Realistic Expectations?

[nancypants]

I have a Homeschool planner full of stuff. One of the "goodies" is a list for each grade level of what a child should know by the end of the year. I copied several of them down so that I might consider if/how/when I might teach it all.

Looking through them it seems to me that several of them are somewhat arbitrary. I can look back and say that, even at a private school, I didn't know *all* of these things at these grade levels. While I do not have any problem with these things, I'd just like your opinions on whether or not you find the lists, generally speaking, to be realistic as far as expectations and goals for a third and first grader. My children do have have knowledge of several of the items on the lists but not all (granted, we're only halfway through the year... but I confess, some of these wouldn't have crossed my mind this year if I hadn't pulled out this list today!)



Here is just a small portion of the list for the third grader:
count to 1,000
write to 1,000
perimeter, volume and area
make change for $3.00
Abbreviations for Days of the Week
understands and can use a ruler
Division
Recognize place value to a Million
Identify A.M. and P.M.
Knows fractions 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 and 3/4 (can color them on a chart)
Define "synonyms," "homonyms," and "antonyms"
Able to identify and write a complete sentence (correct punctuation)
Understands the parts of a story (beginning/middle/end) and can identify them in a story
Can do a basic book report
Proper use of commas
proper use of exclamation poin
proper use of question mark
proper use of quotes
proper use of new paragraphs
Able to write a thank you note
Keep a regular journal
Understands the point of jobs/careers/why people work
basic knowledge of early explorers
basic knowledge of development of electricity/communication/transportation
Continents
Oceans
understands and can identify different rock formations
able to use a compass
understands life cycle
able to alphabetize through first , second, third..... letter of words
able to look up words in dictionary
write a book report
able to identify vertebras and invertabrates
understands earth's rotation
understands concepts of matter
understands workings and importance of tropical rainforests
able to articulate and identify feelings
able to identify food groups
name at least three famous painters/artists and musicicans and describe two things about them
able to memorize a song
sing basic scale
act out a play
tell a story with charades
able to role play
name primary colors
name most colors
know what colors different colors make when mixed
can identify different styles of music by sound
able to keep a beat
able to identify different instruments by sound


Here is a portion of the list for the first grader:
to write his whole name
write whole alphabet - upper and lower case
Alphabetizing
Counting to 100
Writing 1-100
Reading number words
Days of the week
Months of the year
How to tell the date with a calendar
Greater than Less than
Telling Time
Odd and Even numbers
Read short story and answer questions
Write a complete sentence
What causes daylight and darkness
Read a simple map with key
Where he lives on a globe or map of the world
American Heritage basics
plants, seeds and parts of plant
Do a short play (Aesop's fable) with Burke
What colors make what other colors when mixed together
Act a story out through charades
About a few famous artists and musicians
Planets in the Solar System

So, how realistic are these? What if these topics are not covered in our curricula this year (which I know lots of it isn't)?

You see, I'm not a very obsessive person about school. We simply do the next thing in our chosen curricula. We don't do a great many special projects. We do reading, writing, history/geography, Language arts, Math (and science, but not as regularly as I'd like). Why do I suddenly feel all nervous that I'm doing it all wrong because I can't say my kids know this whole arbitrary list?

And most importantly, why did I buy this dumb planner? :confused:

[Unicorn]

You bought the planner because it was cute.

3rd grade- somebody thinks a book report is important- it was on the list twice. I don't think a 3rd grader should be able to write a book report, my 5th grader can't even do that (he is severly writing phobic).

I think some of the things on the list will just be learned through everyday life, ie. months of the year, days of the week, memorizing a song, etc. I wouldn't stress over any of it. It is just a guideline, and not necessarily your own guideline either- does that make sense?

[Canada_Mom]

Not sure why I'm replying... but here's my take:

To me the lists seem realistic. I read through both a couple times each and have to admit that dd (gr1) knows what you wrote on the gr1 list and a lot of what is on the gr3 list. She's certainly no genius, so if SHE can do it, I'm assuming that means the lists are realistic. lol! :p The "lists" don't seem to out there (to me) and a lot of what they list is stuff that I would think would be good information to know that I wouldn't necessarily have thought of to teach : ie: able to use a compass.

Why you bought the planner? Perhaps to drive yourself crazy?? :confused: No worries... I do that to myself too!! :rolleyes: I guess I appreciate stuff like this b/c it keeps my brain working- a lot of the "common knowledge" that I have is stuff that I take for granted and I think that's what this sort of list points out.... the day in/day out stuff we all know as adults but can't really pin point when or how we acquired it. A lot of it just doesn't occur to us to formally teach.

I don't think that any child would be "missing something" in their education if they learned to read a map with a key in say gr2/3 vs. gr1 but I think it's a skill that should be covered at some point. I personally wouldn't sit and check off each item on the lists each year and make sure they were covered in that particular grade but I would make a point to cover the material at some point. I'd use them as a guideline and add in some of dc's interests and have some fun along the way.

Anyways, that's my $0.02 for the evening. Cheers! Stay warm!

Also, I don't know about you but I find it enough work trying to keep on track with some of the (silly - ack! there, I said it!) topics that the local school board wants me to cover... reading such things makes me groan as I think about adding ONE more thing we hadn't intended to this year... it doesn't end, it doesn't end....

[nancypants]

Thanks ladies! :D I guess this was my one insecure post for the year or something. (Can you tell I probably don't struggle often enough with insecurity! LOL)

I think you hit the nail on the head, Canada Mom, when you said: "the day in/day out stuff we all know as adults but can't really pin point when or how we acquired it. A lot of it just doesn't occur to us to formally teach." Some of it just strikes me as stuff that isn't really learned in school so I wouldn't have thought to teach it formally... and I can't imagine they even do in school since I know they didn't when I was a kid.

[melissel]

Erm...could you share what the planner is? I'm a planner junkie, so I probably shouldn't be asking you to enable me, but I'm just dying to know, LOL! Can you link to it somewhere?

[nancypants]

Melissel, I'm your polar opposite! LOL I am the antithesis of a planner junkie! I bought it because I thought I'd better have one. (And it's not even cute! LOL) It sat on the shelf until yesterday. :rolleyes: It's called, "The Ultimate Home School Planner" but I haven't found it to be that remarkable at all. It has a couple of handy reproducibles and such. But nothing earth shattering by any stretch.

[melissel]

Melissel, I'm your polar opposite! LOL I am the antithesis of a planner junkie! I bought it because I thought I'd better have one. (And it's not even cute! LOL) It sat on the shelf until yesterday. :rolleyes: It's called, "The Ultimate Home School Planner" but I haven't found it to be that remarkable at all. It has a couple of handy reproducibles and such. But nothing earth shattering by any stretch.

Whew, thank you, I feel better now! :D My problem is that my dearest-held dream is that I will one day be neat and organized and calm and in control, and I am in search of the Magic Planner that will make my dream come true. My head knows it does not exist, but my heart keeps hoping. *sigh* I also keep trying to design my own, but by a few hours into the process, the thing has so many pages and sections, it's already so completely disorganized and overwhelming that I can't even bear to finish the project, let alone use the thing. You see where I'm going with this, of course. Thank you for talking me down off this particular ledge (for now), LOL!

[Liz CA]

I have a Homeschool planner full of stuff. One of the "goodies" is a list for each grade level of what a child should know by the end of the year. I copied several of them down so that I might consider if/how/when I might teach it all.

:confused:

with it.
Really, I don't want to come across as harsh but IMHO, these planners do more harm than good. It took me years to learn Algebra, now I can do it but I couldn't do it when the planner said I should be able to do it.
Some things will take longer. If you use it as a guideline only - I mean glance at it, confirm to yourself that your dc are well within that range - and then forget about it, I give you permission to keep it instead of burning it. LOL.

[nancypants]

with it.
Really, I don't want to come across as harsh but IMHO, these planners do more harm than good. It took me years to learn Algebra, now I can do it but I couldn't do it when the planner said I should be able to do it.
Some things will take longer. If you use it as a guideline only - I mean glance at it, confirm to yourself that your dc are well within that range - and then forget about it, I give you permission to keep it instead of burning it. LOL.


http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/posiepie/thank_you.gifBless your soul in the bosom of Abraham. http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/posiepie/muah.gif And... erm... no, I've never ever said that before. But it sounded funny. :D