Newer Homeschoolers - Advice on not following state standards

[ifsogirl73]

We are first year homeschoolers finishing up our year in the next couple of months and I need some advice about following state standards.

We are following the WTM for the most part using Memoria Press and mostly Neo-Classical curricula. We are using Bookshark for American History (9th grade) and Science (5th grade) for next year because I like the teacher guides and that it is literature intensive. When we started our homeschool journey, we decided that we would not be returning to school after Covid after last spring and the virtual learning model our district used. So I researched a lot and decided that we would not follow the state standards but rather follow WTM along with anything else we like for the remaining years of school learning along the way. But, I do go back and forth when I'm researching curricula. We're secular homeschoolers so I broaden my topic searches quite a bit and I do get doubts when I see other moms talk about this or that grade and this curriculum covers these or those standards. On the flip side, I agree more with the moms that do not care about standards at all and are on their merry way to covering whatever they want in a lot of interesting ways.

How did you overcome this feeling of doubt? Homeschooling has been a blessing to us and we have not doubt it is what we want to continue doing. If you have any advice on how to just let it play out or address it, I appreciate it!

[Lori D.]

Welcome to homeschooling and to the WTM boards! 😄

There are 2 possible concerns you raise here, and the short answer to both is: that whatever materials you choose to use is not a problem. 😉 


1. Do homeschoolers have to follow state statute requirements for homeschooling?
Yes, to be legal, yes you do. This means that if your state statues require you to:
- teach certain subjects (such as Math, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, etc.)
- school for a certain number of hours or days per year (ex: 900 hours/year, or 180 days/year)
- do annual standardized testing 
- turn in a portfolio for review that shows progress
... then yes, you do need to do these things. However: what materials you choose to use (i.e., Bookshark, Memoria Press, etc.) to comply with state statutes (e.g., to teach the required subjects or to submit as part of a required portfolio) will not matter.


2. Do homeschoolers have to follow public school educational standards, such as "common core" or other, that are required by the state board of education?
No, you don't. If your student needs to return to a brick & mortar school at a later date, the K-8 grades may require a standardized test score or may require your student to take a placement test to verify what grade the student should be placed in, but there is no "box checking" about whether or not you used materials that fit the school system's particular set of educational standards for the curricula that the school uses. So what materials you used will not matter.

The only potential concern may be that if your high school aged student returns at some point to the high school system, you may want to be roughly completing the number and types of CREDITS that the school requires for graduation (i.e.: 4 credits of English, 4 credits of Math, etc.). So if the high school requires 0.5 credit of Health, and that's not something you're planning on, it just may be an extra class the student has to work into their schedule to be sure to complete if the student returns to the brick & mortar high school. What materials you used will not matter.

On a side note: quite often, deciding to homeschool high school is an all-or-nothing proposition, as many high school systems do NOT accept homeschool credits no matter what curricula you used, or how advanced the student is. Some high schools will only accept homeschool credits if the student takes the end-of-year exam for each course that the student wants to have the credit transfer to the school's transcript -- again, regardless of what curricula was used or how advanced the student is. And some high schools do accept homeschool credits without any additional hoop-jumping other than a transcript from the parent and possibly some examples of the student's work -- again, regardless of what curricula was used.


And as a further side note: colleges do NOT care what curricula students used in high school, or if the high schools used specific standards or not. High schools vary so widely in what "honors" looks like, and colleges accept students from all across the country (and internationally), so there is really no ability to compare "educational standards" or worry about that. So, colleges don't. 😉 

Edited April 6, 2021 by Lori D.

[Lori D.]

1 hour ago, ifsogirl73 said:

... I do get doubts when I see other moms talk about this or that grade and this curriculum covers these or those standards. On the flip side, I agree more with the moms that do not care about standards at all and are on their merry way to covering whatever they want in a lot of interesting ways...

Also: there will ALWAYS be "gaps," because no one can know everything. 😉 As a homeschooler, you get to choose where those "gaps" happen.

By including your students' interests as part of your homeschooling, and by choosing material that is more engaging, your students are more likely to go deeper and broader in their learning than students following public school standards.

If feeling very worried, you can always print off a list of topics covered for the next few grades for your student, and if there is something there that is NOT in the Neo-classical materials that you are currently using BUT that IS of high interest to your student, then make room in your schedule for independent exploration. The student gets to learn about the topic of high interest, and is doing so excitedly and independently, and you are covering an extra topic in your schooling. win-win-win! 😉

Edited April 5, 2021 by Lori D.

[HomeAgain]

I don't know if there is a magic answer.

You know what's funny about the standards, though?  They are a list of what must be taught, not what must be learned.  I mean, it would be interesting to base standards on what must be retained from each grade to count as mastery.
Anyway, neither here nor there, right?  I think for me, I can use the standards to see what teachers are doing in the same grade so that I know enough to be concerned, especially if there's an undiagnosed learning problem that, I as a parent, am maybe not as aware of as I might have been without that information.  But, it also lets me focus on teaching to mastery.  When my youngest was starting K, I made a spreadsheet of the first 5 grades' standards in each subject.  As he mastered things, I put an x on my spreadsheet, coloring the X's to denote the grade he mastered them in.  He was ALL OVER THE PLACE.  It was crazy!  But so were some of the standards, which made me really appreciate that they were only the list of things being taught, not what he should have absolutely mastered at each level.

[Lori D.]

4 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

... They are a list of what must be taught, not what must be learned. 

... I can use the standards to see what teachers are doing in the same grade so that I know enough to be concerned, especially if there's an undiagnosed learning problem...

...I made a spreadsheet of the first 5 grades' standards in each subject...

Nice distinction! 😄 

I used standardized testing in the mid/late elementary grades in a similar "are we on track" way. 😉

Also for the elementary grades, I printed off the World Book typical course of study list of topics (these have now been turned into educator-ese, so much less useful), and had the Core Knowledge series of books of What Your ___ Grader Needs to Know.  All together, these resources helped me in my first 4 years of homeschooling (with young elementary grades) to gain confidence that we were covering the topics we needed to, and were addressing LDs (DS#2) as we discovered them. 

[kirstenhill]

11 minutes ago, Lori D. said:

I used standardized testing in the mid/late elementary grades in a similar "are we on track" way. 😉

 

This! We are required to test annually as per our state regulations, but they are a nice "check" on how your child's learning compares to other students.  This can be a good way to put your mind at ease that even though you may not use curricula that "follows state standards" your child still can measure up well against other students of grade level.  Or it can help spot any glaring weaknesses.  For example it was a nice way to confirm my suspicion that my oldest was a really bad speller when she was in 2nd grade - her standardized test scores for a spelling subtest came back at a very low percentile.  This wasn't just my imagination! I was planning on addressing this anyway, but it made me feel better about spending what to me was a lot of money at the time to buy a curriculum I thought would help us.

Another thing to keep in mind is that state standards ensure certain details get covered (in classrooms) somewhere along the way - details you will almost certainly cover in the course of either the curriculum you choose or in the course of daily life.  I'm sure our state standards state that use of an index and table of contents in a book should be covered in x grade for Language Arts standards.  I've talked about that with all my kids in the course of reading books together.  My 3rd grader was curious about the index of a book the other day (he's dyslexic and is new to really being able to do a significant amount of reading), so we talked about how to use it.   We didn't need a curriculum or worksheet to practice this, but students in school probably do since other wise all students wouldn't have an experience of having it explained to them.

Edited April 5, 2021 by kirstenhill

[Miss Tick]

As a functioning adult in today's society I feel empowered to make some decisions about what things have been useful in my life, and that guides some of my teaching decisions. For instance, I love to read, but as an adult I have never needed to write anything more creative than a letter, so creative writing is not a priority in our school day. That said, my dd has decided that she wants to take creative writing as a high school elective next year. She will rock it because she has already learned grammar, spelling, sentence structure, paragraph construction, and all the basics of good writing, even though creative writing has never been my thing. Similarly, as an adult, I have really valued my basic functionality in foreign languages, so we have spent time on that starting in kindergarten. 

The public schools need standards to ensure that all the teachers cover all the little things that their state has decided are important. They have to be able to accommodate students and teachers with a wide variety of backgrounds, home situations, and abilities. We, on the other hand, know our strengths and limitations and can see them in our dc. It is a different situation. All the children who move from one state to another flow from one set of standards to another, and teachers patch holes as the come across them. Think of yourselves as a teeny tiny, very exclusive boarding school with it's own set of priorities and standards. You can always peek at what your neighbors are studying, but you don't have to try to replicate their approach.

Sometimes we miss things! However, it is pretty quick teaching a 4th grader the proper order of the months. 🤭

[8filltheheart]

I'm someone who says they ignore state standards, but I also know that what we do in our homeschool equips our kids with skills that exceeds anything they would learn in a public school by high school graduation.  I qualify it that way bc I teach my children differently and what looks like it might be behind ps methodologies (thinking about the reams of writing ps's expect little kids to produce) actually prepares them to write at an advanced level by graduation.  (My kids don't learn 5 paragraph essays, etc.  They learn how to analyze, research, and write a supported thesis, not a formula, etc.) 

Content-wise, our focus may be different.  We don't do X history and Y science in Z grade.  We study what we want, how we want, when we want.  I don't think in terms of grade levels when approaching skills.  So if I have a 5th grader ready for prealg, we do prealg.  If I have a 3rd grader reading at a 2nd grade level, we focus on reading at a 2nd grade level.  Meeting their needs where they are is our priority, so if that doesn't match up with state standards, my reaction is a shrug of my shoulders.  BUT, and this is the huge caveat, I am confident in what I am doing and know what needs to be taught.   That is not something everyone feels comfortable assuming complete control over.

[Xahm]

I like what others have said, so I won't say too much. I just am popping in to say that, since you said you are a secular homeschooler, you may want to look carefully at the Bookshark science. From what I understand, it's more "neutral" than "secular," which generally means it omits information about evolution/age of the earth. Depending on the science being covered, that could be a glaring omission or not. I'm just relaying what I've heard, so if anyone has any first hand knowledge, please listen to them rather than me on this!

[ifsogirl73]

3 hours ago, Lori D. said:

Welcome to homeschooling and to the WTM boards! 😄

There are 2 possible concerns you raise here, and the short answer to both is: that whatever materials you choose to use is not a problem. 😉 


1. Do homeschoolers have to follow state statute requirements for homeschooling?
Yes, to be legal, yes you do. This means that if your state statues require you to:
- teach certain subjects (such as Math, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, etc.)
- school for a certain number of hours or days per year (ex: 900 hours/year, or 180 days/year)
- do annual standardized testing 
- turn in a portfolio for review that shows progress
... then yes, you do need to do these things. However: what materials you choose to use (i.e., Bookshark, Memoria Press, etc.) to comply with state statutes (e.g., to teach the required subjects or to submit as part of a required portfolio) will not matter.


2. Do homeschoolers have to follow public school educational standards, such as "common core" or other, that are required by the state board of education?
No, you don't. If your student needs to return to a brick & mortar school at a later date, the K-8 grades may require a standardized test score or may require your student to take a placement test to verify what grade the student should be placed in, but there is no "box checking" about whether or not you used materials that fit the school system's particular set of educational standards for the curricula that the school uses. So what materials you used will not matter.

The only potential concern may be that if your high school aged student returns at some point to the high school system, you may want to be roughly completing the number and types of CREDITS that the school requires for graduation (i.e.: 4 credits of English, 4 credits of Math, etc.). So if the high school requires 0.5 credit of Health, and that's not something you're planning on, it just may be an extra class the student has to work into their schedule to be sure to complete if the student returns to the brick & mortar high school. What materials you used will not matter.

On a side note: quite often, deciding to homeschool high school is an all-or-nothing proposition, as many high school systems do NOT accept homeschool credits no matter what curricula you used, or how advanced the student is. Some high schools will only accept homeschool credits if the student takes the end-of-year exam for each course that the student wants to have the credit transfer to the school's transcript -- again, regardless of what curricula was used or how advanced the student is. And some high schools do accept homeschool credits without any additional hoop-jumping other than a transcript from the parent and possibly some examples of the student's work -- again, regardless of what curricula was used.


And as a further side note: colleges do NOT care what curricula students used in high school, or if the high schools used specific standards or not. High schools vary so widely in what "honors" looks like, and colleges accept students from all across the country (and internationally), so there is really no ability to compare "educational standards" or worry about that. So, colleges don't. 😉 

Thank you - this makes me happy because I understand each point you're making and have a plan. On board with the subjects I have to teach but without using common care. Also fully understand that we may not be able to transfer high school which we're OK with because we don't plan to have her go back to public school. We gave this a lot of thought because of this reason and also plan to go the dual enrollment path during 11th or 12th grade. 

I appreciate all this info!

[ifsogirl73]

2 hours ago, Lori D. said:

Nice distinction! 😄 

I used standardized testing in the mid/late elementary grades in a similar "are we on track" way. 😉

Also for the elementary grades, I printed off the World Book typical course of study list of topics (these have now been turned into educator-ese, so much less useful), and had the Core Knowledge series of books of What Your ___ Grader Needs to Know.  All together, these resources helped me in my first 4 years of homeschooling (with young elementary grades) to gain confidence that we were covering the topics we needed to, and were addressing LDs (DS#2) as we discovered them. 

I also have the What Your xx Grader needs to know but it was a little overwhelming diving into curriculum that I loved but I didn't want to make myself crazy with each single thing. I may make a simple list to check off but not focus on it too much and give it a review every couple of months to  see where we are. I'm in CA and it does not require testing so I'm OK not testing but I do want to feel comfortable knowing where we are.

[ifsogirl73]

2 hours ago, kirstenhill said:

This! We are required to test annually as per our state regulations, but they are a nice "check" on how your child's learning compares to other students.  This can be a good way to put your mind at ease that even though you may not use curricula that "follows state standards" your child still can measure up well against other students of grade level.  Or it can help spot any glaring weaknesses.  For example it was a nice way to confirm my suspicion that my oldest was a really bad speller when she was in 2nd grade - her standardized test scores for a spelling subtest came back at a very low percentile.  This wasn't just my imagination! I was planning on addressing this anyway, but it made me feel better about spending what to me was a lot of money at the time to buy a curriculum I thought would help us.
 

Yes! This hadn't occurred to me but it would be important to find this out and react. Thank you for mentioning! 

[ifsogirl73]

2 hours ago, 8filltheheart said:

Content-wise, our focus may be different.  We don't do X history and Y science in Z grade.  We study what we want, how we want, when we want.  I don't think in terms of grade levels when approaching skills.  So if I have a 5th grader ready for prealg, we do prealg.  If I have a 3rd grader reading at a 2nd grade level, we focus on reading at a 2nd grade level.  Meeting their needs where they are is our priority, so if that doesn't match up with state standards, my reaction is a shrug of my shoulders.  BUT, and this is the huge caveat, I am confident in what I am doing and know what needs to be taught.   That is not something everyone feels comfortable assuming complete control over.

This is the way I feel comfortable going so it really helps to hear it. I have a little OCD so when I dive into something, I really dive into it. Although I feel a bit hesitant on some aspects, what I have decided feels pretty solid.

[ifsogirl73]

21 minutes ago, Xahm said:

I like what others have said, so I won't say too much. I just am popping in to say that, since you said you are a secular homeschooler, you may want to look carefully at the Bookshark science. From what I understand, it's more "neutral" than "secular," which generally means it omits information about evolution/age of the earth. Depending on the science being covered, that could be a glaring omission or not. I'm just relaying what I've heard, so if anyone has any first hand knowledge, please listen to them rather than me on this!

Thank you for the heads up. I did see this a bit but then chose a level for fifth grade that covers Health and Human Anatomy and reviewed all the books. I don't think there's anything that is opposed to my views as I have no problem with other views or explaining them but would be more concerned along the lines of omissions. So being careful but so far so good.

[ifsogirl73]

Thank you all for your advice and comments. I'm so relieved to have found this forum where there is so much help for new homeschoolers. I see a lot of the moms on Youtube and blogs say how great it is now that there are a ton of resources and feel so lucky this is when we started to homeschool. It's funny because my 13 year old insisted for a few months in 5th grade that I homeschool her and I told her it wasn't possible with me working full time and three kiddos. Well, two years later and here I am, homeschooling her and my 10 year old twin boys. Left behind volunteering all I could at multiple classes and being part of the school Foundation and redirecting all of my energy to making their education the best we can with the tools we have. And haven't regretted it for a minute! 

[PeterPan]

https://www.teachercreated.com/standards/checklists/TCR CCSS Checklist Grade 8.pdf I use the files from TeacherCreated when drafting goals for my ds' IEP. We homeschool, but he has an IEP. I'm sure CC does have goals for social studies, but they aren't on these pages and aren't something we'd make goals for as they don't matter. I think for science and social studies, do what you want, mercy. But for ELA and math, obviously having some structure and vision is good.

Some kids do these things naturally btw, so it doesn't have to be such a big production. You might find you're hitting some of the goals with activities or competitions too. For instance, ELA-Literacy.SL.8.5 says to integrate multimedia. Well we did that with National History Day one year. It doesn't mean you change your curriculum but maybe you have vision for how you're implementing it and the developmental steps you want to see happening. I don't find it so contradictory with WTM in that sense. Now the way they're implemented can be, but the idea of having a coherent plan that takes small steps and builds skills each year is very WTM. To me the CC/ps is finally catching up, lol.

 

[Emily ZL]

I never did it again, but my first year homeschooling, I did make a list of my state's topics for science to make sure my oldest was "keeping up." And it's hilarious now, but I just checked a couple extra books out of the library for the "gaps" (like we weren't otherwise doing the rock cycle but there were tons of library books on it). That did help me feel better. 

I really don't like to look at lists like "what your x grader should know" or what Charlotte Mason said all kids should be able to do. They stress me out! We place a premium on Latin and Greek and I doubt those would even show up in the lists, but we spend a lot of time on them. I do know it's a trade off. Can't have everything! But then, the homeschooling lifestyle means you can just surround yourself with books, so even in the summer, a trip to the library means your kids are learning. 

[Lori D.]

And really, state standards list (or What your ___ Grader lists, or World Book course of study lists, etc.) of topics to cover in certain grades are probably more helpful in the elementary grades, to make sure you're covering all those "oddball" topics, such as the order of the months of the year, how to alphabetize, how to interpret charts and maps, safety topics, etc.

The original poster's (OP) children are grades 5 and 9, so mostly beyond those kinds of topics, so less of a need for state standards or other lists of topics.

By high school, the emphasis switches from "standards" to "completing credits" -- and if you're using typical high school level material, then you're simultaneously completing the topics that might show up in a "standards" list while completing the credit.

For grade 5, most students are fully on track with all the foundational skills and are just continuing to move forward in the core subjects (math & LA), and branching out and exploring in the content areas (Science and Social Studies areas), and enjoying units on topics of high interest -- for example: state history, elections, equine science, rocketry, coding, baking, etc. etc.

About the only other skills I can think of that are typically started in 5th/6th grade are typing/keyboarding, basic computer skills, and health with a special focus on changing/developing body topics.

Edited April 6, 2021 by Lori D.

[Momto6inIN]

You've received so much great advice so far! I will just add that personally, as I gain more hs-ing experience under my belt, I also gain confidence that my methods are producing good results. I can SEE that my kids are learning and thriving and I can SEE when my teaching methods are doing great (and also when they're not doing so great and I need a course correction 😉 ). Every teacher who has ever been in a classroom will tell you that their real education started when they entered a classroom with real students and saw what works and what doesn't, and the same is true for hs-ing. You really do build confidence the longer you do it!

[ifsogirl73]

3 hours ago, Lori D. said:

And really, state standards list (or What your ___ Grader lists, or World Book course of study lists, etc.) of topics to cover in certain grades are probably more helpful in the elementary grades, to make sure you're covering all those "oddball" topics, such as the order of the months of the year, how to alphabetize, how to interpret charts and maps, safety topics, etc.

The original poster's (OP) children are grades 5 and 9, so mostly beyond those kinds of topics, so less of a need for state standards or other lists of topics.

By high school, the emphasis switches from "standards" to "completing credits" -- and if you're using typical high school level material, then you're simultaneously completing the topics that might show up in a "standards" list while completing the credit.

For grade 5, most students are fully on track with all the foundational skills and are just continuing to move forward in the core subjects (math & LA), and branching out and exploring in the content areas (Science and Social Studies areas), and enjoying units on topics of high interest -- for example: state history, elections, equine science, rocketry, coding, baking, etc. etc.

About the only other skills I can think of that are typically started in 5th/6th grade are typing/keyboarding, basic computer skills, and health with a special focus on changing/developing body topics.

I know I keep saying this but it give me so much comfort that I agree with every point you make! For my 5th graders, definitly moving in this direction and Health even has the changing/developing body topics that I feel are so important for boys. Foundational skills and other skills are coming together slowly but surely.

[Janeway]

23 hours ago, ifsogirl73 said:

We are first year homeschoolers finishing up our year in the next couple of months and I need some advice about following state standards.

We are following the WTM for the most part using Memoria Press and mostly Neo-Classical curricula. We are using Bookshark for American History (9th grade) and Science (5th grade) for next year because I like the teacher guides and that it is literature intensive. When we started our homeschool journey, we decided that we would not be returning to school after Covid after last spring and the virtual learning model our district used. So I researched a lot and decided that we would not follow the state standards but rather follow WTM along with anything else we like for the remaining years of school learning along the way. But, I do go back and forth when I'm researching curricula. We're secular homeschoolers so I broaden my topic searches quite a bit and I do get doubts when I see other moms talk about this or that grade and this curriculum covers these or those standards. On the flip side, I agree more with the moms that do not care about standards at all and are on their merry way to covering whatever they want in a lot of interesting ways.

How did you overcome this feeling of doubt? Homeschooling has been a blessing to us and we have not doubt it is what we want to continue doing. If you have any advice on how to just let it play out or address it, I appreciate it!

I try not to lower my children to the level of the state standards. Maybe the state standards from 100 years ago would be good, but not wet is there now.

[ifsogirl73]

2 hours ago, Momto6inIN said:

You've received so much great advice so far! I will just add that personally, as I gain more hs-ing experience under my belt, I also gain confidence that my methods are producing good results. I can SEE that my kids are learning and thriving and I can SEE when my teaching methods are doing great (and also when they're not doing so great and I need a course correction 😉 ). Every teacher who has ever been in a classroom will tell you that their real education started when they entered a classroom with real students and saw what works and what doesn't, and the same is true for hs-ing. You really do build confidence the longer you do it!

I really have received so much information that just fuels me to continue this path. I'm blessed to have this for sure.

Agree 100% that it is so clear to see what works and what doesn't for my kids in the last 8 months. We have made adjustments and I'm totally OK with that because I told myself to be flexible jumping into this and not knowing what we would encounter. We have adjusted things here and there but nothing that I feel is detrimental to finish out the year strong. From this forum and many other sources, I feel so empowered to have a good idea of how to approach things I hear about and can also identify. Podcasts have helped too because it may not necessarily click when I'm listening but I certainly have those moments where I realize, oh that's what she meant with that! Can't tell you how helpful that has been with not only curriculum adjustment but schedule, attitudes, my own comfort zone, all of it.

[2_girls_mommy]

Every time I look at state standards for a subject, I can see that I have covered it in some way or another.  Honestly, even in our state history standards, where it had very specific things like compare a certain musical that includes our state to modern literature, we had done that in that my kids had performed parts of that musical in a co-op class, and we had watched the whole thing, learned the songs, and compared aspects of it in everyday discussions about it.  

State standards are not hard to be met.  I had a public school high school english teacher come over and look at the things I had done with my graduating high schooler to discuss how I had covered each step in our homeschool and assured me that I had met them all, and helped me know how to word all of that in course descriptions (which aren't necessary most of the time, but my dd was applying to some very selective programs...) 

So even in subjects that I covered with no curriculum, we had met the standards with library books, projects, co-op classes, etc. 

[MerryAtHope]

Since you have a student going into (or already in?) 9th grade, I'll say that rather than focusing on state educational standards, I considered what colleges are looking for as I moved into the high school years (and in the junior high years, I was focused more on making sure my kids had the skills they needed to do well in high school--reading, writing, math, thinking critically etc...) If you are looking towards higher education in your student's future, start to learn now what kinds of things are required by possible schools your student might attend.

I collected lists from several possible schools so I could compare and target my kids' education to fitting most or all of them. For example--in my state, most schools were looking for 2-3 years of high school science with at least 2 having labs, but they only specified biology as a "must have." That gave us a lot of flexibility in how we approached science according to each one's interests. Similarly with history/social studies--government and US history were on the "must have" or "highly desired" list for most schools, but we had options beyond that. (One of mine chose to study Japanese for foreign language, so he did a semester of Japanese history, for example.) Anyway--you really have the flexibility to tailor classes to your students' interests in a lot of cases, but it's good to be thinking ahead about what colleges want to see. I also found it helpful to look at our local high school's requirements to see things that colleges might expect to see. It didn't necessarily change what I did, but sometimes it affected how I presented things on the transcript since my kids did stay in state for college. 

Congratulations on nearing the end of your first year! Have fun teaching your kids! It's a special time to get to share with them.

[Arcadia]

On 4/5/2021 at 6:19 PM, ifsogirl73 said:

I'm in CA and it does not require testing so I'm OK not testing but I do want to feel comfortable knowing where we are.

Use the old CA tests. I read the old CA standards and the newer CA common core standards for fun but we never followed them. I just adapt to the kids I have. 
 

CA Algebra 1 old syllabus standardized test https://mrmeyer.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/rtqalg1.pdf

CA Grade 8 science old syllabus https://www.pusd.us/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=3187&dataid=2840&FileName=cstrtqscience8.pdf

CA Grade 8 English old syllabus 

https://allinonehomeschool.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/standardized-test-8th.pdf

CA Grade 5 math old syllabus https://education.ucsc.edu/ellisa/case_studies/cstrtqmath5.pdf

Grade 5 English old syllabus http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/District_8/title1/0607/TestRelELA5.pdf

Grade 5 science old syllabus 

https://achieve.lausd.net/cms/lib/CA01000043/Centricity/Domain/249/CST RELEASE TEST QUESTIONS FOR SCIENCE 5.PDF