How Do I Know My Child Is Learning The Right Things?
Without a doubt, one of the homeschooling parent's biggest worries would have to be "is my child learning what they are supposed to, when they are supposed to?" Unless you live in a state where your yearly curriculum is laid out for you, you will have to research this question for yourself. Luckily for us, this is the Information Age, and researching almost any question these days is as simple as clicking a few keys or pulling a book off a local shelf. Here are a few ideas to get your started:
1. If you happen to know a local teacher or two, try asking them for advice, particularly if they teach the grade you are trying to check up on. They can probably provide you with a copy of the local yearly curriculum.
2. Look on your state's Department of Education website — most maintain pages of what are known as the "scope and sequence" for each grade level. And don't just be content with looking on your own state's site, try others as well, since every state has different requirements.
3. Do an internet search on the search term "scope and sequence" along with the grade level you are interested in. You'll find quite a number of hits from various sources that can help you.
4. Check your local library for copies of the textbooks that the schools in the area are using. Some don't carry them, some do. Our local library maintains copies of most of the textbooks that are used in the area schools; they are not checkable, but you could sit down and go through them on a day that you have time to research.
5. Buy or borrow a copy of one of the What Your ___ Grader Needs To Know Core Knowledge series of books or similar. Some of these are set up in workbook style while others simply have chapters on each of the major subjects with a scope and sequence as well as basic outlines of the materials that are normally covered in each grade.
Keep in mind, however, that each child is unique. Just as no two children learn to walk and talk at the same time, so to they may not learn a particular concept or piece of information. The beauty of homeschooling is that you can always work with that material at your child's own pace until they are capable of really getting it. Don't be discouraged; scope and sequence information is only a general guideline and not a hard and fast rule.
