“What grade is your daughter in?"

Why must people become so wrapped up in their own mindset, their own frame of reference that they can't see that there could be any other way of truth and value? My mom used to say, “Their mind is made up, don't confuse them with facts.” As a homeschooler, I encounter people like that all the time, although not nearly as often as I used to. When I started homeschooling 16 years ago, it happened daily but nowadays it is more like a few times a year. Of course, if I go to the NEA website, it happens much more frequently;o)

Here's what got me to thinking about this subject; someone asked me what grade Harmoni was in. Simple question, right? But is it? My answer was, “She isn't.” Completely bumfuzzled them. How I answer this common question depends a lot on who is asking and why... and my mood. Some people might get, “Well, lets see, she is 12 so I guess that is about 6th or 7th grade, right?” To some I would say, “Well, it depends on which subject you are talking about; anywhere from 5th grade to college.” But the real, true answer is, “She isn't.” Hello? Homeschooler!

People don't seem to understand that the system most of us were raised in isn't the only way. The more you diverge from traditional “public school” methodology, the more difficulty people have accepting it. There are even a lot of homeschoolers who look down their noses at anyone who doesn't use desks and textbooks and gradebooks with a red pen. I have tried to explain to some people (the ones who were worth the effort) that grade level is simply a useful construct for the public school system to function. (At least that is an arguable point; I won't go into why I don't really believe that it is in this post.) But what does “grade level” mean in real terms? Of what use is it to a homeschooler unless they are basically doing school at home? Grade level is an arbitrary label applied to make things easier for school administrators. Period. I have exactly two students at this point in time. I manage to keep things rolling without those labels. The only reason I could have for using them is to compare my children with the children of other people who are around the same age. That serves no useful purpose to me. I am much more concerned with whether or not my girls are setting and reaching goals in a relevant and timely manner.

I don't assign grade levels to my girls. We figure out what our goals are. We ask ourselves what useful and worthy things are there to learn? “If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.”[1] We ask what things will make us feel culturally literate and what things will move us toward our goals. Then we work on achieving those goals. At a certain point, usually the early to mid-teens, getting into college hopefully becomes one of those goals. (Bear in mind that I have already graduated two homeschooled kids as well as one who went through public school.) At that point, we start looking at what is required to achieve that goal. The materials we use may have “grade levels” attached but that still has very little meaning to us in any real and useful way.

Here's an example. Gini is 15. She does not enjoy algebra. She and algebra have a hate-hate relationship. She mastered all the basics of arithmetic and some pre-algebra but when she hit algebra, she stuttered to a stop. She hasn't progressed much mathematically since she was about 13. Two things have happened to start her engine again. First, her little sister has caught up to her and is still going strong. Awkward! Second, she started thinking about going to college. And she doesn't just want to go to any old local college where we could help pay her way. No she wants to go to BYU Hawaii. Big dream. Big money. She better get one heck of a good SAT score. We looked up some information about what level of math she would have to master to get the kind of SAT score she would need to get into BYU Anywhere and especially to qualify for some kind of scholarship. I mean, have you looked at out of state tuition costs??? Anywhere, much less Hawaii???? Well, I have told them to shoot for the stars....

Now, please notice; did grade level come up in that topic at all? No. Did it need to? No. She needs to master a couple more levels of Algebra as well as some more advanced Geometry and Trig. And she needs to do it in the next year or two. Is she trying to go from an 8th grade level to an 11th grade level in a year and a half? No, she is learning a logical sequence of math skills that she needs in order to get a really good score on a specific test. Did I mention that she is interested in Veterinary Science? Yeah. Math and science heaven also known as pre-vet. (By the way Gini, OSU ROCKS for Vet Science!)

And, for the record, I have actually sat in classes at Oklahoma State University next to people who were functioning and getting by even though I knew for a fact that their math skills were still at an "8th grade level". Were they still "in 8th grade?" I tutored for my work-study money. I'm not making this up. The public schools are graduating people with less math skills that Gini has right now. Worse, in my opinion, is the fact that they are graduating people who can't outread the average ten year old and don't know the names of all the continents. So grade level begins to mean even less in that light, eh?

Now because I know this will be a question in the minds of some people, yes, I could have pushed her and prodded her and punished her through Algebra. After all, it was done to me. But I chose instead to have faith in her and in her Father's plans for her. I knew that when she came to realize that the math mattered that she would learn it much more quickly and joyfully than she would if I forced her into it. And our home and relationship would be more joyful as well. How many moms describe their relationship with their 15 year old as “joyful”? Well, I do. We have a really wonderful, loving, and yes, joyful relationship. And, guess what, I also have no doubt that she will go to college. Whether or not finances will allow her to go to Hawaii I can't say; that is several years away in a very uncertain economy. She understands that. She knows that she may end up at OSU or even local community college if finances dictate that. But I have no doubt that she will master the math now that she has set her mind to it and neither does she. With no clue whatsoever what grade level she is on, she will master Algebra, Geometry and Trigonometry. And she will take the SAT by storm. And even if she is a “year late” taking the SAT and even if she has to settle for OSU (my alma mater), she will become a fabulous veterinarian. She certainly has a gift with animals. Oh, and they won't care what grade level she achieved either;o)


[1] from 13th Article of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Here Here Mr Webster!!
from: Speeches and Forensic Arguments By Daniel Webster:
"There is no usurpation so dangerous as that which comes in the borrowed name of the people. If from some other authority or other source prerogatives be attempted to be enforced upon the people, they naturally oppose and resist it. It is an open enemy and they can easily subdue it. But that which professes to act in their own name and by their own authority; that which calls itself their servant although it exercises their power without legal right or constitutional sanction requires something more of vigilance to detect and something more of stern patriotism to repress and if it be not seasonably both detected and repressed then the Republic is already in the downward path of those which have gone before it."

"There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters."

Just because one is elected to office doesn't mean that we the people will stand for being ruled unconstitutionally by them. Public officials who were elected by the due processes set down by the Constitution might do well to honor and uphold that Constitution rather than scorn it and undermine it.

Note: Italics my own.