s/o How Would You Rank the Academics of Your Home School?

[Spy Car]

In a spin-off of the Great Schools ranking of your local Public Schools thread, I'm curious how people would rank their own Home Schools academically.

 

Bill

[Renee in NC]

Are we basing this on test scores? If so, a 1.:001_huh:

 

(I have 2 with IEPs and another who would have one within a couple of months if we were keeping them in school.)

[Dmmetler]

My homeschool would be an N/A under Great school's ratings, because the test they use to rank by starts at 3rd grade. I'm guessing, though, that she could probably score proficient on the 3rd grade test NOW-I've given it, and it's simply not that hard as long as a child can read. If they can't read, they'd probably fail the math test even if they're years ahead in math, because it's so wordy.

[FriedClams]

I'd say we're doing just fine. The kids read well and enjoy it, make connections with things (son remarked my tomato sauce that was on too high today looked like "tomato flares" - we've been studying space), are doing well in math. We enjoy history and find educational field trips fun and interesting. They love Latin.

 

In the big picture - homeschooling as a lifestyle is unparalleled. We travel and my kids have been able to take long trips (5 weeks) to help serve sick/aging grandparents. They KNOW cousins that live across the country and appreciate the relationships. They are best friends and rarely fight. They are encouraging to each other, their parents and friends. Their homeschooled friends are kind, encouraging, are disregard gender and age. They are innocent in an appropriate way. The love the Lord and scripture and aren't afraid to share it. They aren't embarrassed by their family or by physical affection. They are appreciative of the time and gifts the people give and are unaffected by labels or brands. The will eat anything once. They are not aware of most mainstream media. They have time - to play, to read, to experiment, to practice music to sleep when needed and to just be. They can swim in any social setting and are very flexible.

 

In short - the academics are fine. We're WTMish. We school nearly a full or nearly full schedule, nearly every day and nearly year round. We do all the problems, we write out the answers and we redo messy work. I don't skip things. I rarely lighten the load. I have high standards.

 

Generally I try to stick with the theory - would I fire myself if I were paying me to teach my kids? No. I'd give myself a weekend off in Memphis and a raise! {ETA - based on test scores alone - 9ish.}

Edited February 24, 2011 by Kayaking Mom

[Jean in Newcastle]

It depends on the grade. Our Home School Middle school would have a ranking of 10 based on test scores (of one student:tongue_smilie:)

 

Our Homeschool Elementary school would currently have a ranking of 8 based on test scores (again of one student). However, this one students is not meeting the standards in one subject (math) and is being held at that point until there is mastery. I'm hoping this will contribute to a higher ranking next year.

[DianeW88]

Hmmm, more like an 8.5, I think. This will be my 17th year of homeschooling this fall, and we've managed to get two of my three into college with academic and performance scholarships (the youngest is 10, so it remains to be seen if he'll mess up my "batting average" ;)), so I'd say we're doing well.

 

A couple of things I have learned through the years:

 

You cannot blow off school 2-3 times per week and have your child learn all they need to learn.

 

Your academics need to be thorough and rigorous.

 

Just "living life" and being "out in the community" is NOT the same as doing your schoolwork.

 

Having your children learn things like "how to help run a family" and how to deal with a new baby is not the same as academics. Not saying those things aren't important, but I've had friends piddle through an entire year with the excuse of a new baby. I've BTDT and it's hard. But you can't let academics slide. My oldest son (now 20) had to make up A TON of work to catch up from my falling into the "less is more" trap. It wasn't fair for me to have done that to him and I sincerely regret it.

 

Please know that NONE of my comments are directed towards anybody on this board. I don't know you well enough to know what any of your school days are like. I'm just speaking generally. I guess my point is we need to expect our kids to do hard things....and schoolwork is a hard thing. Our kids deserve the chance to live up to whatever their full potential might be (and every child is different), but as home school parents....we're it. We're the ones they're counting on to provide their education. We need to make sure we're stepping up to the plate everyday.

 

And, now you've just heard the pep talk I give to myself every morning when I'd rather sit outside and read a good book instead of do 4th grade math. :lol:

[Chris in VA]

Based on test scores? 10. She nailed it. (ITBS) She's done quite well here at home.

 

She currently gets straight A's in public 5th grade.

 

Now, for ds, I'd give about a 7 or 8 for academics. His scores were low, but he is using the Great Books study we did for 4 years in his cinema classes--he can tell you about the themes he is now studying in film b/c he's talked about them via Great Books. He also has the plots down, and a love of story--now he's using, and seeing how others have used, a visual media instead of a written one, to describe and create.

[newbie]

There is always need for improvement.

 

But, basing it off past history , oldest dd got accepted into all colleges and great scholarships at the one she went into.

[Night Elf]

I hope I did that right! I chose '10' based on my children's standardized test scores. We've tested them several times in our 10 years of homeschooling and they consistently test at least 96% in every subject area. [side note: ds14 got a lower percentage on his last reading comprehension because he reads slowly, but of the questions he answered, he got them all correct.] We use the CAT/5 standardized test.

 

Now, if I were to compare my level of academics to those following a classical education, I would have to rate much lower. We've always done just regular stuff like you would find in any traditional school. I consider myself a failure when it comes to schooling in a WTM way. But we certainly compare well to our local public schools.

[Whereneverever]

I picked 9. I'm feeling really good this week about our schooling here. DD1 took a standardized test for the first time and got all of the questions right, so we can't be doing too terribly!

[regentrude]

Not a sensible question - the scale needs to have a reference point.

Is a 10 rating the highest academic rigor a student of my child's age can possibly manage (and is that with a six hour school day or a ten hour day?)? Or is it what is deemed "reasonable" for a student of that age?

 

I honestly do not know what to make of that question. For example, my 13 y/o is taking college physics - I guess that would merit a high academic rating. OTOH, she is not challenged by the class and aces it with minimal effort, so a 10 rating would be if I had her in a more challenging college class. And then there are kids who ARE full time in college by that age - so compared to those, we are only a 6.

Do you see what I mean?

[Melissa in Australia]

I really cannot rank mine. I know I am doing better than the local primary that I took my children out of, but it was WAY below average.

During my studies to become a primary school teacher, I had to grade and rank a child compared to the national curriculum, I graded my ds7, and he is right on average.

 

We are really struggling with writing here, but my children are Dyslexic, and were not doing any writing while at a government school.

 

My ds16 is just starting on a uni course next week, I am nervously waiting to see how he will go. I will be able to rank my school then.

[Jenny in Atl]

I can only go by my oldest... After homeschooling for eight years, she's doing really well in the big house. 5 A's and a B (in her crazy-hard honors math) for fall semester. So far this semester, she's got all A's. I'm getting ready to give Fi her annual exams, (going with the CAT this year vs. the Iowa). Then I will have a better idea how she is doing, overall. Just by her daily work, I feel she's really good in all but writing. The kid hates to write. :tongue_smilie:

[Spy Car]

Not a sensible question - the scale needs to have a reference point.

Is a 10 rating the highest academic rigor a student of my child's age can possibly manage (and is that with a six hour school day or a ten hour day?)? Or is it what is deemed "reasonable" for a student of that age?

 

I honestly do not know what to make of that question. For example, my 13 y/o is taking college physics - I guess that would merit a high academic rating. OTOH, she is not challenged by the class and aces it with minimal effort, so a 10 rating would be if I had her in a more challenging college class. And then there are kids who ARE full time in college by that age - so compared to those, we are only a 6.

Do you see what I mean?

 

Vote 10 and move on :D

 

Bill

[Lostinabook]

By Great Schools standards I don't know since we don't test. I voted "other".

[Guest Dulcimeramy]

I'm with regentrude. I've been trying to answer this for 20 minutes and I have decided it is not a sensible question.

 

Apples and oranges, that's what it is.

[Guest Dulcimeramy]

Vote 10 and move on :D

 

Bill

 

OK, after that explanation, I will also vote 10. :lol:

 

We achieve or exceed WTM standards in all subjects.

[RahRah]

Having your children learn things like "how to help run a family" and how to deal with a new baby is not the same as academics. Not saying those things aren't important, but I've had friends piddle through an entire year with the excuse of a new baby. I've BTDT and it's hard. But you can't let academics slide.

 

 

 

 

I have to agree with this....our new baby arrived on Jan. 25th - I'd pretty much stopped our formal schedule about a week before he was due to arrive and figured we'd resume sometime in March. Guess what? We started by easing back in two weeks ago (two weeks after baby arrived) and e resumed our previous "normal" schedule last week because my gut kept saying DS6 was going to lose much of what we'd gained with reading/phonics/writing that we'd been working so hard with.

 

Sure enough, I had to review for a week to get us back to where we were!

 

I don't want to think about how far behind we might have gotten had I continued thinking taking a six week break (the plan) was no big deal and then easing back with a half-schedule for a month or two would be just fine too.

 

We have modified a couple of things to be sure....mostly the time we do things - some things now get done while the baby is sleeping (which isn't always a set time), some things DS is learning to do a bit more independently (and liking that), and some things we've adjusted the timeline for the next few months on (history and science) to then ramp back up with come April or May - and we've done that to focus more on the reading right now since DS is finally getting it and is eager (yeah!) to keep practicing more!

[Mom22ns]

I picked 10. I think we do a better job than our local public schools and they were 10s.

[RamonaQ]

I based my scored on our state's standardized test, which is also the same one our local elementary school uses.

[Wildiris]

I'd have to say we'd get a score of 4 or less based on my own expectation. If I were to use test scores it would be 8 or 9 since the girls always score mid-range or above in the advanced level on the CA STAR.

 

Why so low?

 

• Too many interruptions
  
• Not consistent enough on a daily basis
  
• Science is lacking
  
  

 

[RahRah]

I can't "rank" our HS yet - DS6 is doing first and second grade work and is doing well overall. He's way ahead with math, but likely "lagging" with reading, but we're working on that -- and that's starting to pay off since he's getting it and now pretty eager to do his phonics/reading daily!

 

Science I know he knows a heck of a lot more than his grade-peers for many things - other things, who knows? Some of his grade-peers know some pretty cool stuff too (from interactions we have with his buddies and cub scout den boys). I'm darn sure he blows the doors off with history (ancients) compared to his peers, but is likely lagging with the civics (local government stuff) that his peers are learning at the moment, intensively, in first grade. His map/geography skills are great - he spent time teaching his cub scout den about maps and compasses as they all worked on a belt loop together.

 

So, I'd say it's difficult to "rank" what we're doing compared to the PS. If he were in PS, there wouldn't be any standardized testing yet.

[joannqn]

I looked at the test scores of schools with a rank of 10 and both of my school-aged kids outscore them so I guess we are 10.

[EthiopianFood]

I didn't realize that you meant based on test scores. I voted 6, based on my opinion of our academic rigor compared to what I THINK we should be doing. Based on tests scores (theoretical ones, she's just preK :) ), it would be a 10.

[Ester Maria]

I adhere to that grading scale myself, with the passing grades being sufficient (6), good (7 and 8), distinct (9) and exceptional (10).

 

That being said, I estimate our overall academic quality to be around 9 - distinct. I find that each of the academic areas we tackle is at least good, none is merely sufficient, and we might even boast a few which are excellent - Italian and classics. (For my middle daughter, sciences, but she so outperforms the supposed "grade level" in those areas that I outsourced it, so I cannot really count it as my own accomplishment in teaching. :))

[Tree House Academy]

Can you rank homeschool academics? I mean, is this based on how rigorous the work is? or how my child scores on tests? Each of my kids are different.

 

I will says these things:

 

I don't believe in busy work.

 

I don't believe in excuses.

 

I don't push my kids to the point of tears for my own satisfaction of being able to say, "they can do X ahead of X."

 

I do not teach to a test and the scores my kids' make are their own.

 

I am committed to having school daily (unless we just can't). I have never had the mindset that kids learn by just being alive and breathing. Sure, they learn some stuff and lots of life skills, but life skills and essay writing are not the same in any sense of the word. Children need direction in their education.

 

All that said, I also love living book curricula, enjoy hands on projects with my kids, dont' always get school started before 10AM, don't make the kids get up before their bodies say it is time, etc. I take a relaxed approach to the actual schooling, but not a relaxed approach to teaching or choosing curriculum, if that makes sense.

 

I chose an *8* from the poll above. We aren't memorizing 5 languages and competing on the academic team, but my kids are learning and enjoying it - and scoring several grade levels above their own on standardized tests (which, again, I do not teach to or drill them on before they take them). I think we are A-Ok!

[Spy Car]

I adhere to that grading scale myself, with the passing grades being sufficient (6), good (7 and 8), distinct (9) and exceptional (10).

 

That being said, I estimate our overall academic quality to be around 9 - distinct. I find that each of the academic areas we tackle is at least good, none is merely sufficient, and we might even boast a few which are excellent - Italian and classics. (For my middle daughter, sciences, but she so outperforms the supposed "grade level" in those areas that I outsourced it, so I cannot really count it as my own accomplishment in teaching. :))

 

Your choice, but if what I think about your home school is true, we would need an 11 :D

 

Bill

[Guest Dulcimeramy]

Your choice, but if what I think about your home school is true, we would need an 11 :D

 

Bill

 

That's what I was thinking.

 

I gave my homeschool a 10, but I was only comparing it to Indiana. I don't want to know how I do compared to the best of Europe.

[FaithManor]

Bill, I don't know how to rank it. I guess, like Regentrude, I need more of a reference point. So, I'll let you rank my homeschool academically by giving you enough information that you can figure how that compares to your points of reference.

 

I have three boys currently the ages of your typical 8th, 7th, and 5th graders. Through sixth grade I use Rod and Staff Math for kill-drill on math facts and basic computations and Singapore Math for how to think critically about Math and problem solving. It works for them. We use Lial's Basic College Mathematics for 7th grade and I've liked that and Lial's Beginning Algebra with Life Of Fred for 8th grade. I am rethinking this. I might continue with Singapore into high school. However, I loved Jacob's Geometry when dd used it and would have a hard time giving it up.

 

We obviously study Grammar and since I haven't found a writing program I am satisfied with, I cover this material on my own. To give you an example, the 5th grader writes five/two page research papers per year. He also is required to produce five poems along specific guidelines (not a lot of poetry, I know....I hate teaching poetry and so I think I may be tooooooo relaxed on that), twenty short stories, written narrations every week in history, and he takes notes from his science text as well as maintains a rudimentary lab book. When the children write research papers, since they are only just now learning to type, they have to hand the outlines in to me for correction, make those corrections, and then I type them into the computer. It's the same thing with the paper itself. Write, corrections, re-write, corrections, re-write, mom will type for you. Hopefully, the eldest boy's typing skills will have progressed enough that he can handle all of his own soon.

 

I require Latin for 6th-9th grade and three years of modern foreign language or two years of high school Latin and two years of modern. This was the route that dd chose because Latin is such a wonderful language for someone going into medicine.

 

We use critical thinking skills and mindbender books through 7th grade and begin introductory logic in 8th grade. This is followed by a year of formal logic in high school and Classical Rhetoric with Aristotle in 11th grade to polish off those skills.

 

We are WTM'ers through and through except, we require formal science studies at a much younger age. Dh and I are science freaks and it would be completely unnatural for us to study science with the children based on the history cycle or on just reading about specific topics. Examples of the science projects that have occured in this house in the past include and this is not an exhaustive list: Dissections beginning in 4th grade, building a remote control helium blimp from scratch, building a hydraulic lift (don't get excited - it lifts lightweight books, not concrete), Laser alarms including etching the eletronic board and soldering all of the wiring, Hovercraft, working boat locks system for a little remote controlled canoe and the whole thing fits inside a large rubbermaid tub, metal castings, assisting their daddy with the building of a forge, extensive model rocketry - two of the boys are on our Team America Rocketry Challenge team - making organic batteries, lego robotics, non-lego robotics, distilling ethanol for running a model steam engine and fueling bunsen burners, collecting and identifying household bacteria, okay....my brain is fogging up. There is more. With any luck, dd will be mentoring her brothers and a few other 4-H'ers in a near space weather balloon project next summer.

 

We obviously work on penmanship. Three of the children have decent handwriting. One is utterly hopeless and really, really needs to learn to type soon.

 

Dd scored a 30 on the ACT. This is the same child who got so nerved up about it because she wanted scholarships to her first choice school so badly, that she vomitted a few times before the test began. We didn't make her take it again. That was good enough for us and especially given her state of agitation. DD is in paramedic school and taking some pre-med classes part time. She has a 114% in paramedic school and her lowest pre-med grade is 98%. Her highest is 108%.

 

The boys haven't taken it for practice yet, but our 12 year old took an ACT subject practice test online last week (World History) and passed with a B. I was very happy for him. The 14 year old is another one with the nerves! So, we are really working on practice ACT's right now but trying to keep the emotional element rather low key.

 

I am pleased with our Great Books Study. We are stuck in Beowulf and should have been done a long time ago. But, it's a good kind of "stuck". The boys are just fascinated with the themes and symbolism. So, the discussions are long even over short passages. Though a piece of me looks at my schedule and the number of books I had expected to cover with them this year and gets panicky, I have decided that the substance of what we are accomplishing, in terms of critical thinking skills, is more important than the quantity of literature covered and will CHILL for the time being.

 

I am adding a basic dvd drawing course to their daily routine starting Monday. We'll have some music appreciation in the summer since they aren't as inclined to become accomplished on an instrument. This is very hard for the music teacher in me to stomach with grace. Dd is a highly advanced pianist and I take great pride in it. I must allow them to be who they are and not push it. There is some hope for the younger one on the piano. The 14 year old is learning to sing bass.

 

We are probably a little light in geography. I require several years of Evan Moor Daily Geography and some Map Skills Books. I haven't pursued it further than that except for the map work that I require in history. I did purchase subscriptions to National Geographic and National Geographic Traveler this year and I carefully assign readings. Carefully! National Geographic is wonderful, but there are some occasional stories that aren't appropriate for elementary and middle age children.

 

The boys are also learning Visual Basic programming from dh. We will use some of the classes offered through MIT Opencourseware for high school electives and sciences.

 

We require an 85% on all work or it must be redone or the concepts must be covered again. The original grade, whatever it is, still stands and it is in my grade book so it's possible to earn a bad grade here. It is not possible to get a way with a low grade. We are loving and compassionate when a child doesn't get it. But, mastery is our requirement. We thought about making a 90% the bottom but realized that for one of our children, he would have an emotional meltdown from not being able to have some B's...too much pressure and we aren't looking to cause them stress. We want them to love learning as much as possible.

 

Spelling ends in 8th grade. Eldest is a reasonable speller. Next eldest and youngest are wonderful spellers. The 12 year old will always be intimately acquainted with the words, "Spell Check!"

 

So, what do you think Bill? Maybe an 8???

 

Faith

[Dolphin]

As homeschool is so personal, I did it that way. A 10 would be doing all that I want to be doing with the kiddos. I am at a 7 right now(70% of what I want to be), but it's my first year and I am still trying to figure the whole thing out.

 

That being said

a. I am doing a lot better than the local public school (I have seen what they are doing)

b. I haven't quit.

 

Nicole

[Spy Car]

 

So, what do you think Bill? Maybe an 8???

 

Faith

 

I'm not playing the "rating game", but that sounds like a 10 to me lady :D

 

Bill

[FaithManor]

Hey Bill, Thank you very much! I just put a ten in that column and now I will go shake my head at my 14 year old's logic assignment today. What he was thinking, I do not know, but this will help keep my ego in check!!LOL

 

Faith

[Tap]

For Ds16: hs'd 5th-9th.....I would say a 9 for him. The one thing lacking academically was history. We bounced around a bit, because we had planned to cement everything in highschool using Omnibus all 5 years (we started Omnibus in 8th), and then he switched to public/cc. I can confidently say a 9 because of his compass test scores into college. He is 16 and tested in to calculus (skipped over 2 classes) and freshman writing (the highest he could test into). He had 3 solid/quality years of Spanish (not Latin) and would easily Compass test into College Spanish 2.

 

His tests were taken mid-year Sophomore year at 15yo.

 

 

Unfortunately, I wish that we would have made some different choices and had a broader approach instead of soooo very focused on math/science/Spanish. (His natural interests)

 

 

 

~~~

DD12-hs'd k-5th-I would rank a 7.

 

She is strongly at grade level, but she is my art kid. She can fill a day with making a bird house, with out plans. She dreams up spaces and then creates them with boxes and garbage scraps. She has had a broader education than ds, because she likes variety. She likes to build things and is a very hands on learner. Her testing is strong. She isn't going to be an academic, although I wouldn't be surprised to see her as a Structural Engineer or Architect. She would be on the job site, taking the tools away from the workers to do it herself though. LOL

 

 

 

I averaged the two and gave us an 8.

Edited February 25, 2011 by Tap, tap, tap

[....]

I say 9. I just gave my 3rd grader the TAKS and she just missed a couple of questions.

 

I also run a very tight ship - academically speaking...

 

But, I also agree with the "Homeschooling is a lifestyle" motto. My ultimate goal isn't to create homework robots.

[Ester Maria]

Your choice, but if what I think about your home school is true, we would need an 11 :D

 

Bill

Just remember that, on that scale, 10 exists only in theory anyway for the most part. ;)

 

Our Art History professor had the motto "God knows for 10, I know for 9, the best student in the class knows for 8, so the rest of you can maybe hope for a 7". :lol:

Jokes aside, though, I really had some classes in school in which nobody got a 10 during the whole academic year (or more). I mean, the grade exists as an option and the professor may give it, but they just... don't. The equivalent of a diligent A-work is a 9, not a 10. Before the grade inflation, that is. (So I actually did give myself the highest grade ;), being reasonably proud with our strengths, but - there's always room for improvement. Especially in English.)

[Crissy]

Based on test scores? 10.

 

Based on my own feelings? 7.

 

My 6th grader hasn't started logic yet, and science often happens only once a week. History also tends to get a little spotty, and I don't ask him to write as much as I should.

 

My 11th grader hasn't been doing much afterschooling. He takes three AP classes at the high school and tutors a small handful of junior high students after school. Between his homework and the hours working with the kids, we don't have as much time.

[joannqn]

Just remember that, on that scale, 10 exists only in theory anyway for the most part. ;)

 

Our Art History professor had the motto "God knows for 10, I know for 9, the best student in the class knows for 8, so the rest of you can maybe hope for a 7". :lol:

Jokes aside, though, I really had some classes in school in which nobody got a 10 during the whole academic year (or more). I mean, the grade exists as an option and the professor may give it, but they just... don't. The equivalent of a diligent A-work is a 9, not a 10. Before the grade inflation, that is. (So I actually did give myself the highest grade ;), being reasonably proud with our strengths, but - there's always room for improvement. Especially in English.)

 

My junior year English teacher was like this. She started the year telling us that there was no such thing as 100%, and she never gave anyone a 100% grade. She wasn't really popular among the students because she was too strict. I thought she was great.

[dangermom]

I guess about a 7-8. I would like to do better, but I live in the real world, not my fantasy academic land (darn it).

[elegantlion]

I voted 7. We don't do yearly testing, but based upon our goals we're a 7 this year. Chaotic distractions have definitely factored into our lives too much. We've had a great January and February, but it hasn't made up for the fall.

 

Previous years I would rate an 8 on my scale.

[TXMary2]

Hmmm, more like an 8.5, I think. This will be my 17th year of homeschooling this fall, and we've managed to get two of my three into college with academic and performance scholarships (the youngest is 10, so it remains to be seen if he'll mess up my "batting average" ;)), so I'd say we're doing well.

 

A couple of things I have learned through the years:

 

You cannot blow off school 2-3 times per week and have your child learn all they need to learn.

 

Your academics need to be thorough and rigorous.

 

Just "living life" and being "out in the community" is NOT the same as doing your schoolwork.

 

Having your children learn things like "how to help run a family" and how to deal with a new baby is not the same as academics. Not saying those things aren't important, but I've had friends piddle through an entire year with the excuse of a new baby. I've BTDT and it's hard. But you can't let academics slide. My oldest son (now 20) had to make up A TON of work to catch up from my falling into the "less is more" trap. It wasn't fair for me to have done that to him and I sincerely regret it.

 

Please know that NONE of my comments are directed towards anybody on this board. I don't know you well enough to know what any of your school days are like. I'm just speaking generally. I guess my point is we need to expect our kids to do hard things....and schoolwork is a hard thing. Our kids deserve the chance to live up to whatever their full potential might be (and every child is different), but as home school parents....we're it. We're the ones they're counting on to provide their education. We need to make sure we're stepping up to the plate everyday.

 

And, now you've just heard the pep talk I give to myself every morning when I'd rather sit outside and read a good book instead of do 4th grade math. :lol:

:iagree:Here's me pressing the LIKE button!!!!

[FO4UR]

I give myself a solid 8.5.

 

As I type, my 3 dc are discussing whether they want to play pirates (inspired by Treasure Island), Lewis and Clark, a castle times story or Laura & Mary ...explaining to me that they are like the book "Little Women" only we have 2 boys and 1 girl in our family...I think we excel in literature and history.:lol:

[Mommyfaithe]

I voted 10...and I am moving on.....:auto:

[MariannNOVA]

Based on test scores: 10

 

Based on the level of communication and level of comfort I see my children display regarding what they 'do' and 'learn': 10

[LisaKinVA]

I gave us an "8" -- my children's test scores have nothing to do with it. Although, according to JHU and ITBS and CAT, we deserve a "10."

 

I believe education is what you make of it. Our homeschool does some things well, but isn't without fault. We definitely have room for improvement.

 

As we move forward, my younger children have benefitted from what I've learned with my older. But, we still have a long way to go for my oldest! We keep striving for that "10" though!

[LarlaB]

Hmmm, more like an 8.5, I think. This will be my 17th year of homeschooling this fall, and we've managed to get two of my three into college with academic and performance scholarships (the youngest is 10, so it remains to be seen if he'll mess up my "batting average" ;)), so I'd say we're doing well.

 

A couple of things I have learned through the years:

 

You cannot blow off school 2-3 times per week and have your child learn all they need to learn.

 

Your academics need to be thorough and rigorous.

 

Just "living life" and being "out in the community" is NOT the same as doing your schoolwork.

 

Having your children learn things like "how to help run a family" and how to deal with a new baby is not the same as academics. Not saying those things aren't important, but I've had friends piddle through an entire year with the excuse of a new baby. I've BTDT and it's hard. But you can't let academics slide. My oldest son (now 20) had to make up A TON of work to catch up from my falling into the "less is more" trap. It wasn't fair for me to have done that to him and I sincerely regret it.

 

Please know that NONE of my comments are directed towards anybody on this board. I don't know you well enough to know what any of your school days are like. I'm just speaking generally. I guess my point is we need to expect our kids to do hard things....and schoolwork is a hard thing. Our kids deserve the chance to live up to whatever their full potential might be (and every child is different), but as home school parents....we're it. We're the ones they're counting on to provide their education. We need to make sure we're stepping up to the plate everyday.

 

And, now you've just heard the pep talk I give to myself every morning when I'd rather sit outside and read a good book instead of do 4th grade math. :lol:

 

 

Wow- thank you for the encouragement & challenge.

[Farrar]

I had no idea how to respond to the poll. I take academics seriously, but if you compared us to other first graders, I'm sure that my kids would be ahead in some ways, behind in others. Many of the things I think are most important in the early years might not be classified as "academics" anyway. In general, my purpose isn't to compare my kids. That's part of why I homeschool. I'm constantly assessing what's the right level of academics to gently push on my kids to move them forward so they can meet their potential and yet also keep alive their love of learning. So in terms of the right amount of academics for my individual kids, I give us a 10. I don't want to be flip and say that's all that matters - of course it matters if my kids are light years behind other kids in their skill sets - but since they're not, then I will be flip and say that's all that really matters to me.

[JenC3]

If I'd sent dd to PS, I would have applied to a close magnet which is ranked 9. I rank us in the 8-9 category. Dd reads at 8 grade level, writes well and is staring 3rd grade grammar. She is solidly in 2nd grade math She would have only been in 1st this year so I ink we are doing well. She is the most focused and best dancer in her ballet class. The ballet mistrss marked her for company material after 2 yrs because of her ability and focus. She is pretty well rounded and I'm super proud of the heart she holds. But we've only tested reading so I can't say overall.

[Aubrey]

Personally, I always feel like it's between a 3 & a 5, but after seeing our local school--jeepers, maybe I'm alright? I mean, we're inconsistent w/ music, but we do some; we're inconsistent w/ art, but we do more than music. We do a foreign language; they don't.

 

But pure test scores? Last year, dc were in 1st & 3rd, & they both took the 3rd g state test (because that's as low as it goes, & dd wants to do what ds does). They both passed. I think dd got 90% on reading, a little lower on math. Ds got 100% on reading, a little lower on math.

 

That hardly seems fair, though, to take one (or 2) students' scores & compare them to the avg of 700, over 1/2 of whom are low-income &/or non-native speakers. I think the school had pretty awesome scores, all things considered.

 

But maybe I'm doing ok, after all, too.

[mommymilkies]

We won't be testing until about 1-2 months from now (not required in this state, just for my own knowledge). But as far as comparing to their peers, reading level, and ability, I would say 8 since we are behind in math (switching from MUS and Waldorf puts us behind in books like Saxon and Singapore). My 6 yo would rock a 10 with reading, spelling, geography, math, etc. But she's not over 3rd grade. ;)

[myfunnybunch]

Oh dear, I wasn't reading carefully. I thought 1 was high, ten low. I'd give us a 9 instead of a 1-2. That will teach me to talk on the phone and read the board at the same time.

 

And, of course, it's purely subjective. I based my opinion on test scores (very high), and what my sons are studying in comparison to our ps friends in the same grades. My boys seem to be working about 1-2 grade levels above their ps friends and also seem to be getting a broader and deeper education in their subjects.

 

Cat