Grade level assignments by age make it easy for public schools to teach children while keeping them safe. After all, classrooms have large numbers of children in them. Homeschoolers, however, have the luxury of choosing who they teach, how they teach and what they teach! Other than the fact that a grade level by age curriculum is easier on mom or dad, is there really a compelling reason to stick with this regime? I have to admit, we did a bit of this kind of teaching when we first started homeschooling, but we quickly changed our packaged curriculum (grade x) – approach. The curriculum by age/grade just wasn’t a good fit. Much of the material was boring, and we found ourselves supplementing with outside materials quickly.
Here are our 10 reasons for ditching the grade level by age approach
10. Acceleration. Homeschoolers have more one-on-one time and can zoom ahead of public school peers on material.
9. Challenge. Your homeschoolers may WANT more challenging work.
8. It doesn’t really matter. Ask yourself why grade level by age matters to homeschooling in the first place.
7. Customize. One of the benefits of homeschooling is the opportunity to custom-fit a curriculum to match actual abilities and interests.
6. Think Outside the box. Learning does not fit in a box (or a grade).
5. Give yourself credit — Don’t keep your children at “grade level” just because you are not familiar with more advanced subject matter. Dig in right along with your child and explore the topic(s) together!
4. Eliminate taboos. Grade – level thinking assumes that some things are too easy and some are too hard. Everything is open for discovery when there are no taboos.
3. Low-stress. Some children have trouble with some subjects and excel in others. Its not fair to assume every child is at “grade level” in every subject. Relax and enjoy learning at the level that fits your child in each area.
2. Its easy (and fun). Its more fun to facilitate learning at a child’s actual ability. It’s easier, too.
1. Change your mindset. The only labels children walk around with are the ones we place on them. Refuse to limit a child. period. Instead of focusing on grade level by age, use challenging lessons for developing children with can-do attitudes, curiosity and limitless potential.
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[...] Top 10 Reasons to Ditch Grade Level Assignment by Age [...]
Peter, you may excel in science and math, but you’re history skills are lacking. The very concept of public education is fairly new in the grand scheme of things. The great scientists and writers of history most likely were tutored privately at home or attended small group classes. I was public school educated in all honors and AP classes just like you and I can still see that the public school model is a failed experiment. While I made it through with a quality education, it was only because I fought for it. Most children graduate high school these days are not as lucky as I was. And my children are not going to be subject to that chance, while I sit at home hoping that eventually public education “gets better.”
As far as the home school socializing argument, really? Still holding onto that one? Home schooled kids spend more of their day out in the world, among people of many ages and walks of lives. Public school children, on the other hand, live in an artificial social situation where all the other kids are the same age and generally live in the same neighborhood. This isn’t realistic–as soon as they are out of school, they will be forced to live, work, and socialize with people of all different ages and backgrounds. And yet, for some reason, people still try to argue that it’s the home schooled children who are missing out socially. I’ll never comprehend that argument. My 3 year old takes swim lessons along side 10 year olds. My 5 year old is on a cheer squad with kids of all ages and dances with kids from all different schools–seriously, in her class of 10, not any two kids attend the same school. My kids also participate in activities alongside adults and can carry on a decent conversation with a 45 year old woman. But if you say it’s my kids that are lacking socially, I’ll let you keep on believing it.
I do tell my daughter she is in a grade level, simply because at church they are split up by grade, not age. It’s easiest for everyone involved if she can show up in the first grade Sunday school classroom without any confusion, KWIM? We do NOT, however, use grade levels when we pick and choose curriculum. We use whatever fits her ability per subject. For first grade, we’re using stuff that’s labeled everywhere from Kindergarten to third grade. It just depends on the subject. My favorite thing about home schooling is not trying to fit education into a neat little box.
Seriously- why would someone think you were the insane one’s when they are the only commenter to make derogatory and negative statements? I am completely taken aback by people’s reactions to the idea sometimes. I was home schooled through high-school in the LA area and have always faced stereotyping towards my education; despite the fact that I always found myself ahead of my public schooled peers in academic work and testing. Although I missed out on certain aspects of going to a public school, i.e. prom, sports teams, ASB etc. I find upon looking back that it was worth it to work at my own pace and start taking classes at the community college to earn college credit while graduating High school. I have never lacked in social dealings/skills and have never in my life even had someone ask me if I was home schooled – all while ALWAYS maintaining a very independent and unique outlook on life. The love of learning I have been bestowed with will stay with me forever, and I will always be proud of the fact that I can read anna karenina in a month flat. Its an offensive and difficult world for those who choose to take more ‘scenic’ routes of life!
Thanks for the comment, Lauren. It is always good to hear from someone who’s been a homeschooling student! Homeschooling definitely isn’t for everyone — it’s just an option that many people around the world choose for very different reasons. Whatever the reason, it is important to take advantage of the flexibility. I’m glad to hear you have the love of learning that’s lost to many young people by the time they reach adulthood. Life long learners are the folks that’ll embrace the inevitable and rapid changes the world faces, ready to learn what is needed to solve problems!
Sorry to troll, but you people are insane. This is exactly why homeschool kids are always socially delinquent… they think that 100 percent of learning is done in the classroom. They are also usually uniformly arrogant about their “abilities.” I have always been in honors classes in school and I have never met an ex homeschool kid that can do better than me at physics, mathematics, or literature. You can’t open your mind by classwork. You do it by doing new things and meeting new people. The great scientists and writers of the past “had to” go through this so called rigid and uncompromising system. Sure public education isn’t perfect but instead of trashing it, why don’t we work to improve it?
p.s. I think it’s a good idea to take an honest look at yourselves when you start being so arrogant.
Peter,
Thanks for weighing in honestly. Glaring and mean-spirited generalizations aside, I’d like to address some of your points for clarification, though, as you’re missing the point of the article. First of all, this article isn’t about public school vs. homeschool. The purpose of this post (and this blog) is to share ideas about child-led, project-based learning. This article reminds homeschool parents that they have much greater flexibility and autonomy about learning methods that simply aren’t available to public schools due to scale and safety issues. I think it would be fabulous if public schools adopted this approach!
We’re proponents of child-led, project based learning and believe that children who have the benefit of one-on-one attention will embrace lifelong learning through a non-curriculum system. By the way, many great scientists (Einstein and Edison) were told by the school system that they weren’t fit for school so they dropped out! In Edison’s case, he was homeschooled after being rejected by the public education system. Einstein later wrote about how the education ‘system’ destroys creative thinking.
Many homeschoolers actually participate in public schools for portions of their education and aren’t the arrogent social delinquents you imagine. I’m sorry you have so much hostility toward such an open-minded idea!
I was JUST saying this afternoon that one of the MANY things I love about homeschooling my girls is the ability to change at the drop of a hat. I realized she hadn’t internalized a concept in her state accepted grade level, so we just dropped back and had fun practicing. She knows it now, inside and out, but no one else would have caught it. I teach multiple “grades” in ONE curriculum and just tailor things here or there to their ability level, not grade. Thanks for this!!
A stranger asked my son what grade he was in, and he answered “Which subject?”
I like the idea, I’m just not all that sure how you would do that in a state that requires reporting and grade levels. I mean, when the state imposes structure, you can still teach “grade(x)” but you still have to identify what “grade” your child is in.
MInTheGap,
Although the state may require grade level reporting, students can still interact with learning materials below and above the reported grade. Once you adopt the learning approach instead of the teaching approach, grade level becomes irrelevant (to the learning process) in spite of the grade-level label required by the state. Children who become deeply engaged in learning will learn well beyond state requirements.
I can’t tell everyone how refreshing and encouraging all of the comments have been. I am constantly trying to make sure I’m teaching what I’m suppose to, based on public school guidelines; since both kids started in public school. My son is physical 13 but doesn’t learn on that level in many areas but is very advanced in others and my 12yr old is just advanced. So now I can continue teaching them based on where they are and sort of unschooled approach.Thank everyone for sharing and helping me breathe and know I made the right choice. If anyone has some good information on activity in the San Antonio area for homeschoolers? I came from austin and they had SAINTS. my email address is bankstonroyalty@yahoo.com
I totally agree that “grade levels” shouldn’t matter in a homeschool, but it is useful to give your child a way to answer the rest of the world who gauges where a child’s at by what grade they are in.
Over the years we’ve gone from just saying they are homeschooled, to me just telling them what grade they would be in if they were in public school, based on age. Where’s there is room for interpretation I go off whether the child is more or less advanced for that age in the traditional academics or let them choose depending on the event.
For example, my 10 yo son signed up for a Lego Robotics class that was for 4th and 5th graders. But when we go tthere he had to go either with the 4th grade group or the 5th grade group. I let him choose.
None of our curriculum is grade based, and each child in each subject is at a completely different grade-equivelent level, But as my 12 yo and 10 yo have gotten older they’ve preferred to have a “grade” to tell people what htey are in – even if it has nothing to do with the level of work they are doing. My 7 yo could care less, but my 6 yo gets very upset when she doesn’t know how to answer the question of innocent inquiriers as to “what grade” she is in. So this is a solution we came up.
With that said, I totally agree and actually abide by each of these points. Each child is unique and should be allowed to move their their materials at a individualized pace for them. For us, it’s not about completing a “grade level” of work, but instilling and educational base for their future, at whatever pace suits them.
Shannon, I must agree that non-homeschoolers don’t usually understand the whole ‘no grade’ concept. Even some homeschool families have trouble accepting it. I also think that it is much easier to simply tell people what they expect to hear, especially in social situations. The bottom line is that you don’t alter your learning approach to ‘fit in’ socially, and that makes all the difference. Thanks for sharing!
I think this is the beauty of homeschooling. I also wish that every child would be able to feel confident where they are, instead of where someone says they should be. The “normal” expectations can leave people feeling less than worthy. We should embrace all talents whether they are physical, intellectual, or relational or whatever.
I decided not to try to bend my to fit my goal’s recently and it is very freeing. He is intelligent, but has often melted down when given certain types of work or stuff he isn’t ready for.
Cindy,
I couldn’t agree more with your comment. I highly recommend homeschoolers read ‘The Element’ by Sir Ken Robinson if you haven’t already. He challenges us to rethink how we measure intelligence and points out the severe limitations society puts on those who don’t fit the accepted model. Thanks for sharing your experience.
I agree 100% with teaching your children at whatever level they can handle… that’s the beauty and one of the significant advantages of homeschooling. (And, more often than not, homeschooled students are “ahead” of the “grade level work” of their peers.) That said, however, I will say that I believe it is absolutely best for a homeschooled child to refer to himself, when asked, as being in the grade level that he would be in, according to age, were he in a conventional school program. Homeschoolers announcing things like, “Well, I would be in the fourth grade, but I’m doing seventh grade work” can come across as arrogant and separatist in a way that is alienating and off-putting. And there’s nothing more frustrating to another child or parent, who asked the question merely to get a feel for your child’s age and station in life, using a normative delineation of society as it now stands. So, let you child do whatever accelerated work he can handle, but instruct him to refer to himself in conventional terms. If he “finishes early” and graduates after ninth grade, the people around him can scratch their heads and ask questions then.
I agree about sounding elitest. We definitely don’t want to be that way. We usually just have our son say ‘no grade I’m homeschooled’ and give his age. We really try to encourage him to be proud of being a homeschooler and an individual, so we don’t necessarily try to ‘fit the mold’. But we feel that way about everything, not just about homeschooling.