How much do you pay attention to Common Core/what schools are doing?

[EKT]

The other current posts on Common Core inspired me to ask this question.

 

I'm wondering if (like me), other homeschoolers don't bother with Common Core at all? That is, I don't particularly care or really pay attention to what my daughters *would* be doing, curriculum-wise, if they were in regular school. I can log onto my county's website and look up the public school overview by grade if I wanted to (and I did do this a couple of times when we first started out homeschooling), but mostly I've just been over here, happily doing my own classical thing in our homeschool, not catering our course of study to anyone else's agenda. (And the kids seem just fine, lol!) But then I read posts that discuss things like Common Core, and I get a little anxious about it, like, Should I know the ins and outs of Common Core?! (I currently do not.) Should I be paying attention to that stuff?! Is this something that I should be allowing to influence our studies?! 

 

So, do you just do your own thing completely, or do you, in any way, allow your homeschool to be shaped by the typical public school agenda/course of study? Why?

 

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

Edited November 19, 2015 by EKT

[MeaganS]

Not at all. I mean, I try to make sure they are at least on "grade-level" but that can vary widely depending on who is talking.  We have some curricula that says Common Core on its cover, but it had nothing to do with why I chose it.

 

Mostly I feel pretty confident at this point that I know what I'm doing and where my methods are going, at least through most of middle school. I've researched so much in the last few years that I'm sure I've done enough work to get some made up degree in homeschool education theory.

Edited November 19, 2015 by Meagan S

[regentrude]

Not at all.

I know what I want the final outcome to be and can get there. Common Core does not affect that beyond minor details of the college aptitude tests which can be fine tuned through targeted test prep shortly before.

Edited November 19, 2015 by regentrude

[amsunshine]

Not at all.  We have loosely followed TWTM all the way through, and it's really excellent, imo.  Why mess with what isn't broken?  I think it's better to focus on having my kids learn all the material they study deeply than to worry about what curriculum anyone else follows.  From testing, and such, I've learned that our kids have done very well this way.  In fact, both my dds took the common core tests last year for our charter and my older daughter scored the highest scores possible on both language arts and maths.  Younger dd's results were very close to that, as well.  

 

eta:  That is not to say that if my girls didn't do as well on the cc tests, I would be wringing my hands.  Frankly, I don't really assign much importance to a standardized test that no college cares about.  The SAT, on the other hand, that's a different story.

Edited November 19, 2015 by amsunshinetemp

[Farrar]

I do only in the sense that I was a professional educator and it's of general interest to me and probably will be long after I'm finished homeschooling because my kids are grown.

 

Whenever we think about the next step, whether that's going to high school (gosh I hope not, but one ds is thinking about it) or going to college, we'll look at what's required in terms of testing and so forth and spend what time is required to prepare for it. In that sense, I know that some tests like the SAT are being changed by CC so it may remotely affect us that way.

[MinivanMom]

I do keep up with Common Core. Not because I feel any need to follow it or compare our homeschool to public school standards, but because I am a former public school teacher. I am interested in education so I tend to follow education news, recent research, and - of course - the ongoing political drama that comes with any changes to the public school standards.

 

Even if I wasn't interested, I would find it hard to avoid the information. I have too many public school friends who like to discuss the changing standards or brag/complain about what's going on in their child's class.

[MariaT]

Nope, not at all, as Regentrude put it succinctly.

 

I can say that some of the families in our local group who have children much younger than mine are very concerned about it, mostly because they plan on putting their kids back in school at some point.

 

We knew when we started we were going to go all the way through high school with all three kids. I really believe our complete commitment gave us a sense of serenity in which our energy could be directed toward our children and our family.

[mamiof5]

We completely do our own thing. The kids do attend a once a week public school for homeschoolers (not much common core there since they mostly get extracurriculars...), but we do have them take standardized tests at the end of the school year, not because we care about the system, but we do find important to acquire test taking skills, and it's nice to see how they score compared to other students in their level.

[Ellie]

Not one iota.

[idnib]

I mostly follow the info in the "general citizen" sense. I have reviewed some of the materials  because I was tutoring an elementary kid for the last 2 last years and he needed to learn it a certain way. 

 

Absolutely none of it applies to our homeschool.

[Roadrunner]

I keep up with what our local district is doing just in case my kids decide to head back. It doesn't change what we do at home. I just keep an eye on it.

Edited November 20, 2015 by Roadrunner

[momacacia]

I check in once in a while--but with private schools that have curriculums/standards that I have more respect for.

[abba12]

I keep an eye on what is being done, so that I am aware if, say, the kids go into a test or competition or do a class with someone else, I have some idea of what to expect and whether there are any gaps to fill. If most public schoolers are doing science reports in 4th grade and a homeschooled 7th grader has never done one before, they might want to think twice before enrolling him in a science fair competition, or at least do some practice with that 'gap', for example. 

 

But the schools are definitely not my standard. A vague familiarity where practical might be helpful from a social/future education perspective, but definitely not required. 

Edited November 20, 2015 by abba12

[HomeAgain]

I check in once in a while--but with private schools that have curriculums/standards that I have more respect for.

 

This.  I have no use for what my public schools say my child should be learning.  They're often wrong. LOL  I do keep the World Book standards on my computer for a quick skills perusal every once in a while, but they are very basic, and often not what the schools are doing anyway.

 

I do find it amusing when "new" common core methods of teaching are shared and I'm like yeah...we did that YEARS ago!

[daijobu]

Nope.  The private schools probably don't care, so why should I?

 

And how long do we expect this education fad to last?  If a president from a different party is elected, will CC last much longer?  

[Syllieann]

I pay attention it, and it's considered in some of my choices. I don't want something that is so radically different that they'd be clueless if something happened to require enrolling them in public school. They're working ahead of grade so I think we'd meet the standards without an aligned curriculum. I don't really find any fault with the standards the way other people do, except perhaps that writing them doesn't mean students will meet them. The underlying problems with our system are still the same. In my state, it's a huge improvement over what we had.

[carriede]

I don't keep up with CC specifically, but I do check the GA state standards when I need a reality check.

 

The typical result is that DS is overwhelming ahead in some comparable standards, and woefully behind in others.

 

For example, the FLL/WWE track does NOT fit well in the early elementary LA standards. He would test WAY behind because he's not used to doing a lot of writing. But I trust this curriculum's premise and know that he'll excel (according to the standards) as he gets older.

 

But I do not avoid CC curricula. I don't judge a book by its cover, but rather it's table of contents. ;) Math Mammoth is CC aligned, and I don't really care one way or the other.

[redsquirrel]

Well, I don't pay attention in my day to day, but I don't avoid common core either.  I am using BA for math and that is CC aligned. I don't really care either way. 

 

There are some larger goals of CC that I do try to integrate, only because I do plan to send my 5th grader to public high school.  However, I don't see anything wrong with those end goals, so it's not exactly a problem for me.  For example, I know that students are expected to be able to pull specifics from a text to support a statement and be comfortable reading and making graphs for math and science. Well, I don't really have an argument with that and if I had thought about it would have wanted them to have that skill anyway. I'm certainly not going to avoid it just because it is also a CC goal. It is also a skill for standardized tests, something for which I don't mind doing a minor amount of prepping.

 

So, once a week we do Science Detective and in the middle grades we also do Reading Detective.  Not a big deal. There are other things we do that address those issues as well of course. WWS addresses it b/c it is a part of writing and can't really be avoided.  Math, science and logic all utilize the making and writing of graphs. Both the using specifics in writing and the using graphs is being hammered in my older boy's AP class, so I am glad it is something he feels comfortable with.

 

Does that count as 'paying attention' to CC, lol.

[idnib]

For example, the FLL/WWE track does NOT fit well in the early elementary LA standards. He would test WAY behind because he's not used to doing a lot of writing. But I trust this curriculum's premise and know that he'll excel (according to the standards) as he gets older.

 

I agree. Last year I had my DS evaluated by a neuropsychologist and she was surprised he couldn't churn out a few pages of writing. I actually gave her a printout of SWB's explanation of how the entire program works and she included it in her write-up. She found it fascinating and wanted more information to refer other kids.

 

Shortly after that we started WWS1 and he's been writing longer pieces and is now "catching up" with his schooled peers.

Edited November 20, 2015 by idnib

[ScoutTN]

zero

[happypamama]

I don't pay attention to Common Core at all.  I couldn't even tell you what the CC standards are for my children's ages.

 

Thus far, we have been able to use the 1970 CAT for our standardized testing, and it's not normed to CC.  My children have always scored well on it, so I see no reason to change.  Should we ever be required to pick a test that is normed to CC, I will probably spend a small amount of time making sure they understand any topics or questions that might be asked.

 

I don't let CC or public school standards affect how I teach my children at all in elementary and middle school.  I go by what's appropriate for our children and our family.  My oldest is only in eighth grade so far, but for high school, I need to meet state requirements for a diploma.  There's a lot of variation in there, though, and plenty of room for personal interests.  I expect that they will have typical math and science classes, but for instance, some of mine might have a dedicated US history course and others might not, depending on their interests and college plans.  But CC?  Shouldn't matter.

 

[Laura Corin]

I kept an eye on local standards for English and maths, just in case some disaster happened and my children had to go into school.  I felt that this was a necessary safety net.  As it was, my eldest had coordination difficulties, so for a long time his writing would not have been adequate for a school classroom.  In that case, I just had to hope that he would get the help he needed if the time came.

 

When it became clear that they would be going to school within a year or two, I edged towards the school standards of the system that they would be entering.  This was particularly important for English, maths and foreign languages.  Everything else (they entered school at 10 and 13) they picked up pretty fast.

Edited November 22, 2015 by Laura Corin

[Desert Strawberry]

Pretty much zero. It's not relevant to us. 

D did ask that I familiarize myself with state standards, just to be sure that everything is covered in my plan somewhere. I have a lot of teacher family members and I was caught unaware when I was asked about specific comparisons. I haven't given that much thought to the differences because I'm not really concerned with what kids are learning in public school.

[wapiti]

IMO it shouldn't matter to homeschoolers at all with the exception of test prep for the SAT/ACT that should be done anyway.

 

However, if the student goes from homeschooling to attending a CC school around the middle school level, there may be a math placement wrinkle.  There seems to have been a bit of mixing up of standards in the middle grades and the moving down of what were standard algebra topics to prealgebra/CC8.  The result is that it may be more difficult for students to place out of prealgebra/CC8 or possibly even some of the earlier grades around CC6 or 7, depending on what sequence they're coming from.  I haven't looked closely at the standards recently but with the prospect of placement tests, CC makes it more difficult to place out of prealgebra for a student coming from a more traditional prealgebra sequence due to the addition of topics like graphing linear equations (including slope and finding the equation of a line given two points) and systems of equations that the student may not have seen yet, not to mention dilating and reflecting geometric shapes in the coordinate plane.

 

Eta, poking around on the internet this morning, it looks to me as though the first half of what was covered in the old standard sequence for algebra 1 is in CC8.  It makes me wonder what extra is covered in CC algebra 1 that the second half of the old standard sequence needs to be stretched out a year.  It's as though old standard algebra 1 is now broken up into two years under CC, just starting in 8th.  Food for thought.

 

CC algebra 1 includes finding standard deviation.  I'm starting to get an idea of how much the addition of statistics topics eats up class time.

Edited November 24, 2015 by wapiti

[MarkT]

IMO it shouldn't matter to homeschoolers at all with the exception of test prep for the SAT/ACT that should be done anyway.

 

However, if the student goes from homeschooling to attending a CC school around the middle school level, there may be a math placement wrinkle.  We may be in a similar situation to that as we are considering switching midyear from a non-CC school to a CC school (our district has formally repudiated the CC; some district charters follow CC and others do not).  There seems to have been a bit of mixing up of standards in the middle grades and the moving down of what were standard algebra topics to prealgebra/CC8.  The result is that it may be more difficult for students to place out of prealgebra/CC8 or possibly even some of the earlier grades around CC6 or 7, depending on what sequence they're coming from.  I haven't looked closely at the standards recently but with the prospect of placement tests, CC makes it more difficult to place out of prealgebra for a student coming from a more traditional prealgebra sequence due to the addition of topics like graphing linear equations (including slope and finding the equation of a line given two points) and systems of equations that the student may not have seen yet, not to mention dilating and reflecting geometric shapes in the coordinate plane.

 

I need to get a handle on this in short order but I'm procrastinating.  If we make the switch, in January, ideally one of my kids should place out of algebra 1 and halfway into geometry and the other out of prealgebra and halfway into algebra 1; it's the latter that is more concerning.  I'm trying to find out where the algebra 1 class is.  It's not clear to me what would happen if he placed out of prealgebra (his current slow-moving non-CC algebra 1 class just finished systems of equations) but didn't place far enough into algebra 1 to pick up with the class at the new school.  In any event, we are left with a lot of math to do over the holidays.

 

Eta, poking around on the internet this morning, it looks to me as though the first half of what was covered in the old standard sequence for algebra 1 is in CC8.  It makes me wonder what extra is covered in CC algebra 1 that the second half of the old standard sequence needs to be stretched out a year.  It's as though old standard algebra 1 is now broken up into two years under CC, just starting in 8th.  Food for thought.

 

In any event, I'm not above getting a few test prep books if I can find any that seem useful for placement test purposes.  Because I really need more math books, yeah.

 

Eta, CC algebra 1 includes finding standard deviation.  I'm starting to get an idea of how much the addition of statistics topics eats up class time.

Yes many "traditional" Algebra 1 topics moved to prealgebra/CC8.  Look up Eureka Math for Grades 8 and 9 to get a feel.  In general, they go in a little deeper for some algebra1/CC9 topics plus Prob and Stats which sometimes is not covered in some "traditional" Algebra 1 courses.

Eureka Math:

http://greatminds.net/maps/math/grade-8/

http://greatminds.net/maps/math/grade-9/

Edited November 22, 2015 by MarkT

[purplejackmama]

None.

[JennyD]

 

I pay some attention to what is expected in terms of writing output, especially since my kids will have to take state tests at a few points.   Specifically, every now and then I look at examples of top-scoring exams on the state writing test.  

 

I also periodically check out private school reading lists and curricula.  

[MrsWeasley]

I guess I'll admit to being in the minority. I do look every year at the local public school and see what they cover. Their standards don't dictate but do influence what we do at home. An easy as possible integration into the local public school if need arises definitely rates in my priority list.

[BooksandBoys]

I pay close attention to CC and other standards, including Core Knowledge and World Book. I'm very interested in education, and I also like to know exactly how my children relate to the standards. I do not adjust my education based on these standards, but I do like to know where we meet, exceed, or fall short of standards so that I have a ready answer if questioned (by "concerned" family, etc). This is particularly relevant regarding writing. I don't agree with the writing standards being forced on young kids, so I want to be able to succinctly explain why we do what we do abs how it is different than the standards.

[IsabelC]

CC isn't applicable here. As a general rule, I don't pay too much attention to what the kids would be doing if they were at school. That is because I have read the official curriculum guidelines (for the most part pretty impressive-sounding), and I have seen what students at our local school actually get up to (quite a bit less impressive), and there isn't all that much resemblance between the two. And also because I have tried my children at school, it was spectacularly unsuccessful, and I have good reason to conclude that their current home learning program is more effective in meeting our family education goals. (I do happen to have bought the same 7th grade math text that some of the schools use for my son, but the use by schools isn't why I chose it.)

Edited November 23, 2015 by IsabelC

[Reefgazer]

Common Core and public schools timelines/methods are not on my radar at all; they haven't been since we left public school 3 years ago.

[madteaparty]

I'm supportive of the common core but don't keep up with it. I do admit to flipping through the textbook when i see one being used just to have a clue.

But my DS is going to a brick and mortar high school, and for some selective ones the criteria is state tests results (by state--common core). Our district offers us the opportunity to take the common core state test each year, and so far we've declined it. if DS was going to apply to that school or similar, I'd have to pay closer attention.

[MerryAtHope]

When making decisions about what to teach, I don't look at the standards, what local schools are doing, or whether homeschool curriculum is CC aligned or not aligned. I've thought through my goals and look for curriculum that will take me from point A to point B each year, considering my student's strengths, weaknesses, and interests along with my teaching strengths and weaknesses. I look for materials to help me teach successfully and meet our goals. If I see a gap in something on a standardized test, I consider whether that's something I think should be covered now (did I miss it/curriculum miss it, or is it something that's coming up--the scope/sequence just varies?) and so on. 

 

I really didn't look at what our local schools covered until high school (for transcript purposes)--and even then I consulted many other resources (college requirements, various 4-year planning suggestions from homeschool boards and from companies). Nation-wide, less than 25% of kids who take the ACT are "college-ready" in all four subject areas. That doesn't give me compelling reasons to follow PS trends in how I teach (but I do see value in talking with teachers who do a great job and finding out what they do, assessing whether that's something I want to do, etc...). 

Edited November 24, 2015 by MerryAtHope

[fourisenough]

I definitely keep track of what kids are learning in local schools (we are in a common core state). It doesn't define what/how we learn at home, but it would seem foolhardy to operate in a vacuum. At some point (whether during k-12 or at the college level), most of our children will enter the educational mainstream, right? To not have any clue what is being learned there seems like the equivalent of a business person having no idea what others in her/his industry are doing/making/selling. How can you know if what you are doing is competitive? Priced right? Marketed well? Is of high quality? Again, you can certainly choose to follow your own path, but knowledge is power. I feel like it's my business to know what's happening in the education world, even if I consciously depart from it.

[J&JMom]

I keep tabs on what the public schools are doing in my district. I check out the web pages, teacher websites, and textbook/reading lists for inspiration.  We do plan to return to public school for high school, and I believe it is important to appreciate where their cohort has been as well as where they are going. I even print off released STAAR tests and make my kids take them (and pass them)! I have deviated from their path and/or tweaked it to my benefit, but the vast majority of my curriculum and course plan is from the public school market.  I find a lot of 'homeschool' curriculum tedious and inappropriate (read young earth and/or too Catholic/Christian/Classical/insert other option here) for my tastes. In fact, I run my homeschool like a school (think school at home) which separates me from almost the entire homeschool community. But that's the beauty of homeschool - it can be anything and everything your family needs it to be. And God bless Texas, lol. 

[SporkUK]

I used to pay a lot of attention to the National Curriculum and what they would be doing because as an immigrant in a new system that wa different to what I was raised in, I wanted to understand that and where they needed to be for the GCSEs they will take with their school going classmates.

 

Eventually, I found it too draining and not a good way to spend time - in the seven years my eldest has been officially HEing, I think there has been a major change on average every other year that I would wind myself up about understanding indepth to make sure everything was fine. Instead, I copied the list of KS3 [Year 7-9] objectives for English, Maths, and Sciences that I'll use over the next few years as a guide and found a place that sell study guides (and updates them with each change) for KS3 to schools and parents that we'll use in Year 9 to prepare for UTC and GCSE study in Year 10. That's as far as I want to pay attention to it right now.