How do I know what I’m supposed to teach my kids?

To make these decisions, it’s helpful to understand why states have a set curriculum (or areas to cover within a subject) for each grade level. They do this so that the education is standard for every student. Each teacher knows what is covered the year before and therefore doesn’t overlap in their teaching. A student can move from one school to another seamlessly. It makes it very easy for the school administration.

There is no magic formula for learning State history in 4th grade versus 7th grade. Knowing this will free you up to plan to cover history chronologically if you wish or with unit studies. Even math doesn’t need to be done in one perfect order although some things must be mastered before others are taught.

1. First check to see if your state has specific requirements or state standards that must be covered. If so, choose books and curriculum that is based around those requirements. There are usually no, one specific book that you must use so getting to the goal can be accomplished in many ways.

2. One way to build a curriculum is to use What Every 1st (0r other) Grader Needs to Know as your framework. Expand from there.

3. Use a pre-packaged Curriculum like Sonlight. Sonlight can be used to combine students when teaching history, writing, English and science.

4. Realize that your child will be at different levels in different subjects-don’t hold them back when they excel and don’t push too much when they struggle. If they are really lagging behind- consider consulting with a learning disabilities specialist and an eye doctor to rule out any problems.

5. Group children who are close in age for some subjects including history, writing, reading and science. And then split them up into different books or curriculum for math and English/phonics.

6. Some parents use/create Unit Studies. They will study a period of history, the geography and events surrounding that period in history, the people of that time period and the science of that time period. Then their kids will write about what they have learned along with doing craft projects and reading historical fiction from the era. They might take fieldtrips that are relevant or go out to  restaurants that are representative of the countries that they are studying.  By giving children a complete framework for what the they are learning, they are more likely to remember what they have studied.

7. Your children will have gaps: you can’t possibly cover everything. Remember the goal is not to cover everything. The goal is to expose your children to a lot of good stuff. You goal is to teach them how to find the information they are looking for. The goal is to create in them an appetite for good books and for a quality education. Do this well and they will be life-long learners.