How is your 8th grade like high school? How is it NOT?

[Penguin]

The recent threads about middle school joys/challenges/literature/writing have me thinking about our 8th grade. I am specifically wondering how close your 8th grade year is to high school. I know that we all have different types of students, but I am curious. Obviously, I hope that we are on track for a successful high school experience.

 

Here is how I would describe our 8th grade in terms of high school. This is for a student who is bright but not particularly accelerated.

 

Latin I: Definitely high school. This is an outsourced class.

 

Danish: Almost high school or possibly high school. Perhaps a bit light on grammar to be considered high school. I don't track the hours, but I'd say a 1/2 credit. (ETA: But if I included hours using the language far more than 1 credit)

 

Computer Science: High school level programming but not enough hours for credit. Also outsourced.

 

Math: Algebra I

 

Literature, History and Science: Some high school level materials, some solid 8th grade stuff. Input is at a higher level than the output.

 

Music and Art: Per our enjoyment and I will miss not tracking hours or output here.

 

We are still working on middle school things like spelling and penmanship.

It is a big grammar year. We skipped directly from Rod and Staff 6 to 8, and it is challenging. I would love to get this book DONE this year, but it might spill over into 9th.

 

 

BTW, I am open to critique if you think we are NOT on track for a successful high school experience :)

[Crimson Wife]

  Input is at a higher level than the output.

 

This has been the story of our homeschool all along. We're using high school or beyond level materials for everything except math (unless you consider algebra 1 to be a high school level course, which I don't for a college prep student) and history "spine" (K12 Human Odyssey Vol. 2). But I'm not requiring the level of output that I would expect to give her credit towards a college prep high school diploma.

 

If she wanted to do a vocational certificate or degree from the community college/trade school, I'd feel comfortable going back retroactively and giving her general ed high school credit for 5th & 6th and then calling this 11th. I think she's doing at least as much work now as the general ed students are at our zoned high school (but that's a pretty low bar unfortunately).

 

There are days when I wish she could swap the order of high school and work without getting stigmatized for it. If she could spent 12-16 doing some sort of real-world apprenticeship and entry-level scut job and THEN go to a high school with rigorous academics, I think she'd appreciate school more and be willing to work harder at it.

[Penguin]

(snip)

If she wanted to do a vocational certificate or degree from the community college/trade school, I'd feel comfortable going back retroactively and giving her general ed high school credit for 5th & 6th and then calling this 11th. I think she's doing at least as much work now as the general ed students are at our zoned high school (but that's a pretty low bar unfortunately).

(snip)

 

Crimson Wife, thanks for the insight into your DD's 8th grade. Obviously, we are not so advanced here.

 

I am still trying to decide how much difference there should be between 8th and 9th in our homeschool. I think that I will make another shift upward after Christmas break.

[Momling]

It sounds good to me! It seems like you're meeting your son's needs, so I wouldn't worry. If you think he's ready for a challenge, you can raise your expectations for him. But it always helps me to remember I'm teaching a student, not teaching a grade level. Grade levels are kind of arbitrary, artificial divisions created by publishers and schools to group students into ages, they're not really all that standardized and no two kids are going to get identical 8th grade educations. So whatever he needs to work on this year is appropriate 8th grade for him. And next year as a ninth grader, he'll be continuing to work on whatever he's ready to tackle and it'll be appropriate 9th grade.

 

At some point there will be an outside standard to aim towards (like AP tests) and that's a little different because you can switch your focus to completion of a syllabus and achievement on a test rather than on individual academic growth, but until then, I would just use your own son's development as your measure and not worry about what other 8th or 9th graders are doing.

[momto2Cs]

It sounds good to me! It seems like you're meeting your son's needs, so I wouldn't worry. If you think he's ready for a challenge, you can raise your expectations for him. But it always helps me to remember I'm teaching a student, not teaching a grade level. Grade levels are kind of arbitrary, artificial divisions created by publishers and schools to group students into ages, they're not really all that standardized and no two kids are going to get identical 8th grade educations. So whatever he needs to work on this year is appropriate 8th grade for him. And next year as a ninth grader, he'll be continuing to work on whatever he's ready to tackle and it'll be appropriate 9th grade.

 

At some point there will be an outside standard to aim towards (like AP tests) and that's a little different because you can switch your focus to completion of a syllabus and achievement on a test rather than on individual academic growth, but until then, I would just use your own son's development as your measure and not worry about what other 8th or 9th graders are doing.

 

This.

 

My ds is doing Algebra 1, which some consider pre high school, and others would consider a high school course. His conceptual physics studies are from a high school text book, and he reads a lot of books on a "high school" level. In contrast, his writing is much more what I would consider middle schoolish. But I have confidence that this is what is working well for him, and I can see regular progress, which is what really counts imho.