{"id":665,"date":"2014-12-11T12:39:42","date_gmt":"2014-12-11T19:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/?page_id=665"},"modified":"2015-07-06T11:10:02","modified_gmt":"2015-07-06T17:10:02","slug":"keeping-on-grade-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/keeping-on-grade-level\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping on Grade Level"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Louisa

Louisa and Ammon<\/p><\/div>\n

There is a sickness that seems to plague moms. Seems all parents are prone to this infection sooner or later and sometimes it can keep us down for years. Having my child in public school for a short stint heavily exposed me to this disease, but it was a blessing in disguise because it immunized me for life. I have no more desire to keep anyone “on grade level”!<\/p>\n

Actually, no one is ever really “on grade level”. The perfect “on grade level student”, just like the perfect waistline or perfect I.Q. is a figment of the imagination.<\/strong> It is someone’s ideal, conceived in their imagination, not from association with a real person.<\/p>\n

Everyone wants their child to be “above grade level” and will jump through hoops to avoid falling “below grade level”. But you can see the ridiculous nature of this sickness if you compare it to height. Can you control your child’s height? I guess you could buy tall platform shoes so he could fake it and look the height that some chart or table dictates for his age, but other than that he is destined to grow as genetics has planned it and nothing you can do can change it. Surely, poor nourishment could stunt his height, but assuming you are not hindering his growth but rather nourishing him. \u00a0So cramming vitamins down his throat or putting him on a stretching machine at night is not going to make him any taller!<\/p>\n

So it is with intellectual development.<\/em> Each child is a unique child of God. Understanding, maturing, and intellectual development comes step-by-step in God’s perfect pattern as he grows.<\/strong> It would be wise for us to make peace with that reality. And discard the concept of “falling behind” or “keeping them on grade level”.<\/p>\n

Do your best, Mom, to teach and love your child. Make your child’s development and his educational opportunities a priority. Your best is all you can offer and it is quite more than enough! Your child’s best is all he can do, also, and that is quite enough in God’s eyes, and in a loving parent’s eyes!<\/p>\n

Let’s all recover from the “grade level” sickness. It never makes anyone\u2014parent or child\u2014feel happy!
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

May I recommend:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\"3kidsonarock\"
\nGifted Child
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\"hand-644145_1280\"
\nMy Child is Behind in School
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\"child-315049_1280\"
\nSiblings Progressing at Different Rates
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There is a sickness that seems to plague moms. Seems all parents are prone to this infection sooner or later and sometimes it can keep us down for years. Having my child in public school for a short stint heavily exposed me to this disease, but it was a blessing in disguise because it immunized […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[14,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homeschooling-concerns","category-how-to-homeschool","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/louisa_ammon_violins.jpg?fit=495%2C400&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6IrRN-aJ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1204,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/testing\/","url_meta":{"origin":665,"position":0},"title":"Do I Need to Test My Child?","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: We need to know about testing. When? What materials? How often? Please help! Our son is in the 4th grade. Answer: As home school moms, we are trying to put information into our children's minds and hearts, not pull it out, which is what testing seems to be all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Concerns"","block_context":{"text":"Concerns","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/how-to-homeschool\/homeschooling-concerns\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/board-361516_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C909&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/board-361516_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C909&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/board-361516_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C909&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/board-361516_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C909&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/board-361516_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C909&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1160,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/gifted-child\/","url_meta":{"origin":665,"position":1},"title":"Gifted Child","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I homeschooled my son in kindergarten and then had to put him in public school for 1st grade. They of course tested him and he is \"gifted\". I am blessed to be able to homeschool him again next year. Do you have any thoughts or suggestions on what I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Concerns"","block_context":{"text":"Concerns","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/how-to-homeschool\/homeschooling-concerns\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/3kidsonarock.jpg?fit=373%2C280&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1744,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/a-way-to-grade\/","url_meta":{"origin":665,"position":2},"title":"A Way to Grade","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's one mother's clever way of motivating her children to do excellent work! Contributed by Carol Johnson Gainesville, Florida I had heard all the arguments for and against grading your children in homeschool, and had decided not to grade. Going along with the theory that they will learn better when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "How to Homeschool"","block_context":{"text":"How to Homeschool","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/how-to-homeschool\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/pen-162124_1280.png?fit=1108%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/pen-162124_1280.png?fit=1108%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/pen-162124_1280.png?fit=1108%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/pen-162124_1280.png?fit=1108%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/pen-162124_1280.png?fit=1108%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":265,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/writing-in-my-homeschool\/","url_meta":{"origin":665,"position":3},"title":"Writing in My Homeschool","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Come take a peek inside my homeschool. 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Are the scores accurate? Do my children need outside testing by the school district to determine their grade level and their weaknesses and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Concerns"","block_context":{"text":"Concerns","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/how-to-homeschool\/homeschooling-concerns\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"teepee2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/teepee2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7815,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/for-kids-who-love-space\/","url_meta":{"origin":665,"position":5},"title":"For Kids Who Love Space","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"My daughter Louisa\u00a0wanted to study astronomy for science in homeschool. She is 12 years old and has her definite preferences, so I began a search for some resources to help. I discovered Apologia Science books for grades K-6 grade. The chapters are fun to read aloud together, and they have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Science"","block_context":{"text":"Science","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/what-articles\/science-articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/astronaut-11050_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C1195&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/astronaut-11050_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C1195&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/astronaut-11050_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C1195&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/astronaut-11050_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C1195&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/astronaut-11050_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C1195&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7342,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665\/revisions\/7342"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}