From the clerk at the store to the nurse in the pediatrician’s office, my kids always hear the same question, “What grade are you in?” It never fails to get a quizzical look for my kids. They look at me then at each other then at the person asking with no answer to give. Recently my oldest has decided to respond with “I’m homeschooled.” Then the only one with a quizzical look is the one who asked the question.
In my homeschool we do not use a grade level system as much more than a guideline or a way to communicate with the outside world. I often forget what grade my child should traditionally be in and have to think of a child who is the same age as mine that is in school. I start my kids out in Kindergarten like everyone else but after day one things tend to change. Having multiple children I often use multi-level curriculum for history and science. When choosing curriculum for individual children I do so by their ability and not grade level. I do not think grade level is a bad way of choosing curriculum. In fact, there is no other logical way to teach on a grand scale. However, I just want to present the idea that teaching by grade levels are not essential for a homeschooling family.
I have a son who would traditionally be entering fifth grade. This coming school year he will have a 6th grade math book, 5th grade English book, multi-level history course, multi-level music history course, 4th-6th science book, junior high Latin book and junior high art history book. My daughter would traditionally be entering 7th grade and will use a 7th grade math book, 7th-8th grade science book, multi-level history book, multi-level music history book, junior high Latin book and junior high art course. Both kids will be reading literature books from a junior high through high school book list. My Kindergartener has an array of hands on material designed for preschool-K, Kindergarten workbooks and a few first grade workbooks. As you can see we adjust to the child’s individual level. My junior high child could have advanced in math and science but this mom was paranoid to skip over anything for those critical junior high years. So in that case I did use the 7th grade level as more of a strict guideline in her case. I’m sure once I have junior high under my belt I will feel more confident about switching things up.
Don’t be afraid to advance your child as needed or keep your child on his level. Most importantly do not be afraid to keep your child behind in one subject if needed. Homeschooling parents often hate to hold their kids behind due to the pressure that many feel homeschooler should be advanced. Homeschool is about individual learning and it should remain that way. I held my daughter back from advancing in math too fast because she had some difficulty with some concepts. As homeschoolers we have the luxury of time. Not often is time on our side so in situations where it is don’t be shy to take advantage.
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