What grade levels are you currently homeschooling?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

Poll question: What grade levels are you currently homeschooling?

If you teach more than one, please check other and explain in your reply.

[fight4my3sons]

1. pre-K

I don't follow any curriculum right now. We just play a lot. My oldest is 3 and the twins are 19 months. My older son is on a Candyland kick right now, my mom got it for him for Christmas. He is also into 24 piece puzzles. He has known his colors, letters, numbers to 30 for months now. I think we are going to get the Calvert pre-K curriculum for him.
The twins are a mess. They are in what I call the "caveman" stage. A lot of grunting, throwing, and climbing on things. Exactly what my older one was doing at that age, except it was summer then and I could get him outside. I know that at around the age of two he grew out of it and I'm hoping they will too. They are picking up some sign language so communication is a little easier, especially when food is involved.

[thinkingwoman]

3. I remember those days

they were wonderful! Crazy, hectic, busy, exhausting, but wonderful!

Enjoy.

[fight4my3sons]

5. I'm enjoying.

It is exhausting, but I know that it goes by fast. It doesn't feel like it now, but I know that someday my husband and I are going to be sitting her looking at each other saying what happened? they were just babies and now they are gone. As crazy as it gets I try to remember that it is goes by so fast.

[thinkingwoman]

2. other here...

My daughter graduates this spring (after 8+ years of homeschooling broken up with grades 2-5 in public school).

My son (by age) would be a freshman but will probably graduate in 2 years. He attended public school for K and 1st grade only.

If I had it to do over again, neither would ever have set foot in a traditional school setting.

[fight4my3sons]

4. If I may ask...

Why did they spend that time in PS? Did they ask to go, or was it for other reasons? You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I am just wondering because my husband keeps saying that if our kids ask to go to PS he wants to let them go (he is all for homeschooling them), but I really don't want them to go to PS at all. I know that they may be curious at some point. They may feel that they are missing something I guess. I know that when I lived out in New Mexico and went to a one room school house I felt like I was missing out on something when I spoke to my step-sisters who went to a big school in NY. Does that make sense? Do homeschoolers have to deal with this often? It is something that I am anxious about.

[thinkingwoman]

7. Certainly...

Our kids attended public school during my divorce from my first husband when I had to work full time. Back then I was too inexperienced to know that homeschooling and full time employment CAN work in some circumstances. Once I remarried we (me and my second husband) pulled the kids back out of school and they've been out ever since.

Re: your anxiety--that's so normal. But as my daughter approaches 18 and my son turns 15 I'm finding there just isn't anything to be anxious about. Now, at key ages (entry to jr high and high school for example), we did ask our kids if they wanted to return to public school. They continually declined. Fortunately, for all of us, both were swimmers and were able to enjoy a team sport outside of the high school experience (which was something we felt was important). If they had preferred some other sport, that might have been tough.

To hear my teens tell it, they are the envy of their public school friends. It's the public school kids they know who feel like they're missing out on something rather than my kids. I would imagine that very much depends on the individual though, honestly.

In the local homeschooling group we belonged to, we met kids from all types of public school vs. homeschool situations. It was really rather fluid for some families and one family in particular had one girl graduate from homeschool and enter college early, while her younger sister has gone back and forth from public to homeschool multiple times.

Sorry to ramble on. Hope there was an answer in there somewhere. Feel free to ask anything.

[fight4my3sons]

8. Thank you for such an honest response.

I guess we are going to have to see what happens as we go along. No use worry about what is going to happen.

I am hoping that they don't want to go to PS. I taught in the public schools and I just don't think that they would be a good fit for my kids. I know that my husband and I didn't fit in very well when we went to PS, my husband ended up in Military school from 8th grade through HS graduation and almost went to West Point, but decided at the last moment that he didn't want to go military for life. Good thing because we met in college :-)
I just want my boys to enjoy learning. I hated school, my husband hated school. I barely made it out of high school because I couldn't pass math (later found out I have a disability with numbers) and failed out of college the first time around because by that time I just didn't care about going to class. When I went back to college in my late 20's I loved it, I graduated with honors, got a grant to finish my masters degree and became a special ed teacher. I wanted to be there and I loved learning. I don't want my boys to go through the whole process where they begin to hate learning. I remember when I was young I loved school, then I don't know what happened. All I know is that for years I hated it and I didn't do well in terms of grades. Leading to low self-esteem and drug use and all the great things that go with that. I would rather my boys just skip all of that.
Sorry, my reply got so long. Just wanted to try to explain where some of the anxiety on my part was coming from.

[mzteris]

6. Technically

if my son were in PS - he'd be at the 6th grade "age level" (though he only missed the arbitrary cut-off date by 30 days!)

But in actuality - he's not "on" a grade level. I really wouldn't know what "grade" he is. I'd say the majority of his work is on the highschool level, but his compositional skills are more on the middle school level (due to his LD this is an area we haven't hit very hard as yet. I think it will come in time so no need to beat him over the head.)

We did a pre-test assessment (for the annual achievement test required in NC) to determine which Grade he should be tested on. He only missed three on the 8th grade test.

We have a computerized achievement test for Grades 4-6 - though it will do "advanced questions" up to 9th grade. He maxed out several sections of the the test (- even when he started taking it technically as a 3rd grader.)

I'd love a pencil/paper UNTIMED test (he has major test anxiety).