In answer to the common question, “How will I know I am covering “enough” with my soon-to-be 8th grader to prepare him for high school level courses?”
You never will. Makes me grin each time I type this as I can envision the ‘thanks for nothing’ expression it must elicit.
If your student will return to public school you will need him prepared in math & reading comprehension, competent in gleaning material from texts, able to fill in a bubble with the stroke of a #2 pencil, stand in line, raise his hand, request a bathroom pass in twelve different languages,………….okay, I’m getting a bit silly.
Make certain your child is math confident. Go back and insure that all upper level math building blocks are sturdy and steady. (decimals, fractions, theories, etc). Strengthen reading comprehension through re-reading and narrating short stories, classics, favorite books. Use a strong program such as IEW or Lost Tools of Writing to assure that a well planned, well stated composition can be created if given a topic.
If your student has a strong foundation in these three basics, he/she will be able to learn any subject matter no matter how difficult or foreign. Science and History are required subjects, so please don’t forget to include them in your days. But the base three for a lifetime of success in learning anything from how to put together a bike to how to solve the worlds problems are math, reading comprehension, and writing.
Another spin off to this is the issue of ‘gaps’. Not the super fantastic immune strengthening diet that is helping frantic moms across the world regain health over illness, just the simple empty spaces that feel, in an academic sense, as though they ought to be filled.
Every single student has gaps even if they attend the most stellar institution this world has to offer and switch to another. There will be gaps. From traditional school to traditional school, there are gaps- yes, even if they are all teaching The Core. From home school to traditional school, there will be gaps. Gaps just can’t be helped.
As long as the gaps are not in the above 3 mentioned areas (math, reading comprehension, writing) your student will be just fine and be caught up within a matter of weeks. -even in computers and foreign language when placed with students who have had experience for 8 years and yours has none. It’s a phenomenon for sure, but it’s real.