How do you know you have passed the grade?

Question

While home schooling do you have to tell the school board that the child passed 10th grade....or what?

How does this work?

Also if the child have been a student until this month and is being home schooled now...how will they finish? Do the parents just decide when they have finished? Tests?

Thanks.

Answer 1

When you started homeschooling, supposedly you should have filed a notice of intent to homeschool with the schoolboard.

You will be required to test the child & send in the results.

If you use an "umbrella" school, you do not have to do any  of the above.

Answer 2

We don't do grades, we don't do tests... we just learn. Grades are arbitrary, the school uses them to keep track and show accountability, they really hold no inherent  meaning. We don't worry about them as homeschoolers.

There is no beginning, no ending, learning and life aren't really separate-- or at least they shouldn't be-- and grades are really such a poor evaluation system so that they're worthless outside of schools.

We read things, sometimes together, sometimes separately. We discuss what we read in the car, we talk about current events at the dinner table, we watch the news and shows like Mythbusters together. We go to the theater and stop for coffee afterwards and discuss the show.  We write about stuff, we share what we write.  If she needs to convert a recipe to triple it, and has forgotten how to multiply fractions, we remind her.

Answer 3

It works differently in every state.

In some states, children are required to take a standardized test either each year or during specific grades; some states also require that a licensed educator complete an evaluation of each student's work each year.

In other states, the parents set down standards and skills, as well as coursework, for the child to complete, and when they pass that coursework with satisfactory marks, they pass the grade.  This may seem very arbitrary, but please bear in mind that many homeschooling parents set down pretty high expectations for their kids.  We are able to individualize our kids' curricula, so our expectations may be equal to or higher than that of the state.

For example - I looked up our state standards, just to see how my son  measures up; he is 10 and completing the 5th grade (if he was in a classroom, he'd be finishing up 4th by our state laws).  However, he's already mastered every one of the 5th and 6th grade standards, in every subject, and is working on 7th-9th grade standards and skills (depending on subject).

I didn't plan out his coursework to specifically accomplish this, I simply let him go at his own pace.  There are subjects (math and science) that he's working at a high school level in, and there are subjects where he's a couple of years above grade level.  

For him, because I know he'll easily pass the state-set grade level requirements, I consider him "passed" when he has met or exceeded my expectations and goals for the year, and when 180 days (our state minimum) has passed.  Sometimes, he meets or exceeds them by 100 days or so, so  I just tell him he's in that grade till the 180 is met, and sometimes it takes over 200.  I just work directly with him, plans in mind, and pass him when he's ready.

I know that this method doesn't match up with the standardization necessary in a classroom, but quite frankly, neither does my son.  I pass him based on his own performance and needs.

Hope that helps!

Edit - you don't have to report completion of a grade to anyone.  For the states that require reporting and evaluation, they'll see the progress through these procedures.  For other states, homeschooling is separate from the school system, and they require no notification.

In these states, homeschools are either considered private schools or entities unto themselves.  Just like the state does not require notification of student progress from private schools, they don't require it (or keep track of it) from homeschoolers.

Answer 4

when i was 7 my parents went illegal with me and taught me based off of their best judgment. I didn't take a test until I started college.

Now im 16 and in college. Lol. Owned public school system.