Charter school sample question (CA)

[Sarah0000]

Has anyone taken a DIY, hands off approach to a core subject (in this case, reading) with a charter school? What kind of samples did you give to show that a month's worth of learning was accomplished?

 

I want to continue just talking about language arts stuff while we're reading aloud. It works and he already reads well, but there's no documentation. I've looked over spelling programs but I think I'd rather wait another year on that.

 

If I had to do something written I was thinking along the lines of having him read a poem or fable then we'd circle any words he had trouble with and dissect them (divide into syllables, highlight advanced phonograms or prefix/suffix, stuff like that). Think this would be sufficient even though there wouldn't be a clear map of goals or progress?

 

Otherwise I need suggestions for a fast paced, visually appealing spelling program. It would be great if there's something in cursive.

[Jenn in CA]

I'm in a charter and our schooling is almost all done orally. I only do written samples once a semester but I just print off the easiest worksheets I can find for our written samples. They usually have nothing to do with what we've been actually studying.

 

I don't know if that would fly if you turn them in monthly.

 

What about a reading log? We're allowed to turn those in.

 

Or have your child copy a few words from something you read.

Edited February 7, 2016 by Jenn in CA

[Carol in Cal.]

What about having him do a reading comprehension page printed off of the 'released test questions' for the state test?

You're probably going to want to do a little test prep anyway, and so it's not complete busy work.

[Peaceful Isle]

Depending on how old your child is, FLL 1 or 2 could be used orally and quickly and you could just check mark off what you have learned front the table on contents. Copy the table of contents to show the teacher what he has learned.

Then you could have him write the def of a noun for one sample. The next month, have him write a few sentences with different punctuations, and so on. My charter just needs something in the child's handwriting once a month. It is really quite easy.

Edited February 7, 2016 by Peacefulisle

[fdrinca]

When I was reporting for our charter school, I started the habit of including activities and cross-referencing them with their CA standard. It reinforced (for the school, and for me) that while what we're doing isn't necessarily a specific curriculum, it does lead to a goal.

[Sarah0000]

Thank you all. These are great, easy suggestions. I'll have to take a closer look at the state standards. I just remembered I have the Big First Grade workbook and if nothing else he could do 1-2 worksheets from that to turn in as well.

[yvonne]

Ask your charter contact!  On months where I didn't have anything that I could have submitted, I found that I could just ask my charter contact person ("ES") for suggestions. She'd usually email me some worksheets related to what we were doing and I'd pick one and have my child fill it out. Samples are pretty easy to deal with up until high school.