Ignoring "Grade Levels" in your Homeschool

Everyone always says, "The beauty of homeschool is that you can work at your child's level."  I completely agree with this but it can be hard to let go of  "grade levels" entirely. There are a few reasons for this:

• People associate school with grades: Our minds instantly gravitate towards grade levels. What grade our child should be in based on their age, what they should be learning in said grade and so on.

• Curriculum is sold by grade level: You can't get very far with purchasing curriculum without the need to determine your child's grade level.

• Sometimes you feel (atleast I feel) that it is my duty to prove homeschooling promotes academic success. When I tell people we homeschool our daughter, I get a wide variety of reactions.  I often tell people that homeschool students test better on average than public schooled students, with that though comes pressure that my little one will be one of those bright homeschoolers.  It can be hard to admit that your child isn't ahead of or even in some areas maybe on par with other kids their age.

Determining your child's grade level(s)

So what are we to do?  How do we embrace the idea of allowing our children to learn at their own pace and ignore the nagging pressure of meeting or exceeding grade levels?

We started the year using a virtual school through the state.  (You can read more about that choice in this post. Spoiler - it didn't last long!)  We moved on to more of an "umbrella school" situation, using Calvert curriculum.  We really liked this option compared to our experience with the virtual school.  We've made a few changes:

• My daughter reads at a 2nd grade level and spells at about a 1st grade level.  The Kindergarten Calvert curriculum provided by the umbrella school was way too simple.  Originally, we supplemented with resources from the library and online.  Recently, we were blessed to win a gift certificate to the Institute for Excellence in Writing through a Home Educating Family giveaway.  We used this to purchase All About Spelling level 1.  
• The Calvert math has covered some concepts my daugher hasn't mastered yet so she is still working on some grade K math concepts.  She also enjoys tackling problems that are more 1st grade level from time to time so that is why I list her at K/1st for math.
• She probably hasn't mastered every K science concept yet but she has a strong interest in many science topics and enjoys delving deeper than any K level book goes.  We were blessed to win Apologia Astronomy through a Hip Homeschool Moms giveaway.  We love this curriculum so much, there is so much depth but it is written at a level she can understand.  We also supplement Calvert science with animal studies. (You can see our Birds of Prey study in this post.)

I am leaning toward piecing together our own curriculum next year and covering topics that interest my little girl.  Going into this year, I really liked the simplicity of having a box curriculum.  I still am having a hard time with the idea of leaving the Calvert curriculum behind completely.  I like the comfort of having something to follow that will ensure I cover everything she is "supposed" to learn.  

I am a little worried that if we don't have a complete 1st grade curriculum next year, we will miss some super important 1st grade concept.  On the other hand, if we skip out on the Calvert next year, we won't have to waste time completing overly easy assignments just because they have to be sent in to the umbrella school. 

We are still working on this homeschool thing.  I'm not sure I'll ever figure it out, but we are making progress!

Thanks so much for visiting Joy Focused Learning!  I would love to know, how old are you kids?  Do they work at one grade level for all subjects or across multiple levels like my daugher?  

~Angela

This post is linked up at:

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