MNHK: Some Nuts and Bolts You Need in Your Toolbox
I am not going to try to distill an entire college course in teaching into a few articles. People have taught their children at home since there were people on this Earth, and somehow civilization has continued. However, some very useful terms were first articulated by people who made the study of education and child development their life's work. Here are a few of them.
Scope and sequence is the way teachers decide what to teach that week. It's a list of everything that is going to be taught in a particular subject (the scope) and the order in which it will be taught (the sequence). This is useful in homeschooling as well. While spoon-feeding precisely outlined chunks of knowledge in an exact order is not necessary, some concepts are foundational to others.
Grade level is self-explanatory. I use the American system: preschool, kindergarten, primary (1 through 6-ish), middle school/junior high (6-ish through 8), high school (9 through 12).
Ages and stages is shorthand for the way in which most children develop over time. Children of a particular age are known to, on average, be capable of certain things and not yet capable of other things, but they can pass through the different stages of development toward adulthood at different ages and still be developing normally. However, sometimes a late bloomer needs help, not time. If you are worried that your child's stage of development is not keeping up with their age, check out a book about child development or, if possible, consult a doctor. If your student is struggling and it's feasible to get professional help, get the help. (But look up the helpers online first, to see what previous clients have to say about them.)
I will add some notes about particular ages and stages in my scope and sequence articles, but if you really want to dig into this topic, a book is your best bet.
Learning styles are different for everybody. If you search on "learning styles," you'll find a lot of disagreement on how many there are and what to call them. I think the following is a decent outline:
*Some people learn better when they are alone, some when they are alone with the teacher, and some when they are working with other students.
*Some people learn best when hearing about something, some need to look at it, others do better reading about it without pictures, and some need to actually have something to pick up and handle in order to really get what the topic is about.
*Some people have got to get up and move around or they can't think; some need to rock or fidget; others do very well sitting still.
*Some people have trouble tuning out noise, discomfort from a hard chair, etc., and need to adjust their environment by (for example) putting on headphones. Others need background noise or a breeze or something in order to concentrate.
*Some people can see the whole picture at a glance and need help focusing on details. Others are excellent with details but have to be prompted to put them together into the whole picture.
*People may need to use different learning styles with different topics.
*Learning styles are inborn, although they may change with age. If you try to make somebody use a learning style that just doesn't work for them, you will make school unnecessarily difficult and they may give up.
Depending on the regulations in your state, you may have to turn in report cards for each student. Even if you don't, use them for yourself, to help you remember how the student is doing. Here's one to try:
A: 91 to 100 percent correct on tests, outstanding work, time to explore this subject at the next level
B: 81 to 90 percent correct, student shows above average mastery of the topic for their age, it may be time to skip ahead
C: 71 to 80 percent correct, student shows average understanding of the topic, do a little more practice and then test
D: 61 to 70 percent correct, student is having trouble comprehending this topic, try another approach
F: 60 percent or less, something is wrong, back off for a week or two and seriously rethink whether the student is being pushed too hard or you are using the wrong teaching method
Here's another:
O: Outstanding; shows grasp of the topic beyond the usual for their age; it may be time to skip ahead
S: Satisfactory; is keeping up with their age group; move on to the next topic, with some periodic review
I: Improvement needed; not keeping up with their age group; try another approach, review an earlier topic, or seek an outside opinion
Whatever grading system you use, test regularly and write down the results! The point is for you to be able to track at a glance how homeschool is working out for your child and have notes of what worked and what didn't that you can use when planning to educate a new student. Don't try to keep it all in your head. It won't work.
An in-facility education typically pays much more attention to scope and sequence and grade level than to ages and stages or learning styles, because most schoolteachers deal with students by the dozen. It simply isn't possible to tailor education to the individual student when there are so many of them. If the teacher is given time and support, they can nevertheless make sure that everyone learns--mainly by repetition. However, if you're only teaching a few students, you can pay more attention to individual ages and stages as well as learning styles. So while I will lay out a scope and sequence for each topic by grade, you don't have to keep your student in the grade they would traditionally be in at a particular age or in the same grade for every topic. No harm will be done.
I post these articles in my spare time and revise as needed. Keep checking back.
Scope and sequence is the way teachers decide what to teach that week. It's a list of everything that is going to be taught in a particular subject (the scope) and the order in which it will be taught (the sequence). This is useful in homeschooling as well. While spoon-feeding precisely outlined chunks of knowledge in an exact order is not necessary, some concepts are foundational to others.
Grade level is self-explanatory. I use the American system: preschool, kindergarten, primary (1 through 6-ish), middle school/junior high (6-ish through 8), high school (9 through 12).
Ages and stages is shorthand for the way in which most children develop over time. Children of a particular age are known to, on average, be capable of certain things and not yet capable of other things, but they can pass through the different stages of development toward adulthood at different ages and still be developing normally. However, sometimes a late bloomer needs help, not time. If you are worried that your child's stage of development is not keeping up with their age, check out a book about child development or, if possible, consult a doctor. If your student is struggling and it's feasible to get professional help, get the help. (But look up the helpers online first, to see what previous clients have to say about them.)
I will add some notes about particular ages and stages in my scope and sequence articles, but if you really want to dig into this topic, a book is your best bet.
Learning styles are different for everybody. If you search on "learning styles," you'll find a lot of disagreement on how many there are and what to call them. I think the following is a decent outline:
*Some people learn better when they are alone, some when they are alone with the teacher, and some when they are working with other students.
*Some people learn best when hearing about something, some need to look at it, others do better reading about it without pictures, and some need to actually have something to pick up and handle in order to really get what the topic is about.
*Some people have got to get up and move around or they can't think; some need to rock or fidget; others do very well sitting still.
*Some people have trouble tuning out noise, discomfort from a hard chair, etc., and need to adjust their environment by (for example) putting on headphones. Others need background noise or a breeze or something in order to concentrate.
*Some people can see the whole picture at a glance and need help focusing on details. Others are excellent with details but have to be prompted to put them together into the whole picture.
*People may need to use different learning styles with different topics.
*Learning styles are inborn, although they may change with age. If you try to make somebody use a learning style that just doesn't work for them, you will make school unnecessarily difficult and they may give up.
Depending on the regulations in your state, you may have to turn in report cards for each student. Even if you don't, use them for yourself, to help you remember how the student is doing. Here's one to try:
A: 91 to 100 percent correct on tests, outstanding work, time to explore this subject at the next level
B: 81 to 90 percent correct, student shows above average mastery of the topic for their age, it may be time to skip ahead
C: 71 to 80 percent correct, student shows average understanding of the topic, do a little more practice and then test
D: 61 to 70 percent correct, student is having trouble comprehending this topic, try another approach
F: 60 percent or less, something is wrong, back off for a week or two and seriously rethink whether the student is being pushed too hard or you are using the wrong teaching method
Here's another:
O: Outstanding; shows grasp of the topic beyond the usual for their age; it may be time to skip ahead
S: Satisfactory; is keeping up with their age group; move on to the next topic, with some periodic review
I: Improvement needed; not keeping up with their age group; try another approach, review an earlier topic, or seek an outside opinion
Whatever grading system you use, test regularly and write down the results! The point is for you to be able to track at a glance how homeschool is working out for your child and have notes of what worked and what didn't that you can use when planning to educate a new student. Don't try to keep it all in your head. It won't work.
An in-facility education typically pays much more attention to scope and sequence and grade level than to ages and stages or learning styles, because most schoolteachers deal with students by the dozen. It simply isn't possible to tailor education to the individual student when there are so many of them. If the teacher is given time and support, they can nevertheless make sure that everyone learns--mainly by repetition. However, if you're only teaching a few students, you can pay more attention to individual ages and stages as well as learning styles. So while I will lay out a scope and sequence for each topic by grade, you don't have to keep your student in the grade they would traditionally be in at a particular age or in the same grade for every topic. No harm will be done.
I post these articles in my spare time and revise as needed. Keep checking back.