The Answer to: “But how do I know WHAT my homeschoolers need to learn?”

The simplest answer, they need to learn what they want to learn. But, if you are like me, and want to be that loosey goosey but CAN’T- well then, this is for you.

I went to school to become a teacher. Is that training necessary for homeschooling? Absolutely not. They didn’t teach me to homeschool, more how to manage a classroom along with some general education. BUT what I did learn was where to look for “standards” that public schools use across the country. Because I live in a SUPER low regulation homeschool state, the standards don’t actually matter. But I am academically minded and always have been, so I figured I would use those standards as a platform to illustrate homeschool GOALS for you and your family, as well as me and mine.

I want to cover a few things in this post, so here is a list for you- so that you can know what to look for!

What is the difference between standards and goals?
When do I need to actually worry about “standards” in my homeschool?
Our FREE Homeschool Goal Guide, and How to Use It
The Links to products in our Homeschool Goal Guide

What is the difference between standards and goals?

A standard is usually depend on you as well as other people. The definition for this kind of ‘school standard’ is:

“an idea or thing used as a measure, norm, or model in comparative evaluations.”

A goal, however, is supposed to be personalized. They don’t matter as much in comparison to what someone else is doing.

“the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result:”

You can use standards in your homeschool, but I encourage and recommend goals instead. Academics should be personalized, and they should NOT be focused on what another person is achieving. Not ever.

So, When do I actually need to worry about “standards” in my homeschool?

There are a few “High Regulation States” or countries that require more of a standard based approach, so in this case, I would recommend going to HSLDA.org and checking what they require. Often, these standards won’t be anything like public school; but will be more of a “Please cover these subjects during this school year.”

We covered a whole series on Instagram of the high, medium, low, and no regulation states. You can see that below:

https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17943526967184664/

And if you would like, we also have a FREE “Get Started Homeschooling” Pack which you can find below.

https://loveathomeeducation.com/product/get-started-homeschooling-free-e-book/

Our (NEW) and FREE Homeschool Goals Guide, and How to Use it

I wanted to create a framework for parents, that will help with the overwhelm that inevitably comes when you start homeschooling OR your child completes something and needs to move on. Where do you go from here? What do you do?

And one of the questions I swear I have been asked at least 100 times, is how to know WHAT you could and should be teaching your children.

Charlotte Mason said:

“Education is a discipline—that is, the discipline of the good habits in which the child is trained. Education is a life, nourished upon ideas; and education is an atmosphere—that is, the child breathes the atmosphere emanating from his parents; that of the ideas which rule their own lives” (Vol. 2, p. 247).

You see, a child is more than just someone to be taught. A child is someone that is already a person, already with their own ideas, personalities, loves, hates, desires, and abilities. We are here to teach and encourage those children as whole persons. We are here to help them along gently, to allow their love of learning to grow naturally, and to assist them AS WELL as continue learning ourselves.

Please keep in mind, this guide is a gentle framework. It is not a necessity, it is not an end all be all. It IS something created from the heart, something that has helped our family TREMENDOUSLY, and something that I hope and pray will help yours too.

You can download the guide at the link below: (And then keep scrolling if you would like the links mentioned!)

Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14UQb4WcXoC3EIoM2Cn1zaVzPOcAoiXQF/view?usp=sharing

The Links to products in our Homeschool Goal Guide

I will add some jump links here, so that you can go straight to the subject you are looking for!

Science Goals and Units

At least once within years 1-5 have studied the following science standards. You may repeat as often as you wish. If you are doing school family style, we recommend dividing the 12 standards by the 5 years, and trying to complete about 3 standards per year. Please see the next page which will give you resource ideas for these standards, grouped in a way that makes this easy to accomplish!

Coming in 2023: Family History and Research: Relationship between parents and their offspring: animals and humans
Coming in 2023: Earth Week Study: Humans and their effect on the world: Reducing our effect on the natural environment
Coming Halloween 2022: The Magic School Bus in the Haunted House Video Study: How vibrations create sounds

Available now:

The Magic School Bus Elementary Science Curriculum: Weather, Humans and their effect on the world, Reducing our effect on the natural environment, How the stars, the moon and the sun move through the sky, Animal science, Anatomy (teeth, heart, senses, germs),
Botany K-12 Science Unit: Plants (will be updated to add All about plants, their reproduction, and how they interact with animals in their environment)
Astronomy Unit: How the stars, the moon and the sun move through the sky, Sunlight and the Earth’s surface, Laws of Motion (will be updated to contain forms of matter)
Natural Disasters Unit: Natural disasters. Water and the water cycle
Ocean biomes unit: Water, and water geography
Land Biomes Unit: Plants, and animals- how they interact in their environment
(See the Full Earth Science Unit here that includes Botany, Natural Disasters, Ocean and Land Biomes)

History Goals and Units

At least once within years 1-5 have studied the following history standards. You may repeat as often as you wish. If you are doing school family style, we recommend dividing the units or standards by year. Some you may revisit every year, some every few years.

Coming later, no dates announced:

Understand the role of rules and laws in our daily lives and the basic structure of the U.S. government.
·Demonstrate basic economic reasoning skills and an understanding of the economy of the local region.
Coming in 2023: Native: An Early American History: Describe the American Indian nations in their local region long ago and in the recent past.

Available now:

K-4 American History Curriculum, 7 units: Describe the human characteristics of familiar places and the varied backgrounds of American citizens and residents in those places, Students understand the importance of individual action and character and explain how heroes from long ago and the recent past have made a difference in others’ lives (e.g., from biographies of Abraham Lincoln, Louis Pasteur, Sitting Bull, George Washington Carver, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Golda Meir, Jackie Robinson, Sally Ride). Understanding that history is the past. Compare and contrast everyday life in different times and places around the world and recognize that some aspects of people, places, and things change over time while others stay the same
Renaissance K-12 Unit Study (Available October 2022): All of the above, except for American citizens and locations. A Book of Centuries: Draw from historical and community resources to organize the sequence of local historical events and describe how each period of settlement left its mark on the land.
Ranger in Time, K-6 Book Studies (Some available now, some coming soon): All of the above standards.

Social Studies Goals and Units

At least once within years 1-5 have studied the following social studies standards. You may repeat as often as you wish. If you are doing school family style, we recommend dividing the units or standards by year. Some you may revisit every year, some every few years.

Coming soon:

Coming in 2022: The Berenstain Bears Teach Social Studies: Jobs, Citizenship, Money, Map skills
Coming in 2023: Farmers Market Pretend Play, Unschooling math- small business edition)– Basic Economic Skills
(No set date) Governments throughout the world, in all times

Available now:

Cooking through US History Units: Symbols, icons, and traditions of the United States, and the country as a whole
Customizable Visual Calendar Set: Understand the calendar: days, weeks, and months
American History K-4 Unit, Any World History Unit, US Geography Units, History based Book Guides: Compare and contrast exact locations, environments, characteristics, and peoples throughout the world and throughout time
Cooking through US History Units, World History Units, (Coming soon-The Berenstain Bears Welcome to Bear Country Unit): Map skills

Math Goals and Units

All of the standards outlined for levels 1-4 are included in:

Hands-On Math PreK-2, 4 Unit Collection

Numbers
4 Operations
Measurement & Data
Geometry

All of the standards outlined for level 5 are included in

Hands-On Math 3rd Grade, 4 Unit Collection

Numbers
4 Operations
Measurement & Data
Geometry

We usually repeat each unit 2-3x per year. They come with skills lists for each level, that are designed to be repeated until completed!

Language Arts Goals and Units

These are resources we have created that can assist you with teaching language arts to your child. Remember, that for composition and even spelling- curriculum can be totally optional! But these can be provided to help you if you need it.

Composition Resources on our website:

Full Year ELA Levels 1-6

Literature Based Book Guides

The Ultimate Unit Study Book Guides

Numerous guides for letter composition, manuscript and cursive

Spelling Resources on our website:

Spelling and Vocabulary K-12 Learning Book

Full Year ELA Levels 1-6

Coming Soon: Just Grammar Rules for Levels 1-5

Reading Resources on our website:

Full Year ELA Levels 1-6

Our Reading Guide (Complete with Reading Books by US!)