How do you know it's working?

[Slipper]

Yes, I'm the anxious type. :) I realize that I could look up our state standards, but I don't always agree with the low bar they set. I know that I've seen a book suggested on this forum - What Every 1st Grader Should Know or something like that. If I wanted to doublecheck things, would this be the book I should buy? (I will probably also do standardized testing but probably not this year. I'm still trying to figure everything out.)

 

Thanks :)

[MerryAtHope]

I like that one and also What Your Child Needs to Know When by Robin Scarlata Sampson.

 

But I more judge what's "working" by whether my child is interested and engaged, learning, and growing.

[Snowfall]

I don't know about the bar set in your particular state, but in most states the problem is not that the educational bar is set too low with regard to standards in elementary school. The bar is just fine for elementary school (and I can't comment on middle or high school, just because we haven't gotten there yet). The issue is that they rarely ever meet their own bar. :glare: So they have a lot of educationese explaining how children should know how to do X by the end of grade 2, but can most of them actually do it proficiently? Not really. I think looking at the standards is a fine way to determine what you want to aim for. I think you'll find that the standards generally tend to line up relatively well with the What Your X Grader Needs to Know books anyway. That has been my experience with those books in two different states anyway. :)