Oh boy, here we go… Debating and fact finding this morning!
This is how it went… First it was asking about shark facts. Which leads to how to prevent a shark attack and why sharks attack humans. Then wanting to know which animal kills more humans every year. To how hippopotamuses kill more humans than sharks. Which they discovered why hippopotamuses are super territorial. Then somehow spiraled to why can’t freshwater animals can’t survive in the ocean. That lead to how some saltwater animals can’t adapt to freshwater, but some can because marshes and swamps bridge the two waters.
Diving into that rabbit hole surely spirals quickly… That’s the fun of learning on a whim.
I just realized I’m going to have a 8th grader, 6th grader and two 3rd graders in Public School terms.
The levels these kiddos are scattered across the board. I had to learn this lesson the hard way. When I wanted so badly to “bring them up to grade.” I tried pushing and using different techniques. Nothing worked.
When they finally had grasped several pieces of the puzzle through lots of work at home….. then and only then did I notice their knowledge begin to blossom. I had to let go of my ideals of what a grade level consisted of. For them now, we just finished up what would be 7th, 5th, and 2nd grade in public school, they are doing math at a 5th/6th and 2nd/3rd grade level, history at a 7/8th grade, geography at a 7/8th grade, science at a 7/8th grade, reading at a 8th, 2nd/3rd and 1st/2nd grade, and spelling/Language Arts at a 6th, 2nd, and 1st grade.
And it’s all perfectly okay.
Because what this shows me is that they are neither behind nor ahead; they are precisely where they need to be. Their educational needs are being met in ways that access their strengths and support their weaknesses.
That’s exactly what education is supposed to be.
I suck at fractions and geometry. You won’t hear anyone one say to me, as an 39-year-old woman, that I am “behind” because I didn’t understand these concepts in high school. So why are we pressuring our kids to conform to such arbitrary rules?
If your kiddo struggles with a subject, they aren’t behind. They have a weakness.
Homeschool Aunt Chaos 