Do you finish eerything for a particular grade before moving on - or do you move on as needed? Did that make any sense?

Since we use an eclectic approach of individual subjects, we are planning to move on as we finish each subject area. As in, we have finished Story of the World One, our handwriting curriculum and our Wordly Wise, so we will go ahead and move on in those subjects now even though we are not done with our Math, art and Bible curriculums.

My dd started out this year with 4th grade materials in everything except math which was 3rd grade. She finished the 3rd gr math by Christmas and is about 1 1/2 - 2 months from finishing the 4th grade math level. We will probably review for the summer in that area. Now with her language arts, literature, spelling, vocabulary areas she had finished her 4th gr materials by Christmas and we are working on the 5th gr level now. So yes we move on in each individual subject. But with my ds who is on the k level I do see a difference and think at this age/grade with him we would review until we take a break before starting the next grade at the end of summer/fall.
hth~ :)

We follow a traditional school year, September 6 to June 12 (I think), taking all of the usual holidays. Most of the time my kids finish thier books the last part of May, beginning of June. Sometimes they don't finish and I handle it differently depending on what it is. Core subjects like math and Language, I have them finish during the summer. Other things like Science and History, I figure that they will get it all thru their 12 years of schooling and the information keeps repeating itself grade by grade, so I don't make them finish it.

I guess I am more traditional as well. I usually count 36weeks of schooling as 1year/grade.

We move on as needed.

falling asleep last night I think I answered my own question. There will always be areas in which the children excel. It doesn't seem right to me to hold off on material that they have completed first until they catch up with the rest.

We do not follow a calendar per say. We school all year long and take breaks/vacations when needed. I find this much easier for us and I feel less quilty when I need to take say Tuesday the 3rd off for whatever reason or becasue DS needs a break on the 17th. LOL! Clear as mud wasn't it!

as needed here too, We're at the point now where I can't even say what grade Isabelle is in. Do I go by the # of yrs we've homeschooled or by the grade level of her curricula (which varies by subject)/.

we move up as needed too. when asked about their grade level (which i now find an odd question...why not ask their age instead? :shrug: ) i answer in a long, convoluted way that makes folks eyes cross :lol:

so...i would tell you (had you asked) that morgan, who is 8 1/2, would be in 2nd grade if he was in the public school. however, at home he is reading and doing comprehension work on a middle school level. in math he's doing 3rd grade and in spelling somewhere in the range of 3rd-4th grade.

charlie is even more complicated. i usually lose people about half way through the second statement :hahaha: and it makes my point (w/o my having to say it outright) that in our home, homeschooling tends to the needs of the child and that the level of learning has absolutely nothing to do with the age of the child.

We move ahead as needed as well. Right now DD is doing mostly middle yr 1st grade work.

I hate it when people ask because I never know what to say. DD's age, "public school grade" and "homeschool gade" don't match at all. Do they want to know what kind of work she's doing or where she would be if she was in school or are they just "testing" me because they have an opinion about homeschooling & are looking for the chance to share it?

Chole

Today I took the kids to get their hair cut, and I heard one of the hairdressers ask Adam what grade he was in. I think he was taken back. He said, "I'm not in a grade. I am only at home for school. But I did go to Kindergarten."

lol

And we move on as needed. Austin is now doing well with Saxon 5/4. :) And he is doing well in Rod and Staff's 4th grade English, which is pretty rigorous. So.... we are now saying he is in 4th grade - but he won't be done with 4th grade until at least Christmas... and that depends on how much time we take off, etc.

And our school year is hit or miss. I would love to have a more structured school year, but I like and value the flexibility of homeschooling. So today, since it was nice out, we waked to get haircuts, got sandwiches and ate outside, then we mowed and cleaned up the yard. We had such a productive day - and it was just what we needed. Tomorrow we will most likely do some cleaning up of the back yard - maybe put some more mulch down along the fence. I imagine we will probably do any school work we do outside on teh table out there. It's nice and shady, and it's got a privacy fence so they won't be as distracted by others.

That's what my kids say, "I'm not in any grade, we homeschool". There is also usually a "I;m not in any grade. I don't go to school' answer in there.

We are moving on per subject appropriatness. For instance we moved onto Saxon 1 some time ago but are still on the K level phonics and readers. I think I will always refer to my kids grade level as their age appropriate level, even if they are working ahead. After all, many ps students work above grade level outside of school yet still are classified by their age grade. I don't have a problem with that at all.

That's what my kids say, "I'm not in any grade, we homeschool". There is also usually a "I;m not in any grade. I don't go to school' answer in there.

Mine dont' know how to answer so they say they are homeschooled.

When pressed I say my children so their grade level work as well as middle school and high school level work.

We usually never finish anything 100% because the children master it and don't need the busywork! Some things we finish like doing all the Harry Potter activities in the kit and making all the American Girl recipes even the ones we may not like - mashed potato volcanos (my oldest dd hates mashed potatoes but she wanted to make the recipe anyway...)