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Friday, July 1, 2011

Stepping Outside the Grade-Level Box (Simple Homeschool)

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Ask a homeschooled kid the innocuous “What grade are you in?” and you’ll often get a furrowed brow and an answer with a question mark at the end.

“Fourth?”

This response can be alarming to grandparents, non-homeschooling friends, and the cashier at Walmart. Their raised eyebrows ask, “He doesn’t know what grade he’s in?”

Well, no. Not exactly. That hallmark of traditional schooling—the passing from grade to grade—isn’t of utmost importance in homeschooling. The age/grade correlation just isn’t necessarily present.

If your nine-year-old is reading at a post-college level, does that make him 23? Who decided, after all, that picture books are for preK-3rd grade, that pre-algebra is done in middle school, and that high school takes four years?

Who came up with all this stuff? I don’t know the answer to that. What I do know is that …

{Don't stop now! Find out what I know by reading the rest of this article at Simple Homeschool.}

3 comments:

  1. yes yes! so true. x

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  2. This is so true - and I have to say a little traumatic to BE stuffed into that box as a child. I still remember getting in trouble in 2nd grade because I wasn't choosing my library books from the "right" shelves at the library. That same teacher made me quit writing in cursive because we hadn't covered that yet.

    My 5th grade teacher said I was "too big for my own britches" in front of the whole class, because I had the audacity to know the answer to her Trivia question of the day: Istanbul used to be Constantinople -- so sue me! The Hardy Boys had been there!

    Who knew I could carry a grudge so long?

    Anyway, GREAT article!

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  3. I am a new homeschooler, and just came across this article by way of the Simple Homeschool blog. I love, love, love this article and can totally relate! Thank you for your insight and words of encouragement which spoke to me this morning! I look forward to visiting again, soon.

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