Does anyone else wonder if their children are learning everything they’re “supposed” to? I understand that as homeschoolers, our path is so very different from the public schools, that we can’t really be measured against them, etc. However, I often wonder if my kids are meeting similar benchmarks.
I have a 4th, 3rd, 1st, and PK this year. For the older three, we do certain subjects all together (science, history, geography, etc.). I’m wondering if my 4th grader is getting everything he needs from these subjects.
Does anyone know of any resources for homeschoolers to address this? I guess what I’m looking for is a grade checklist (i.e., by this certain grade, your child should know this…).
Also you can go to world book online and see their benchmarks. You also have the option to look at your state’s standards (through the state board Ed).
I don’t for content-based subjects because everyone has gaps in content. You can’t know all the history, science etc… there is to know. There’s way more than anyone person can know. And especially in elementary school, you are going for enjoyment and developing interest and some basic “hooks” to hang information on. You’ll add to these as you school throughout the years. (We did US history twice, and went through world history twice, plus a couple of years that focused on geography/cultures by using Sonlight and Mystery of History, occasionally with a few other resources I added in for fun. Oh, and Adventures in Odyssey. I’m amazed at just how many things my kids would be familiar with, and I’d say, “Oh, do you remember that from when we studied xyz in history?” And they’d say, “No, Adventures in Odyssey!”
Most history and science academic tests rely on reading comprehension plus learning how to read maps and graphs. So, gradually work on those skills while having fun learning about all kinds of history and science topics.
The subjects that are skills-based like math, spelling, reading comprehension, writing skills are the main things tested on academic tests (not that we teach to those, but I reference them as tools that measure benchmarks) were the things I looked to as far as “am I covering what’s needed.” And most of the time, if you have a resource that’s well-laid out, you have a good feel for whether your student is making progress in each skill area, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and so on.
