on "grade levels"

To the mainstream world...and my mom , my girls are in 1st and 3rd grades. To us, we just do what we do. I don't stress about it. Although, I suppose if I was in a more regulated HSing state, I could get pretty flustered about it.

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A LOT!

We would occasionally stop and think about what "grade" to use for a quick reponse to an offhand question by someone who would be otherwise perplexed, but that's different from actually taking those boxes seriously. A homeschooled child is not "in" a "grade," which is one of the wonderful things about homeschooling - labeling a child with a grade is limiting in a number of ways. For one thing, it implies that the child is living in some weird sort of subset of life - that he/she is less than a full participant. I know, I know - that's a weird take on it. But it's nonetheless my take . I mean if a child is in the 3rd grade of a school, what in the world does it mean for a child to be in 3rd grade of homeschool?! Third grade of what? Third grade of LIFE?! - Lillian

I figure grade levels are just another management tool that schools use. I mean, they have to organize the kids somehow, right? And, based on that, grade levels have no place in our home--they're meaningless.

Sometimes, people will ask my kids what grade they're in and the kids will say, "We homeschool--we don't use grades." Other times, they'll respond with their ages instead. If the questioner is persistent, the kids will "do the math" and tell them, "Well, if I went to school, I'd be in X grade."

We were recently at a hsing event and a young child, (maybe 7 y/o) asked my oldest what grade he was in. My ds told him, "I don't know, we don't use grades." The boy was stunned and practically shouted, "How can you not know what grade you're in?" Now, I don't know if this child was new to hsing, or if he was doing a straight school-at-home curriculum, but it was both funny and sad that he couldn't seem to get past that identifying marker, yk?

Bugs me too.

My dd's are always asking me what grade they are in. Probably b/c their friends next door and at church ARE in a grade.

If we are out and someone asks I just say what the grade level would be if they were in PS.

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That's my oldest dd! Would be in 2nd grade. Does 3rd grade Math, 3rd grade English, 4th Grade Spelling and reads at a MUCH higher level!!!

Yes, but it does stress me out a little. We're taking DD1 home next year to homeschool, and she'll be in "first" grade. Which means nothing to her, but to me it feels like a certain pressure to achieve pre-set standards. That's my own "meshugas" (craziness) I know but it's one of those mainstream mind-sets I am struggling to overcome.

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Well, another way to begin looking at it is that since she's leaving school to be free out in the larger world, she won't be in any grade from now on. Then you wouldn't have the pre-set standards to achieve - you'd just be thinking in terms of helping her accumulate what she needs and/or wants to know by the time she grows up. That view opens up a whole world of time and possibilities. It's can feel bit unnerving to think that way at the very first - kind of like one of those dreams when you're first falling asleep where you suddenly feel as if you're falling. But then.......ooh , it can be one of those small things that begins to change your whole perspective on life - because it's a breakaway from one of the most common constraints we've grown up with, and you get to taking a fresh look at all the others... Lillian

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Lillian, this is why I reading what you write. You bring it all home so lucidly. Such a simple idea. Not easy, surely, but simple.

Deeeep Breaths.

My daughter, by the way, is champing at the bit to "learn at home." Why? She wants to do workbooks. . Her school doesn't have them. .

She reminds me of me. Ack.

It bothers me, too. Just another way the powers that be separate and categorize us to try to control us. When L (age 6) is asked what grade she's in, she says "I'm *homeschooled.* Grades are a tool of conformity." Child after my own heart!

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That is a great way to describe it!