Parents choose to homeschool precisely because they want their children to excel and to make a place for themselves in the world. But many parents copy what the public school is doing, buying desks and a stack of workbooks.
This method works very well for some children. But there’s so much more to education than what can be taught in workbooks or by sitting at a desk! You can set your child up for an extraordinary education by going beyond the classroom and applying these seven keys.
1. Don’t Tie Yourself to a Desk
Children usually learn better through movement. Touch and exploration are vital to some children. Other children remember concepts better if they see them in action.
Encourage them walk around while learning their spelling words.
Have them sing their math facts and act out their Bible stories.
2. Add Art
Finger paint spelling words, write math on the sidewalk in chalk, and draw pictures of the stories from history! Art reveals a new dimension in learning.
3. Get into the Community
Learning can happen anywhere.
Let your child practice math by adding up the grocery tab as you are shop.
Browse through library stacks for an afternoon.
Seeing art in person at a museum has more impact than leafing through paintings in a book.
Gardening with a neighbor teaches more about how plants grow than doing a worksheet on plants.
A visit to the zoo floods the five senses with an experience of zoology.
Local experts can teach your children to crochet or to play piano.
Elderly neighbors love sharing stories about their lives—informal history lessons!
4. Allow Free Time
Don’t feel pressured to fill every moment of your children's days with structured learning. Children need down time to process what they’ve learned. During the time they aren’t actively learning, their brains sort and store information they learned earlier.
Allow your kids to get bored. Studies show that being bored stimulates creativity and problem-solving skills. Children will use their imaginations more and usually find their own ways to fill in that time.
Instead of filling their time with activities and projects, try filling up some boxes to inspire creative play—a box of art materials or tinkering supplies.
5. Have Family Storytime
Study after study shows the benefits of the written word when it’s not sealed up in boring textbooks or dry texts. When a story is interesting, all kinds of new brain connections are formed, and children will incorporate new concepts often without realizing it. Set aside time for them to read about things that interest them, in addition to their regular assigned reading.
But also take the time to read to your child. Sonlight will guide your children through hundreds of quality books that will almost effortlessly nurture their intellect. But don’t be afraid to branch beyond the curriculum and add books on any topic your family finds fascinating.
6. Play, Play, Play
Schools underestimate the value of play. Play isn’t just something children do when they have nothing better to do and they just run around wasting time. Children are not designed to sit still and do workbooks all day. Play is when children learn at their very best.
Play increases fine and gross motor skills that will be used later for writing and for sports.
It engages the portions of the brain required for STEM learning.
Play encourages creativity.
Play promises a life-long love of exercise, improves a child’s health and immune system, and improves sleep.
As often as possible, let children play outdoors or at least in an indoor activity center so they can get exercise.
7. Follow Your Child’s Lead
If your child isn't into history this week, but is on a science kick, you’ll find science is very easy to teach, but history isn't. By following your child’s lead, you can teach more information with less effort.
You can incorporate other subjects into the ones your child loves. For example, if their current fascination is trains, you can have them multiply train parts, read stories about trains, write a research paper on types of trains, learn about the history of trains, and more.
Of course, most parents won’t want to completely forget about the other subjects, but you’ll find that if you pay attention to what your child wants to know, they usually have a better attitude about learning about what you do want them to study.
When you homeschool with these seven principles, you might find that part of your day will look like traditional schools. That's okay! One of the great things about homeschooling is that you are free to follow exactly what the school does, but you don’t have to. You are also free to choose an extraordinary education for your children when you homeschool.
Choose an extraordinary curriculum for an extraordinary education.
"Sonlight's LA program has boosted my girls' reading, spelling, and writing."
Erin H. of Franklin, TN
Copywork and dictation practices have been around for ages. We can even see examples of its importance in the Bible when men dedicated their lives to the cause of transcribing the Bible, word for word, so that more and more people could read and hear it.
I can remember learning about the Bible scribes. One person would stand in front of many scribes and read aloud from one copy of the Scriptures while many scribes would sit and carefully write out the words, being attentive to even the tiniest details. Oh, what a special job they had to further the gospel. Can you imagine? Being saturated in the Scriptures on a daily basis must have impacted every facet of their being.
Copywork and dictation are still alive and well even today. Many homeschoolers use it as a tool to teach grammar and composition. It only makes sense that, like the Bible scribes, being exposed to expertly written words can certainly impact a child’s communication skills. However, it can be tricky if you aren’t sure exactly how to teach from copywork passages.
There’s no need to fear. I am here to help, and I felt the exact same way when we started with Sonlight several years ago. Thankfully, my Instructor’s Guides have held my hand over the years and taught me how to pull out important information from great passages of literature. I’ve also learned some helpful tricks on my own to help make copywork and dictation a routine part of our homeschool routine.
1. Choose a Passage
If you are a Sonlighter, you’re in luck! Kick back and relax because Sonlight takes care of this step for you. If not, you’ll need to choose a meaty passage from whatever book you are currently reading. You might choose the passage because it includes a certain grammar skill, or you may choose an inspiring passage and then examine it. You’ll want to make sure that this passage is, as Charlotte Mason might say, “free of twaddle” and models excellent composition skills.
You’ll want to choose a passage that is of an appropriate length for your child. In the early years, it may only be a sentence or two. In the later elementary years, you’ll want to increase up to a paragraph. In the middle school years, you can include a little more than a paragraph if your child can handle it. The only caution here is to make sure you don’t exhaust your child. That is not the purpose of copywork and dictation, so be sure to choose a passage that is challenging but not out of reach for your child’s level.
2. Read & Discuss the Passage
First read the passage to your child. Then let the child read the passage to you. Discuss the meaning of the passage with your child. You may even think about where you heard it in the read aloud and consider the context.
3. Examine the Passage for Content, Usage and Vocabulary
Give your child a highlighter and have them highlight any places where they may struggle with the word choice, vocabulary, or usage. They may ask questions such as
Why did the author use that word?
Why did the author write it that way?
What does that word mean?
Help your child find the answers to their questions. Look up words in the dictionary, and discuss why the author may have chosen the word may instead of the word can.
For a child who just can’t seem to find something to highlight, you may say, “I would like for you to highlight three words in the passage that you think others may not understand.”
4. Examine the Passage for Grammar & Spelling
Take your child on a grammar and mechanics walk through the passage, noting the punctuation, capitalization, and any interesting grammatical structures.
Then choose just one skill to hone in on. In the early years, it might be periods or capital letters. In the later years, you may decide to focus on clauses and parts of speech. Once you have determined the focus skill, point it out to your child and talk about it extensively. Discuss what it means, why the author chose it, and how it fits in the sentence. Don’t worry! If you’re a Sonlighter, your Instructor’s Guide will help you!
Again, a highlighter can be a valuable tool to help. My son recently had a lesson on primary and secondary support, so we used different colors of highlighters to show the primary and secondary support sentences in the copywork passage. It was an effective exercise as he was then able to see the lack of support sentences in his own writing.
5. Identify and Discuss Literary Elements
You’ll want to then point out any literary elements. There are several different types of literary elements, but these are some of the more common examples:
Allusion
Diction
Euphemism.
Foreshadowing
Imagery
Metaphor/Simile
Personification
You might choose a specific color highlighter to use to identify literary elements in copywork. Discuss the literary element, and talk about other places you’ve seen it appear in literature. You may also model a response to the passage by saying, “I love the author’s use of foreshadowing here. It really clues me in to what may happen and gives me an opportunity to make a prediction about what will happen to the character.”
6. Copy the Passage
At this point, the original copy is usually pretty marked up, so I like to give my child a fresh copy of the passage. Then, I stress my expectations. For copywork, the focus is attention to detail, so I make sure that they know that I will be looking for penmanship, correct spacing, and correct use of punctuation and spelling. Basically, I will expect a neat, perfect copy of the passage. I remind them to take their time and really think about each little piece of the passage.
This is the point where you will need to make a decision for your child. Some children can write the entire passage daily. This is a great thing and should be encouraged. Some will not, and that is alright too. However, your child does need daily exposure to the passage. So even if you do not require them to copy the entire passage each day, they will need to do something with it every day.
For those who are not up for daily copywork, you may break up the copywork assignment, having them copy one sentence per day. Or you may break up the examination of the passage over the course of a week. You might examine the passage for content and vocabulary on Monday, the grammar and spelling on Tuesday, and literary elements on Wednesday. You may even choose to simply read over the passage daily. It is most certainly up to you how you require your child to interact with the passage, but again, daily exposure is your goal.
7. Self-Correction
Once your child has copied the passage, have them correct their work against the original. Let them know that they will have to correct any mistakes they made, and of course, you will correct the final draft of the copywork. This is a very useful step in copywork, because they are looking at their work from a different perspective, and that will provide another layer of understanding.
8. Dictation
On the last day of the week, sit down with your child and dictate the passage as they write or type it. Stress the importance of correct spelling and grammar. Read the passage carefully, making sure to read the punctuation. Ideally, you want to only repeat once.
If you like, before dictation day, you may consider letting your child read the passage to you while you write down the dictation. This helps them to also learn to read fluently, and they usually get a real kick out of trading places with the teacher!
When finished, have your child check and correct his work. If you want to take it to an even higher level, you may give him a quiz and have him pick out and label the literary elements present in the passage and define the vocabulary. Keep in mind, however, that is not necessary.
The idea behind copywork and dictation is that repeated exposure to expert composition will in turn, teach your child to compose with expertise. The practice of copywork and dictation is similar to an internship. Your child is an apprentice to the great writers of yesterday and today. Why would you not utilize the expertise at your fingertips?
If this list overwhelms you, don’t worry. This is not a weekly requirement. Sometimes, I do a great job at examining copywork, and some weeks, I literally hand the passage to my kids and say, “Copy this.” I usually aim for a close examination of the passage every other week. Also your Sonlight Instructor’s Guide will be so very valuable in this process. Trust the notes you find there, and let them be your guide. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to copywork.
I think that when we consider the Bible scribes, we can see how important their work was. It must have felt tedious at the time, but they made the very first copies of the Scriptures with their own hands. What an honor! While I certainly can’t promise that every copywork passage will be as live-giving and life-changing as the Scriptures, I can say with confidence that spending time with expert literature will, without a doubt, influence your child’s writing positively. It will give them the tools they need to one day be able to effectively communicate their thoughts in the written word as well. That is the goal of every language arts curriculum, and that is well worth the time and effort.
Although learning is fun and Sonlight is a wonderfully delightful way to homeschool, there are times when you or your kids get in a rut. On those days when motivation is waning or bad attitudes are cropping up, a small change of pace can make a huge positive impact. Here are three outside-the-box learning activities our family has used over the years to spice up our homeschool day with a bit of fun. Surprise your kids with one of these activities this week!
The rule for creating dollar words is that each letter in the alphabet is assigned an increasing monetary value, with the letter A worth $.01 and Z worth $.26.
The goal is to come up with as many words as you can that are worth exactly $1.00. I write all the letters and their corresponding values at the top of a whiteboard, and then we all write dollar words in the space below.
If your family likes a healthy dose of competition, have a contest to see who can come up with the most dollar words in a certain amount of time. Or just leave things low-key with nothing but curiosity satisfied as you see how many dollar words your kids can think of.
If someone is struggling to keep liquid measurements straight, drawing a gallon house can be really helpful. The house itself is shaped like a G for gallon, with a roof added to the top. The four windows, each in the shape of a Q, symbolize quarts. The quart windows have two people in them, each one a P that represents pints. Each pint person has two eyes shaped like a C for cups. Now you have a visual representation of liquid measurements!
4 quarts in a gallon
2 pints in a quart
2 cups in a pint
You may want to hang your gallon house on the wall as a reference or tape it inside the cover of a math book for easy access. If your kids enjoy drawing, let them embellish their gallon houses by adding landscaping and other scenery.
Most young kids are intrigued by volcanoes and have a sweet tooth; lava suckers are a fun way to combine both. Kids grasp the concept of liquid and solid forms of lava when they make hard candy.
molten rock is represented by the hot lollipop mixture on the stove
igneous rock is represented by the hardened lollipops cooling on the counter
Homemade lollipops have just a few basic ingredients and are simple to make. Do an online search for a recipe, buy some lollipop sticks at your local department store or online, and grab whatever flavoring sounds good to you. If you want to kick things up a notch, you can use candy molds, but placing the sticks on waxed paper and pouring the candy mixture directly on them in little rounds works just fine.
Making Phonics Fun
How about making an alphabet book? Cut out pictures that begin with the letter you are working on and paste them on a sheet in a folder.
Roll letters out of playdough.
Fill a dish soap container with water and squirt letters on the driveway or sidewalk. In the winter I filled the container with colored water and had the kids write in the snow. My yard looked like one huge snow cone.
Write letters on your child's back and have her guess which one.
Have her try to form a letter using her body. This one was a real hit with my daughter. It was funny to see her on the floor with arms and legs sticking out everywhere.
Vocabulary Building Games
We tend not to worry too much about vocab building exercises. What works the best for us are some games that our family plays naturally.
One of them is the synonym game. My husband and I spent much of our dating life trying to top one another with better words for any expression. When we were standing in the sweltering heat I said to him that I was extremely hot. He countered with, "Well, I am broiling." Then I replied, "I am roasting." Thirty minutes later we were still going. This became a ritual with us.
As the kids have come along, we have enjoyed watching them join in spontaneously. They are looking for ways to participate in something that is so obviously fun for us.
We also do the same with puns — Let's say someone starts to mention something related to fishing (like fishing for a compliment). Then one of us might add, "I'm not hooked on compliments." The other might continue, "Well, I'll bait you until you are." Then a reply might follow, "I won't be reeled in that easily." You get the idea.
The kids scream with laughter at these. And my older two (5th and 7th) play along pretty easily. My 7-year-old boy joined in the other day and we were floored. So fun to see them catch the power of language.
I also recommend Scattergories Jr. for vocabulary building and lots of reading and commenting on words as you read. Take one out that is new, and have everyone try to use it in the correct context. This is better than most of the workbooks for sure.
Drawing Party
My 10-year-old son wanted a drawing party, so I got sidewalk chalk and clean pavement, a long piece of butcher paper tacked to one wall for a mural, and had everyone bring a T-shirt, and I provided the fabric markers. I had plenty of paper, markers, colored pencils, and drawing books scattered around the patio, kitchen, and living room.
Making a Salt Relief Map
On an unbendable piece of cardboard (about 15x15 inches) draw the outline. Use pencil.
Make salt/flour dough:
1 part salt 2 parts flour Enough water to make a slightly sticky, but manageable dough. (1 cup salt, 2 cups flour will make enough dough for two good sized maps.)
If you would like to color the dough to show differences in elevation or vegetation, add a little food coloring or tempera paint to the dough when you add the water.
Take the salt dough and press it into the outline you have drawn on the cardboard. Build up ridges for mountains, make depressions in the dough to show rivers, lakes, or other low spots. You might want to use tempera paint to paint bordering oceans, nations, etc.
Lay the map flat and let it dry overnight.
Activities for American History
You could have your kids do some leather crafts while listening, make paper teepees with decorations, make a Native American vest with decoration, and do some beading while studying Native Americans. Have them make a paper doll with colonial clothing, build Lincoln Log cabins, create villages with toys, make a Jacob's ladder, play marbles, and so on for colonial period, you could have them put all their possessions (or a lot anyway) into a pillowcase or small trunk and masking tape an area on the floor that relates to how much space they may have had when traveling by boat to America and make them stay there for a while, and so on. There are lots of ways to make it fun and relevant for a younger child. They'll get to it again later on where they'll remember more facts than you thought. Your library should have Brown Paper School books and other books that have ideas for "playing history."
George Washington's BreaKF1st
An example from what we're reading this year for History, "George Washington's BreaKF1st." My son researched and figured out exactly what G.W. loved to eat for breaKF1st. So we made them for him as a reward for his efforts to figure it out. My family also followed suit and made hoe-cakes in the middle of the afternoon to snack on the day we read the book. So you cover life-skills training by letting the kids read a recipe for corn griddle cakes and making it. This also covers measurements for Math. You could also let your kids dress in "costume" and act out some of the stories from George Washington's life. You could bring in Science by figuring out what things were going on in the field at the time George Washington lived (Benjamin Franklin and his inventions!) So you are also using your time-line. And then let's not forget map skills: where all these things took place-Geography! What was happening in the art world at that time? Music?
Egypt Party
We had an Egypt party yesterday. It was a blast! Here's what we did:
1.Archeological dig (My 10-year-old daughter wrote on a clay pot, I broke it and she and some friends put it out in the yard for the smaller kids to dig up. The kids then cleaned it off and pieced it together to figure out the message.)
Sugar cube pyramids with brown sugar and glue.
Makeup for the girls.
Wigs for the girls (from Edupress).
King Tut mask (from Edupress).
I made coloring books for each of the kids that came and I put their name on the cover in hieroglyphics so they had to decode it to find which one was theirs (from the internet).
The kids loved it, the moms did too.
African Rain Sticks
We made African rain sticks and then looked Africa up on the globe & read from Stories from Africa! Take an empty wrapping paper tube & decorate. The book I have suggested "painting" with watered down glue & sticking on tissue paper squares. We just painted them with regular paint & let dry. Then you take toothpicks (8-16, I found 16 makes the best sound, I put them perpendicular to each other about 1/2-1 inch apart) & poke all the way through the tube (leave room on either end of the tube to hold it, the toothpicks stick out!). I had to use a knife to poke holes for the toothpicks. Then cover the one end (they suggested wax paper with rubber bands, I had tinfoil & twist-ties) & put 1 cup uncooked rice inside (with a funnel) before closing the second end. They sound great & my kids had so much fun with them! You could clip the toothpicks that are sticking out and glue in place.
Teaching Home Economy (Practical Life Skills)
Pick some bright cotton material, and go for lots of straight edges. The big mistake is making the first project too involved, too artistic. That leads to frustration for everyone.
My oldest son wanted to learn to sew last year (he was 10), so I taught him the basics of cutting straight, using the machine, pinning, that sort of thing. Nothing really technical. We looked at the underside and all the machinery — very interesting to a boy. I did not use a curriculum, just figured out what he wanted to know then thought of ways to show him those things.
After that, I required schoolwork to come first, then he could "play" on the sewing machine. He makes puppets, simple bags, bean bags, and pillows. The hardest project so far was a flannel night shirt.
Our next project is shorts. I teach him in small bursts, a little every 3-4 months, rather than all in one big swoop.
Family Trivia Game
Ask all the various members of the family to compile lists of questions for a trivia game. ("What was the name of Susie's imaginary friend?" "What did Joe give Mark for Christmas last year?" or whatever. By getting input from all of the family, hopefully you can collect questions from all facets of life. Then someone can put them together onto cards, and you can play a game.
Keep Learning Fun
The primary purpose of each of these activities is to inject fun into your day while reinforcing educational concepts, so be sure to talk with your kids about what they’re learning. If your kids seem extra curious, pull out a reference book for further study.
At the same time, remember that just because something is educational doesn’t mean it can’t simply be fun. Kids will learn something from all three of these activities even if you don’t spend a bunch of time talking about the concepts behind them. Sometimes the best way to learn something is to tone down the academic talk and ramp up the fun factor.
If you’ve homeschooled for more than a week, you’re well aware of the concern that children be properly socialized. Everyone from your Aunt Barbara to the mailman wants to know that your kids are spending time with their peers, getting out of the house, and otherwise having the chance to interact in outside of an academic setting.
Moms Need Socializing, Too
Even if you roll your eyes at the concern for adequate socialization as your scurry from art lessons to soccer practice to a playdate to Bible quizzing, there might be one part of the idea you’re missing. Moms need socializing, too,and not just as they usher their brood from one co-op class to another.
It’s easy to forget, as we invest our days in the character and education of our children, that we are social beings, too. And while the most introverted among us may revel in the thought of not leaving the house for a solid week, the truth is that we were created for fellowship.
Our souls crave the intimacy of friendship, and our cups were made to be filled by the kind of encouragement that only comes by being known. And how can you be known? By stepping out and being face to face with others.
But Who’s Got Time for Socialization as a Mom?
Looking at your daily schedule, it’s probably hard to imagine where you could possibly carve out time to invest in simply conversing with other women. So many other needs are vying for your limited time and attention. Surely homeschool mom socialization is something optional that we can push to the bottom of the schedule as we do the truly important tasks of motherhood.
How important is it, really, to grab coffee on a Saturday morning with a group of friends when you can hardly manage a date night with your husband four times a year?
Actually, it’s very important. Homeschool moms live their calling day in and day out, in a way few jobs demand. They never clock out, and rarely call in backup. Even worse, they are deeply emotionally invested in the outcome of their labors—meaning every perceived failure is personal, and every hard day is a blow to the heart. And while husbands sympathize and assist in the workload when and where they can, they can never fully empathize… and that’s where friends come in.
Filling Your Cup, Mom
A small group of like-minded sojourners on the homeschooling path can bring levity to the task of homeschooling. Sharing struggles gives perspective; hearing victories brings hope. Simply knowing that you’re not alone is one of the key benefits of true socialization—and one that a homeschool mom needs desperately!
But isn’t it enough to share a coffee while waiting on your kids’ piano lessons to be over? While these little snippets of time might be enough to keep topping off the well of fellowship in your heart, from time to time you need a deeper dip. It might be an hour alone with that same piano lesson mom, or maybe a dinner with the ladies from church. Co-op friends, neighbors, anyone who sees you as more than the mom who teaches her kids are all good candidates for building the kind of friendships that enrich the life and encourage the passions of the homeschooling mom.
How do you find time to socialize? And what kind of activities do you invest in with your friends?
While a Facebook group can never substitute for face-to-face friends, it can provide a place of support! Join us there.
"My son works ahead in Explode the Code because he enjoys the fun way of learning phonics!"
Emily P. of Burnsville, MN
This year, I am working through the Explode the Code workbook series for the third time, and we all agree: it’s a winner. I often see homeschoolers asking if they really need the supplemental materials. The answer is no. You don’t need them. Sonlight is an excellent, stand-alone curriculum with no extras. However, I have seen so many benefits from using Explode the Code with my kids that I encourage everyone to add it on. After all, if there are extra benefits to be had, wouldn't you want them?
1. Explode the Code is Open and Go
Explode the Code is truly open-and-go. The instructions are clear and concise, and the activities are self-explanatory. I can literally open it up and teach immediately without any preparation beforehand. This perk is invaluable for a busy homeschool mom of four.
2. Explode the Code is Scheduled
Have you ever bought a book to supplement your curriculum just to get home and realize that you don’t really know how to integrate it into your current curriculum? I hate to say it, but I have a shelf full of things like that. They looked fancy and fun, so I bought them, thinking I could work them in somewhere. But I never could figure out quite how to pair it with what we were currently using.
Sonlight Language Arts Instructor’s Guides schedule Explode the Code pages, giving you page numbers to correspond with what you are teaching. It takes all the guesswork out, and gives you precious time back by doing the hard work for you. That’s a win for me.
3. Explode the Code is Simple & Purposeful
Explode the Code (ETC) is simple and purposeful—something I value greatly. I love that I can hand my kids a rare worksheet and know that they can complete it independently.
I also love that it isn’t busywork. There aren’t too many tasks on each page; instead, the work is just right for teaching the concept. I appreciate how well Explode the Code reinforces the phonetic concepts that I’m teaching.
While I have certainly ventured out and tried other supplemental materials, I have never found a phonics study that corresponds with Sonlight and works better than ETC.
4. Explode the Code is Funny
My kids have always enjoyed the activities in Explode the Code. From the fun listening activities in the Get Ready for the Code series to the silly sentences in the Explode the Code series, my kids are always tickled about something in their lessons. I mean, “A cake is in the bath?” I don’t think so!
5. Explode the Code Works!
My children have all been early proficient readers, and they have all started with the Explode the Codeseries. I’ve never had to spend much time and effort on explicit phonics instruction, because ETC is such an easy guide. My children have learned about everything from vowel and blend sounds to prefixes and compound words. It is a complete phonics curriculum, and it has proven effective for my family over and over again.
The only complaint that I ever had on our use of Explode the Code came when my very artsy daughter found the pages to be too void of color for her taste. I quickly took care of that by reframing her thinking. I helped her to see that the creators gave her an excellent gift in that she could decorate and color the pages however she liked, rather than having to depend on someone else’s tastes to make it pretty. That squelched all of her protests, and she promptly pulled out her colored pencils and went to work. I am fairly confident to say that we have the prettiest Explode the Code series worksheets out there.
My boys were exactly the opposite. Not only did they care less about the color on the page, but they preferred the simplicity of the simple line drawings. They stayed focused instead of being distracted by every purple balloon floating on the page.
It is rare to find a curriculum that works so well for both boys and girls, but Sonlight has found the sweet spot. Explode the Code is loved by all of us.
Your child is an advanced reader or otherwise shows being far beyond grade level. Wonderful, right? Because you homeschool, you can zoom that child ahead a grade or two, skipping the grades where your child has already mastered the material!
Wait a minute. There are considerations to weigh first! There are actually a few good reasons not to advance your child to a higher level as soon as you see signs of advanced growth.
1. Child Development is Not a Continuous Gradual Increase
Just as children have growth spurts in their physical bodies, their academic progress also grows in leaps and bounds during certain periods. Their ability might make great strides one year and be almost indiscernible the next. Sometimes they seem to develop skills overnight, and other times, you might find yourself frustrated that after several weeks they aren’t progressing at all. This kind of stop-and-start progress is normal!
Many children enter kindergarten a bit advanced. But being ahead in kindergarten isn’t a guarantee they will remain ahead in third, fifth, or even eighth grade. The reasons for this discrepancy are varied, but one main reason is that grade levels are arbitrary.
In kindergarten, it’s easy to see who knows their shapes, and who doesn’t; who can read words and who can’t. But as children mature, the differences between grade level blur. Consider these questions:
What’s the difference between a fifth grade reading level and a sixth grade one?
What’s the difference between ninth grade history and tenth grade history levels besides the fact they might cover different time periods?
As the levels increase, the abilities begin to blend together, too. A child who once was obviously ahead now is exactly on track.
2. Children Have Interests Besides Academics
As children mature, they invest more time in pastimes, hobbies, and extracurricular pursuits. Sports, activities, games, clubs, friends, music, and art demand more attention. When you move a child ahead a grade into more challenging academics, there's less margin for these extra—but oh so essential—activities.
3. Some Children Have Later Delays
Being advanced at an early age doesn't guarantee that same rate of development. For example, it’s not unusual for a child to be reading ahead in kindergarten, but discover they have dyslexia in third grade that stalls progress for a few years.
4. Emotional Maturity Does Not Always Parallel Intellectual Ability
Just because my 3-year-old could read and could tell me repeat back math sums didn’t mean she was ready to deal older children in a classroom or play advanced sports with them. Looking back, she wouldn’t have been ready to stand up and assert herself in a busy classroom.
When a child starts early and moves ahead quickly, high school graduation may fall at a very young age. While early graduation may sound like a pro, consider some of the challenges inherent in this situation.
Consider possible disadvantages a 15-year-old entering college may experience:
They are unable to drive alone in most states, and will need to have a licensed driver in the car with them.
They might not be emotionally ready for dorm life, college dating, or parties.
Their lack of maturity may make them more susceptible to peer pressure, depression, and underage drinking as a result of feeling they don’t fit in.
While these circumstances certainly don’t affect all children, and there are ways to support your child so they don’t suffer from these negatives, finishing early isn’t always a positive.
Another big con to graduating early is not qualifying for dual enrollment. In my state, high school students can apply for dual enrollment, and the state pays their college tuition, including a certain number and type of classes, books, and most fees. My child can earn an AA degree before finishing school, without paying for it. However, once he graduates from high school, regardless of what age he is, the program stops. He must now apply for loans and grants, and pay out-of-pocket (or, out of my pocket) as a college student.
The Solution: Going Without Grade Levels
So what do you do when your child is advanced? The key is to simply choose curriculum for each subject that suits their ability and interest and don't worry about the labels of grade levels at all!
I no longer really pay attention to grade levels. Each of my six children is studying each subject at a level that best fits where they are in life with no regard to their age or grade level. If they need extra help in spelling, we spend more time on spelling. If we breeze through math books, we start the next one.
When I do need grade levels for some reason—outside sports, for example, I simply use the lowest grade level they would be called in public school, unless that grade level would not be appropriate. For example, my son took a class he was very knowledgeable in but that wasn’t offered to his grade level, so I enrolled him as the lowest grade level they offered the class to.
I’ve found over time it is easier to bump a child up a grade level, if need be, than to tell an older child they suddenly need to be held back because you advanced them too quickly. Instead of bothering too much with what grade level your child is, instead ask what level in each individual subject they are can comfortably to the schoolwork. Then select curriculum to match that level!
See what skills and topics are taught at each level of Sonlight in these Scope & Sequence charts. The create a customized education that fits your child's unique combination of levels.
