do you teach to age or ability?

[crsta33]

My dd, who will be 4 in October, is really excited about doing some "school" at home and is really devouring the activities I plan for her. I started out doing preK type activies, though she is not actually "eligible" for preK until next fall. Out of curiousity, I pulled the frameworks from out State Dept of Ed (I used to teach prek and K) to use those as a guideline for developing my own curriculum. She has easily met all the benchmarks for preK in Mississippi already. So my question is, do I do preK activities which are technically "below" her level, or do I move ahead into a K curriculum and follow her pacing? I don't want to super accelerate her, but I don't want to hold her back either.

I am planning on homeschooling for at least the elementary years and possibly more, but there are situations where they might have to eventually go to public or private school. What happens if we've homeschooled through 5th grade material and by age she should be in 3rd grade? Where will the schools put her? Is this a reason to keep her material and age lined up?

Thanks for the help.

Christa

[chfriend]

I teach what my kids are interested in learning.

[annethcz]

I teach to ability, but don't push my kids. I follow their interests.

[midwestmom]

I teach/facilitate to ability and interest and not by age so much.

[Lillian J]

If you're concerned about the possibility of her having to go to school one day and being bored with the curriculm she's already passed, you might consider forgetting about the things that fall within that category and instead turning to the vast world of things that may never even show up in school - wonderful books read to her, music of all kinds, opera, theater, arts and crafts, knitting, quilting, gardening, interesting history and foreign cultures, foreign language, poetry, things that interest her - the kinds of things that enrich life so much. You might find some ideas for interesting things off the beaten track in this set of annotated links: Homeschooling Gateway... Let's face it - the No Child Left Behind mentality is going to be stripping what little is left of these kinds of things from the schools.
Lillian

[Roar]

Short of being mean or depriving a child of stimulation, I don't think you can stop a bright child from learning. You could refuse to do the first grade reading program and look one day to find she's picked up one of your books and she's reading it.

I would be really careful not to fall into the idea that I should make it boring now so she won't be bored later. To me the heart of homeschooling is the fact that you can customize everything you do to the interests, abilities and needs of your child. Unless you are trying to make sure she's ready to go into school next year, I'd chuck those state guidelines. What does she want to learn? what interests her? That's where I'd start.

[Meg Murry.]

Originally Posted by crsta33

My dd, who will be 4 in October, is really excited about doing some "school" at home and is really devouring the activities I plan for her. I started out doing preK type activies, though she is not actually "eligible" for preK until next fall. Out of curiousity, I pulled the frameworks from out State Dept of Ed (I used to teach prek and K) to use those as a guideline for developing my own curriculum. She has easily met all the benchmarks for preK in Mississippi already. So my question is, do I do preK activities which are technically "below" her level, or do I move ahead into a K curriculum and follow her pacing? I don't want to super accelerate her, but I don't want to hold her back either.

I am planning on homeschooling for at least the elementary years and possibly more, but there are situations where they might have to eventually go to public or private school. What happens if we've homeschooled through 5th grade material and by age she should be in 3rd grade? Where will the schools put her? Is this a reason to keep her material and age lined up?

Thanks for the help.

Christa

If your child were tall for her age and best fit size 7 pants even though she was 5, would you get her size 5 pants?

If your child were developmentally delayed and best fit the material taught a grade below her, would you teach her on grade level?

If your child were more proficient at throwing a football than the average child her age, would you keep her learning basic football-throwing, or would you teach her what she wanted to know?

Just asking.

[Meg Murry.]

Originally Posted by crsta33

What happens if we've homeschooled through 5th grade material and by age she should be in 3rd grade? Where will the schools put her? Is this a reason to keep her material and age lined up?

Thanks for the help.

Christa

Also, consider advocating for a grade skip.

[MidwifeErika]

I teach to ability.

You know, my husband and I were just having this discussion. Our oldest is zipping through lots of the info in our curriculum so we were discussing to see if it would bebetter to spead up the pace we are doing the curriculum at andmove up a grade in a few months instead of next year, but instead decided that we will work at that slower pace with the curriculum because it gives us more time to read books, take classes at the YMCA, play and swim, teach her to finger knit, do crafts, cook and bake, clean house, stop and smell the flowers, go to the zoo, etc, etc, etc. Each and every one of those things is a wonderful learning experience. If she ends up ahead then she ends up ahead. I won't slow down or stop her learning to make sure she doesn't pass anyone up.... just like I wont stress and push her to make her try to keep up with others either.

[Ruthla]

I "teach" to interest and ability. Mostly, I don't do any "teaching" but rather facilitate learning- having materials on hand that DD can turn to, working with her on something she wants to learn, etc.

[UUMom]

My kids have interests that might or might not be age- related.

[Lillian J]

Actually, speaking of grade level, I can't say as I taught much but that my son learned a lot - and he learned all over the spectrum. When he was in 1st grade in school, he learned some atomic theory from watching a very dry high school class on TV one day when he was at home because of being sick. I never dreamed he was actually watching it - just thought he was vegging out. And yet, the next year when he was homeschooling, I backed way off from the 2nd grade math level he would have been in if he'd have stayed in school - because he'd come to think he wasn't good at math and didn't like it, even though his teacher told me he was the best math student in 1st grade.

I remember when I was in 3rd grade, there were a couple of boys who weren't up to average in reading, but ohmygosh were their drawings sophisticated! - the rest of our drawings looked quite babyish in comparison. I could read very well by then, but arithmetic slowed me down (probably because I found it so boring). I don't know whether there's really such a thing as many students who are at grade level across the subjects - there's just too much variation between people for that to be true. - Lillian