Over all, our home schooling experience has been fantastic. I love the flexibility, the joy, and the excitement that home education brings. There was an area where questions still plagued me, though:
Into which grades should we place the boys?
This was a huge hang-up for me. Over and over I've been told that, especially with boys, it's better to start late rather than early, but both Jon and I graduated early and we like some of the advantages that come with that. To confuse matters even more, T's birthday is December 2nd, which is considered by the government to be the "cut-off" date between grades. I don't even know what that means. Are kids with 12/02 birthdays supposed to go into the higher grade or the lower?
I was truly confused. On the one hand, the perks of having an extra year in between high school and college was appealing. It was then that Jon got his first car, acquired his driver's license, and started his first job. During that extra year, I took junior college courses that both prepared me for a 4-year university and gave me transferable credits that counted toward my chosen major. On the flip side of all of that, I didn't wan the boys to struggle through school in an attempt to stay a year ahead of their similarly-aged counterparts.
Part of my dilemma stemmed from my errant belief that California had set standards for each grade level that students were required to complete before moving to the next grade. (I had completely forgotten about a public school teacher whose class was 50% illiterate.) My mom reminded me that most children are ahead of their grade level in some areas and behind in others. Currently, the both of the boys are blurring the lines between grade levels.
Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that it doesn't really matter what grade I fill in on the affidavit next year. I simply need to teach the kids at levels where they progress but don't struggle, and these levels will vary from subject to subject. And since Jon had a preference of putting T in First Grade this year, that's what we're doing. If T's not ready to graduate after he's finished 12th grade, we can always spend another year finishing up, and if he is ready, it will give him the extra time to prepare for college.
Although I've really mastered this art of making mountains out of mole hills, especially with home schooling, learning to go with the flow is yet another positive by-product of our home education experience. Really, I think I'm learning WAYYYY more than the boys are right now.
I wouldn't want it any other way.
The cutoff date is only a guideline for readiness, meaning a child should turn 5 by that date to be "ready" for kindergarten. Yet so many people I knew in school with birthdays in the fall got put in early anyway, like Manny. So we both graduated at 17. I don't think one year made a huge difference for me, except that maybe people around me matured faster physically or got their licenses before me or could write their own sick notes. :) I entered college as a sophomore with high school AP credits, and I don't think it that was a deciding factor to my success either. If I had not taken so many ahead of time, maybe my undergrad GPA could've been a little better. On the other hand, I wouldn't have been able to graduate in four years due to the double major. Statistics are one thing, but every person is different.
ReplyDeleteI also found out when we began that the standards for each year are not requirements, like you said. I like having them, though, just to have an extra resource. Even the principal at the public school ISP doesn't evaluate N against it nor does she even care if I follow the guidelines (for example, they cover Health as a subject, and I don't do that formally). It's just supposed to help teachers get the child to the right level for standardized tests.
I'm learning a lot, too, and I'm not too concerned about Naomi since she's officially registered in Kindergarten, but I do whatever suits us at home. She does some second-grade work sometimes, and it doesn't phase either of us. On the other hand, we plan to look into the possibility of learning disability for L and being able to hold him back a grade in some subjects without the social ramifications would be great. So it's like winning at both ends of the spectrum for us. :) Another friend also referred us to a learning disability specialist, so we'll try that. So in that case it might matter what grade L is registered in, but I don't think it matters that much otherwise.
Correction (aside from my atrocious grammar due to rushing, sorry)--the public school ISP did require me to do some form of Social Studies/History and Science 2x a month, which I wasn't even planning to do in the beginning, but now it's pretty easy to incorporate.
ReplyDeleteI loved your comments, Amy! I do like having the guidelines, too - it gives us a target at which to aim. I'm so glad that we're not the only ones working at various levels. I'll be praying that everything works out for your L, too. My boys are vastly different from one another - in the way they learn, think, and study - so we're learning what does and doesn't work for each of them. Glad you are finding what fits each of your little ones!
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