How many times have your kids been asked what grades they were in? How many times have they been asked just this week? This question is probably the most common question my children get when we are out and about.
What do you do if your child is working at numerous grade levels for different subjects or working at a different level than age-related peers? Children have different strengths and weaknesses and homeschooling allows you to work at the child’s level wherever that may be. Some homeschoolers don’t use materials attached to a grade-level either. As a result, many homeschooled kids find this a confusing question.
It doesn’t have to be confusing or one that opens up a can of worms or even one that delves into a discussion about homeschooling. When someone at a doctor’s office, in a store, or in your neighborhood asks your child’s grade, they are usually just wanting to know your child’s age.
In our society grade levels are ways that adults categorize children into age groups. I don’t think I’ve ever had an incident where the adult really wanted to know the level my kids were attaining in subjects. Sometimes the question is just an adult making polite conversation with a child.
So, I tell my kids what grade they are in according to their age. I currently have a 7th grader, a 5th grader, and a 1st grader by age. However, these grade levels don’t necessarily correlate with what work they are doing. They are doing whatever level they are ready to do. Meanwhile, if a peer asks them what grade they are in or if a receptionist in a doctor’s office asks them, they can answer with what the person was probably wanting to know in the first place.
My oldest is a chatter box, she would get really upset because at the time much of studies had grade levels on the cover so she knew what grade she was “in”. When she told them that many people just looked at her like she was stupid it was really hard. She didn’t want to say what grade/age she was because she’d finished that already. She finally found a way that made her happy. Her response now is “I’m in grade #, but study at grade #. I honesty don’t care, we don’t get that questions very often anymore but most people from the clerk at the grocery store to the pastor at our church know her well lol.
I think about this often. We say the grade the goes with the age as well.