Cyberschool Kids Are Cool

I avoid the grade issue by telling my son (and an...

2008-10-04T19:23:00.000-07:00

I avoid the grade issue by telling my son (and anyone else who asks) that he's in grade 1, by which I mean it's our first year of official homeschooling. I don't mention that he's working on grade 3 math and grade 2 language arts. That's between me and the textbooks. :D

I think that I am going to do what you suggested d...

2008-10-02T07:26:00.000-07:00

I think that I am going to do what you suggested diamond and have her go over the review section in the book before teaching. I know if I'm bored, she's got to be pretty bored too.

It's a wonderful, wonderful thing. Enjoy it.

2008-10-02T07:03:00.000-07:00

It's a wonderful, wonderful thing. Enjoy it.

This is one of the things about the group school m...

2008-10-01T22:01:00.000-07:00

This is one of the things about the group school mentality that I have worked to eliminate at home. We have skipped grades, and at the beginning of each new textbook, I have my kids do only the weekly quizzes/tests until we reach the point where the material is new to them, and they aren't reviewing with boredom the same material they did last year. (I'm thinking specifically of math and grammar.) Review is a great tool when it is necessary for mastery, but it is twaddle after mastery has been achieved. One sure way to kill the joy of learning it to hold a child back when he is ready to go on.

If someone asks what grade my child is in, I answer with the grade that is typical for her age. She doesn't need to know that she is "ahead". :o)

Do what's best for her! It seems to me that you co...

2008-10-01T05:20:00.000-07:00

Do what's best for her! It seems to me that you could have her do whatever grade level work she needs to be doing, but that if you needed to, you could keep her at her own age-level for activities (if you need to). My son has always worked a couple of grade levels ahead, but I kept him with his age level for things like Scouts, church, etc. Now that he's in high school, he hangs out with friends both older and younger, so it doesn't even matter. He'll go to college full-time at 17 (although he's taking college courses now at 15).

LeisaWatkins sorry about your having a difficult t...

2008-09-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

LeisaWatkins sorry about your having a difficult time leaving a comment - blame it on Blogger as this is all they offer LOL

Anyhow... I've given the answer you've suggested and boy did some heads spin like I was in Mars. Have you ever had that happen?

soaringmountainsacademy thanks for sharing that wi...

2008-09-25T09:02:00.000-07:00

soaringmountainsacademy thanks for sharing that with me. It makes me feel better to hear that some people will leave well enough alone.

I don't really worry about grades. My son is "behi...

2008-09-25T07:39:00.000-07:00

I don't really worry about grades. My son is "behind" in math, "ahead" in reading. It's about finding their level. Not to easy, not to difficult. If your daughter is breezing through, I'd go ahead and skip her. The beginning material is often review, so I imagine it would be good.

I've skipped my son ahead a grade level because he...

2008-09-25T07:37:00.000-07:00

I've skipped my son ahead a grade level because he was bored and needed the challenge. He's always being asked how old he is (8) and what grade he's in (4th) when we are out and about. Then they want to know why he isn't in the grade he should be and he tells them it's because he's homeschooled. :) Most people leave it at that.

Do what's best for your daughter and forget about everyone else. If people want answers, give them a short, simple one. They don't need the full story. Good luck!

I'd say advance her. That is one of the perks of h...

2008-09-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

I'd say advance her. That is one of the perks of homeschooling - allowing them to work at a pace that suits them.

As far as explaining what grade a child is in I just way "We homeschool. I think kids her age are in second grade but we don't really worry about that. My kids perform at different grade levels depending on the subject."

Also I believe you'd get more comments if you add an identity for those who host our own blogs on our own domain. I had a hard time leaving a comment because I don't use google, blogger, a wordpress hosted account, etc.

Karla I agree with you and know for a fact that we...

2008-09-25T07:03:00.000-07:00

Karla I agree with you and know for a fact that we did this material last year so that's not an issue. Thanks for the reminder though.

Do it. There's no sense in boring your daughter. ...

2008-09-25T06:59:00.000-07:00

Do it. There's no sense in boring your daughter. Just be very sure she is really ready for the next level because you don't want her frustrated all the time, either. I skip kids through books all the time at my cottage school (http://cottageschool.tumblr.com) . That's the beauty of home schooling! But again, I can't stress enough the importance of not pushing her before she's ready. You want her to feel successful not stressed. And HAVE FUN!

Keisha, I think that it's better than arguing with...

2008-09-25T06:44:00.000-07:00

Keisha, I think that it's better than arguing with her every time we sit down to do the school work but it's what I was saying to Annette, which I shouldn't worry about but do, that's going to make things really interesting around here LOL

I agree. It's just that cyberschools push grades ...

2008-09-25T06:43:00.000-07:00

I agree. It's just that cyberschools push grades and it's something that I'm trying to get use to. Then you've also got everyone asking what grade your child is in. It's going to be really interesting when she's in third grade next fall and should only be in second. Let alone try explaining why she's no longer in first but is now in second LOL I'm just imagining the looks and explanations and things, which I shouldn't worry about but you know how some public school parents simply like to demand answers. I'm also really hoping that I'm doing what's best for my daughter.

I'm new to homeschooling but I think advancing you...

2008-09-25T06:42:00.000-07:00

I'm new to homeschooling but I think advancing your daughter sounds good since she already knows the work.

We've never been big on "grades" in our homeschool...

2008-09-25T06:35:00.000-07:00

We've never been big on "grades" in our homeschooling adventure. While my daughters now would typically be a freshman and junior in high school for some of their courses they are into college level work and in others they're a bit behind those grade levels.

The beauty of homeschooling is that you really can work with your child to help them master the work before they move on to the next level.

I guess I'm one of "those people." I just assumed...

2008-09-18T09:22:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm one of "those people." I just assumed that was one of the advantages of homeschooling--scheduling flexibility! Guess I am wrong.

I've gotten to the point where I flat out DO NOT a...

2008-09-17T21:48:00.000-07:00

I've gotten to the point where I flat out DO NOT answer the phone until 2:30. I have let people know that so they know why I'm not answering and they need to leave a message or wait til after 2:30 to call. Even my hubby gets aggravated sometimes, but it throws the kids off when we're interupted. We usually finish before 2:30, but I still keep it as my "quiet" time.

I do think a lot of people assume we are home doing nothing and get to run around and have fun all the time. Ok, sometimes we do run around and have fun, but it's still tied in with school.

I think a lot of the mentality comes from the fact that we don't "have" to be somewhere. The "system" isn't requiring us to be at a specific place at a specific time, so we certainly can go do stuff with them at their beck and call.

My closest friends homeschool, so that helps. We t...

2008-09-09T19:35:00.000-07:00

My closest friends homeschool, so that helps. We try to respect each other's lesson times, but the neighbor kids don't always understand. We start lessons before they do, but when I explain that we are studying they usually respect it.

I am just glad to know I'm not the only one that h...

2008-09-09T12:23:00.000-07:00

I am just glad to know I'm not the only one that has to deal with this, lol! I agree that people either think we are free all day or force the kids to work all day.

I also wanted to let you know that I have a blog award for you on my blog. http://www.heathenhomeschoolers.com

LOL Yeah, I forgot that other extreme

2008-09-09T11:26:00.000-07:00

LOL Yeah, I forgot that other extreme

LOL! People either seem to think we're not doing ...

2008-09-09T11:12:00.000-07:00

LOL! People either seem to think we're not doing anything at all or we're chained to a desk for 10 hours a day. Why the extremes??? :)

I always said "yes" last year when I was choosing ...

2008-09-08T15:04:00.000-07:00

I always said "yes" last year when I was choosing the materials and my dd was WAY ahead. Well she's still ahead but now she has certain things that the cyberschool requires. I'm not going to let that get all messed up to the point that it stresses me out just so I can be a people pleaser. Sometimes I wonder if us homeschoolers are simply wired differently than the rest of the world LOL

My wife was telling me yesterday of a friend that ...

2008-09-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

My wife was telling me yesterday of a friend that wanted to get together and didn't understand that there's a small window now that we're teaching our kids.

'Course this mom sends her kids to public school, so they don't get it.

I block out certain times for outside activities a...

2008-09-08T13:01:00.000-07:00

I block out certain times for outside activities and only say YES if it fits in those times. For instance, 2 Fridays a month I leave open. Other than that, our schooling happens between 9 and 11AM and 1 and 3PM. I agree that many do not understand, but sometimes they do understand if you say "I'm free next Friday morning - would that work?"
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