Subject you decide to introduce later - how do you handle state regulations?

[rafiki]

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[Mrs Mungo]

I've never lived in a state that required me to teach a particular subject at a particular age. When we lived in NC and I had to test yearly there were definitely things my kids missed on the test (for example only having studied certain areas in science meant they got 100% on things we had studied but it was hit and miss on things we hadn't studied) due to the plan we follow. However, I was aware that they hadn't studied certain areas and so I didn't sweat it. The state can't refuse my right to homeschool just because I didn't teach earth science in first grade.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

I do think it would vary by state. In VA, the standards only apply to math and LA. Since grammar falls under LA, I don't think I would be comfortable waiting until 6th grade for that particular subject. You could just informally teach the basic parts of speech and some capitalization and punctuation on your own or cover JAG now and then start AG in 6th.

 

HTH

[Ellie]

Most states do not specify what must be taught each year, or how in-depth anything must be taught. Not all states which require testing also require students to test at a specific percentile in all subtests; IOW, it's a composite score for the whole test.

 

Specifically, what does *your* state require? You might be more concerned and detail oriented than you need to be.

[Excelsior! Academy]

Our state requires citizenship, state history, and other subjects. While we have no reporting process or even testing I make sure these things are touched on every year. We will do a year where we will intensely study our state's history, but right now I'm satisfied with a couple of field trips with documentation. I meet the requirement by taking them to the state's capital and viewing a couple local historical museums. They will keep soveniers like a thank you note from a state representative or an essay they wrote about their day. If you did something like this in your required subject it would take you a day or two tops, yet you could still show proof that you met your requirements until you decided to cover it further. Just a thought.

[Mommyfaithe]

I live in a state where we are required to teach all subjects from grade 1-12, report and test. What I do when I want to delay a subject that is required is try to incorporate it into other subjects gently and naturally. In the case of grammer, I incorporate it into our spelling lessons...these are all nouns, these are all verbs...etc or copywork..circle the subject of each sentence....LOOK!!! there are four commas in this sentence...why do you think we need them?? Look honey...put your ending punctuation inside the quotation marks. You can teach grammar during phonics, reading, history (proper nouns are capitalized....look sweetie, Captain Hook is a proper noun phrase....we capitaize both words.

 

If I choose to delay math...I try to incorporate it into play time, lunch time (halves, fourths... 2 cups and 2 cups are four cups...count out how many plates we need...divide this recipe in half.)

 

Anyway, you get the picture. It is not difficult to bring learning into every facet of our lives, and I often find it quite difficult to break things down into nice neat subjects...Then again my dh always says my file drawers are always open and spilling all over the place...

Good luck,

Faithe