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      AussieHomeschool Closing Down   11/14/2019

      All good things must come to an end and AussieHomeschool is no different. It is with much sadness yet even more necessity that this must be so.   As of Sunday evening, 17/11/2019 the Discussion Forums will close. The Classifieds, for now although not indeterminate, will continue as is.       Why is this happening now? In all honesty, it probably should have happened many years ago but I created this forum, which originally a homeschool classifieds forum for Aussies, about 20 years or so ago. I, along with others for whom I am gratefully indebted to, have spent many, many hours sweating, laughing, praying, crying, writing, apologising, pleading and speaking about this wonderful place. In this day and age of Social Media, along with our ages and therefore differernt stages of life, it is simply not viable in any way for it to continue. You may think differently and that's okay - you honestly have to have lived through some of the dramas and learning opportunities that we all have to truly appreciate why we have the standards that we do - they were borne out of necessity and not undertaken lightly. Much blood, sweat and tears have been spilt over this place. Even more friendships, learning, debate, love, prayer and great times have been had becuase of AussieHomeschool. No one could ever be more thankful for it than I.

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AussieHomeschool

AH Blog: QOTW: Do You Use Grade Levels?

5 posts in this topic

QOTW: Do You Use Grade Levels? AussieHomeschool

Do you/your children do grades? How do you determine what grade they are in?

Selected responses from our discussion forum where parents are asked a question and can respond in any manner they choose. Please note that forum posts are used with permission. Also note that forum responses are usually informal and conversational.

 

No, not really… I use grades as a rough guide as to where to start in finding the correct curriculum for each child.

But we don’t use them in a rigid way. I like the old school system – like the McGuffey readers – where you go up when you know the material. So its quite possible for a 12 year old to be learning calculus, etc.
~Daughter of Eve

 

No I just keep moving them along with the skill subjects (Maths and English) as they master the concepts, sometimes they’re fast or slow, mostly average. The other subjects we group as much as possible, but expect more from the older ones.
~Kerrilyn

 

We don’t give grades but we do do Maths and spelling tests occasionally which obviously have scores. Like above, our kids always redo things until they get them right. My boys particularly like the challenge of getting as many right as possible the first time…partly for the challenge and partly so they don’t have to do it again . I don’t like grades when they seek to compare children to other children (which is what they do at school). I just don’t like the idea that a child can do their very best and someone can come along and say it was only worth a “C” because other people did better. Yes, I know they will have to come to terms with this cultural system later on in life, but not while they are young.

I am in two minds about grades for older children. I was always a “good” student at school and received good grades, and often the knowledge something was going to be graded really motivated me – I loved the challenge. But sometimes I think I was more motivated by the competitive side of the grade rather than the learning and because I generally did very well, it set me up for great disappointment at times. The focus can become the extrinsic reward of the grade rather than the intrinsic pleasure of knowing your have done your best and enjoyed the learning experience.
~BlueSkies

 

My usual reply is that ‘officially’ they are in Years 4, 6 & 8, but … it depends on the subject etc. In Maths they are roughly in their ‘grade level’ but all other subjects don’t have grade levels … we just work our way through concepts at their pace … fast, slow, whatever they need.
~Liz

 

Grades as in marks for work … no, my children are only 5 and 6! Though I sometimes write 100% on their page if it’s true, and they like that! I can’t see myself grading their work in future, except in my own mind as a way of assessing whether the work I assign is at the appropriate level. I’m more interested in their own reflections about their efforts and achievement …

Grades as in equivalent school years … I gave up on that last year, as I just couldn’t decide which school year fitted them! About a six year range depending upon the subject (this is probably true for most children). It will only be relevant if we decide to put them in school, and we’ll cross that bridge if we ever come to it. When people ask what grade they are in, I give a composite answer based on their age (eg. K/1 for Mr 6) … this is enough for most curious people.
~Bookworm

 

I have grades that swap around as I need them. If my child has to be in grade X,Y,Z to do that, then he is in XYZ if I want him to be. We are flexible. We have done the University tests in grades according to their age.

~Michelle

 

My children are in whatever grade that coincides with their age. Like others though, the actual material they are working through has nothing to do with grades, and everything to do with where my children are at individually, what their interests and needs are. My children like this too, as it gives them something definite to tell people as well (they really did not like being asked this question).
~Amy Marigold

 

My children are all different grades. Usually they have always been above their ‘grade level’ in English/Language Arts and slightly ‘below grade level’ in Maths.

A few years ago I had my sons do the placement tests for ACE Paces. They were two grade levels ahead in English and 1 grade level below (below the grade level they’d be in if at school) in Maths. This was a handy exercise to do as it helped me identify the areas which we needed to focus on.

As a rule, I don’t like grades. In the adult world they may have a place… and in some instances they are a part of life. I’m not scared of grades nor am I against them. I simply believe they are over rated and not a true indication of learning or education.
~HomeGrownKids

 

How about you? Do you use grade or year levels in your homeschool?

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Grades are a guide to know what we as parents need to be spending our time teaching our children for the year. I use it as a check point to know that my child is going to be ready as adults to deal with life. I don't believe that it is bad to correct my child's school work and then look at the result and know what it is I need to be spending extra time in each subject. I do believe that the reason why people who are against homeschooling is because there are too many families who homeschool who just let their kids do what they like. Then wonder why at the age of sixteen their child can't read. I'm not going to be ashamed or make my child fee ashamed if he or she should be up to grade 5 maths and yet they are only at grade 3 for instance. I am going to use that as a guide for me to spend more time concentrating on that area of schooling to get them to the standard they need to be at. There are guidelines in the adult world that we have to live by whether we think it is the best way or not. I believe if we teach this to our children while they are young they aren't going to freak out when they go off into the world to live.

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Yes, we use grade levels so that when the kids go to a kids club or the like and the leaders say "stand up if you are in year 5" the kids don't look at us with daft looks on their faces, wondering what on earth is going on!

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Yes, we use grade levels so that when the kids go to a kids club or the like and the leaders say "stand up if you are in year 5" the kids don't look at us with daft looks on their faces, wondering what on earth is going on!

Ditto here as well!!

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Like others for ease I said the school year which corresponded with the age of the child, but in reality we were usually ahead in maths and science while being a bit behind in English. The only subject I really gave a mark for was maths and that was helpful to both of us to see how much had been understood. Apart from maths I mostly used interest led Unit Studies, so marking was not really relevant to us.
In many ways it depends on your child, some thrive on competition and others are crippled by it, parents know their own child best icon_smile.gif

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