Homeschooling Moms
I'm doing a lot of curriculum research to get us started next year. DH has all but said we're doing this. We're going to let them finish out this school year at the PS and start fresh on our own after that. I thoroughly believe that both girls will pass this school year. But with my oldest I'm concerned she has not mastered the math concepts like she should. She has just barely gotten by with her math for the last 3 years (including this year). Would it be a good idea to start her back with 5th grade math again next year and see if she can actually master the skills before moving to 6th grade math?
Replies
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The answer to this question with depend largely on what curriculum you decide to use. Homeschool curriculum isn't standardized or regulated like public school curricula - so what is fifth grade in one curriculum, could be third grade in another. You need to take advantage of curriculum with sample pages, scope and sequence information, and/or placement tests.
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Shortly after I posted this I actually found some placement tests for one curriculum. It was one of those, "well that makes sense" moments. I hadn't thought about the curriculums not being similiar on their objectives for each grade level.
Quoting AutymsMommy:
The answer to this question with depend largely on what curriculum you decide to use. Homeschool curriculum isn't standardized or regulated like public school curricula - so what is fifth grade in one curriculum, could be third grade in another. You need to take advantage of curriculum with sample pages, scope and sequence information, and/or placement tests.
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It can get confusing. For example, Saxon is comparable (and used in) to many private school objectives - it is strong and tends to keep to most standards. Horizons tends to be accelerated and more rigorous; CLE slightly accelerated. Teaching Textbooks tends to be a bit "behind" in the levels before Algebra. And it goes on and on... and on, lol! So, in a nutshell, what is worked on in Teaching Textbooks grade 5, may be worked on in Horizons grade 3.
Christian Book Distributors is a great place to find loads of samples and placement tests for most of these curriculums, just an fyi if you haven't found what you need.
Quoting wunderwifey:
Shortly after I posted this I actually found some placement tests for one curriculum. It was one of those, "well that makes sense" moments. I hadn't thought about the curriculums not being similiar on their objectives for each grade level.
Quoting AutymsMommy:
The answer to this question with depend largely on what curriculum you decide to use. Homeschool curriculum isn't standardized or regulated like public school curricula - so what is fifth grade in one curriculum, could be third grade in another. You need to take advantage of curriculum with sample pages, scope and sequence information, and/or placement tests.
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I was going to suggest placement tests for a few curriculum as well :) -
Oh, and say she places somewhere in between, you don't have to start back at the beginning unless you want to. I would look through, find where it looks like she doesn't know the material, and then start about 5-10 lessons before there. We wasted so much time reviewing our first year. The first 70 lessons in Saxon 1 were review for us, but being new I felt I needed to start from the beginning. Blah. Lol
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Thank you! I'll look into that.
Quoting AutymsMommy:
It can get confusing. For example, Saxon is comparable (and used in) to many private school objectives - it is strong and tends to keep to most standards. Horizons tends to be accelerated and more rigorous; CLE slightly accelerated. Teaching Textbooks tends to be a bit "behind" in the levels before Algebra. And it goes on and on... and on, lol! So, in a nutshell, what is worked on in Teaching Textbooks grade 5, may be worked on in Horizons grade 3.
Christian Book Distributors is a great place to find loads of samples and placement tests for most of these curriculums, just an fyi if you haven't found what you need.
Quoting wunderwifey:
Shortly after I posted this I actually found some placement tests for one curriculum. It was one of those, "well that makes sense" moments. I hadn't thought about the curriculums not being similiar on their objectives for each grade level.
Quoting AutymsMommy:
The answer to this question with depend largely on what curriculum you decide to use. Homeschool curriculum isn't standardized or regulated like public school curricula - so what is fifth grade in one curriculum, could be third grade in another. You need to take advantage of curriculum with sample pages, scope and sequence information, and/or placement tests.
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Math U See (a popular math program created by a home educator) has placement tests that should help
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On teaching textbooks.com there is a simple placement test she can take to see where she is.This is an awesome math program. Sometimes it's not the child but the teacher not getting the information to them the way they learn best. My 11yr old uses this program only wish I would have found it for my oldest. Good luck -
Also find out her learning style because she might not be getting the math because of the way it is taught!
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Excellant idea.
Quoting usmom3:
Also find out her learning style because she might not be getting the math because of the way it is taught!