Short answer, no.
I really struggled with this in the early years.
When I first started homeschooling, it was very much ingrained in me that if your child is a certain age, then that makes them a certain grade. If they weren’t performing in a certain grade level we were “behind.” This came from my years of education to become a teacher and my own experience in the public school. So, does grade level in homeschool matter?
These are my top 5 reasons grade level doesn’t matter in homeschooling
- In a rigid grade level environment, there is no flexibility for working with children’s strengths and weaknesses. For instance let’s say Johnny is a math whiz, but isn’t developmentally ready for writing papers, which is required in kindergarten now. Guess what, Johnny is stuck doing kindergarten math regardless of his abilities and can’t move ahead. H will be made to hate writing because he is doing things he isn’t ready to do and will feel bad because of it.
- You can watch for their signs of readiness and roll with it! With my last son, I watched him for cues on when to start certain subjects. Guess what! He love sit and is excited to learn because I waited until he was ready.
- Children with special needs can take extra time and not worry about what “grade” they are in. One of my girls is working in sixth grade math and about 3rd grade language arts and guess what? It doesn’t matter! This doesn’t mean I don’t work them. I take homeschooling very serious and we are always making progress, but that works differently for different kids.
- Your kids can soar in the subjects they do well in! I talk to many homeschool parents who say they are taking a few months off in a subject, because their child got ahead and they don’t want them to start it until they are a certain age. The kid usually wants to keep progressing. Please don’t do this, let them keep moving ahead! In our house when we finish a certain subject completely, they take a week break and get a special treat and we jump into the next level.
- Isn’t this why we homeschool? I know many parents homeschool for the flexibility and if we are stuck in the box of grade levels for each child, we are giving up some of the freedoms of homeschooling. Think outside the box and let your child succeed.
So, what do you think? Does grade level in homeschool matter?
