring example is the memorizing of state capitals. WHY?!! I have never in my life needed to know the capital of any state and if I needed it I could look it up.
Hello AllSmiles, I think that you should choose a curriculum that you think is the best fit for your family. You know your family best. I chose to pull my son out of public school because their focus was on getting the students to pass the state standardized testing. He was so bored because he was way ahead of the rest of the students in his class. Now, because I have adjusted his curriculum to his level of learning, he is challenged with his schoolwork and is a lot happier with learning. My next oldest son is a little slower with his developmental skills, so I am adjusting his learning to his level. Because we are part of an online charter school, we are required to take the standardized testing at the end of the school year. As we prepared for it this year, I have tried to let my oldest son know that I want him to experience all sorts of testing experiences, and this is one of the ways of taking a test. I am not going to make some big deal out of it and have him hate taking tests. Just do your best. No pressure. I wouldn't worry about the state testing. Just focus on the way your children learn. Enjoy the experience!
We are beginning our 10th year of homeschooling and I never operated by state standards. We do have to teach the same subjects as the public school but there are no standards we have to abide by.
I don't see the grade level that you will be homeschooling, but I will tell you that I do look at state standards. There is always the possibility of life changes. Just last year we spent 3 months in another state while my Mom was ill and there homeschool rules were much more strict than our home state. The standards were also more advanced. If I would have needed to put my children in school in that state, it may have been challenging to them b/c of the difference in the state standards. I don't want my child to ever be in a situation where they would go back to public or private school and be put in a lower grade or remedial classes. If there is any possibility that your child will go back to school in the future, it is a good idea to pay attention to what the children in those schools are expected to know and when they are expected to master the material. Our homeschooling goals are also a factor. We home school basically for medical reasons and I do want my children eligible for state grants and scholarships. You will find that the state has some general guidelines on what your child has to take and how well they have to do in the courses to be eligible for those grants and scholarships. In my state, I have to decide by 9th grade to either switch from a letter of intent to an actual home study program with required testing and declared grade levels. I also have the option of state funded virtual school in order for the children to be scholarship/grant eligible. There is a lot to look at in your homeschool goals and your needs with curricula. I want my children to be schooled at least on state standards, but most likely above state standards. If they want to go back to school at any point in time, I do not want them to go back behind their peers in academics. I have discovered with 2 of my children in middle school now that there are a lot more hoops to jump through for them to be eligible for state scholarships and grants. I have one that wants to be a veterinarian though and I want her eligible for the vet program at the university in our state capital. We joined public school 4H this year to also be eligible for their scholarships. It also gives her great contacts and references for college applications in reference to her field of choice. At first, everyone was quizzical of why we were doing the public school 4H when there was a home school 4H club. The home school 4H club is very inactive and the students never participate or enter the contests. It would not meet our goals. I think it becomes more of a factor if you are intending to reevaluate home educating every year or if your child is middle school age and above. It is a bit clearer once your child is of an age to clearly begin moving on a college path. I definitely wouldn't disregard state standards and assume that anything done at home is better than the state schools. I have seen many of my assumptions about public schooled children compared to home schooled children evaporate this year. My children have been in home schooled groups for 3 years and compared to other home schoolers in their age/grade ranges they were on level or advanced. This year, we have joined public school 4H and I have seen that public school has prepared these children well and in some cases they are more ready for certain things than my children. There was a big difference in the behavior and style of home school groups compared to the public school 4H. What I am trying to say is that both have pros and cons and not to blindly assume as a new homeschooler that all public school standards and exposure is to be disregarded. I would look at my goals and see if the state standards would help me reach my goals. I would make sure that I at least attained the state standards as it is easy to lose sight of what public school students are actually doing if you are only immersed in the home school setting with home school groups. I wouldn't hold them as exactly what I had to do, but I would have them handy to make sure I was at least doing the state standards for the grade level of my child.
That is great advice Open Minded! Although I don't stress over state standards, I do want my child to be at or above them as well.
Every now and then I look at our state's standards for what is to be taught in each grade. From experience, I have seen that while the standards may be high on paper (or on screen), what the kids actually know as indicated by a "passing" score on the state test is FAR lower! High standards, low acceptable scores -- doesn't cut it for me! Example: last fall I enrolled a girl for 8th grade. She had passed math class and gotten an acceptable "passing" score on the state test in 7th grade. From all indications, she was an average 7th grade math student. But when I gave her placement tests, I found out that she didn't have a good grasp of her math facts, and had NO concept of fractions at all! I had to place her in my 4th grade math curriculum! This is only one recent example. But observation over the years has shown me that if we MEET our state's standards, we're actually far above them!
I looked in our states homeschool site and it didn't show anythng about state standards. I will need to call them and ask them.
I agree with you 100%! I know too many young people here in Terrebonne parish that are in "honors" classes in high school who can't make a 17 on the ACT! It's pathetic!!! I have been teaching cathechism for 13 years. The last 3 years I've been teaching the 11th grade confirmation class. I can't believe how many of my students are in "honors"classes and can't read on level & have no comprehension skills what so ever!!! State standards are a joke!
No, sweetie, that's what we're saying: FORGET about "state standards" and just educate your child, and you'll probably exceed whatever the state's public schools are doing. The state standards we're talking about are the ones they put forward as what their public schoolers are supposed to meet by the end of the year each grade. Not homeschoolers. If you look it up on your state's education website, you might find it under some sort of name as "benchmarks", "grade level expectations", "core curriculum", "assessments", or some similar name. Some states actually sort of hide theirs, and in most cases they don't put them out there in plain English! Studies have shown that Homeschoolers' average score on achievement tests at about the 85% percentile. By comparison, public schoolers' average is at the 50th. That's not to say that all homeschoolers score better than all public schoolers, BUT their average score is way higher. And the longer they are homeschooled, the higher their scores get (usually). Statistically, a score on an achievement test (like the Stanford, CAT, MAT, TerraNova, ITBS, etc.) that is at the 16th percentile is at the lower end of the Average range! So homeschoolers whose state law says they must score within the average range or they can't homeschool anymore REALLY have nothing to worry about! In Louisiana, they have an arrangement with the Iowa Test people so that they do not anymore get a score report that shows columns of figures marked things like "total items", "number attempted", "number correct", "grade equivalent score", "national percentile" and things like that. Now all they get is some vague "standard score" which might be 465, 392, 583, or numbers like that. NO interpretation of what those actually mean, except that the score was "Unsatisfactory", "Approaching Basic", "Basic", "Proficient", or "Advanced" (or some other names of that kind, they seem to change them every so often). "Approaching Basic" is actually like a D-. "Advanced" in real terms would mean that the student can actually DO what the state standards say they should be able to do by the end of the year, which FAR exceeds what is deemed acceptable. In Louisiana, Approaching Basic in one area with Basic in the other three areas is considered acceptable and passing. The student I mentioned before, who had passed 7th grade math, scored Approaching Basic on her state test, which they called acceptable, and I had to put her in my 4th grade math for 8th grade.
