The talk.

Yesterday, I had "the talk" with the boys. No. Not that one. ;) The one I find myself giving them about this time each year telling them what grade they're in now. You see, as homeschoolers, we don't often talk about grade levels and very much teach to the kid's abilities rather than sticking with a more traditional "this is what you should do in third grade" mentality. I actually read this blog post awhile back that addressed this issue perfectly. (And, yes, we're all over the place in terms of grade levels and subjects here and the boys give me that stricken look of "what's the right answer?" when people ask them, lol.)

So. Even though we won't start our school year "officially" until September 6, the public schools here are back in session and yesterday was orientation for our one-day-a-week enrichment program, Options. (This will be our fourth year participating and the boys are stoked for classes to start September 12.) So it seemed like the right time for "the talk" so the boys would know what to tell people when they asked. To add to the confusion, though, the answers are different for people who ask while they're at Options and for people who ask when we're just out at a store and folks are wondering why they're not in school. :)

For those of you who are wondering, here's the deal...

Noah is 10, will be 11 in November. If we'd put him in public school, he'd be in fifth grade this year. At home, we do work from a couple years below that to a few years beyond that, depending on the subject. At Options, he was a grade "ahead" for awhile but we've now switched him back to being officially in fifth grade since classes are combined for 4-6 and for 7-12. So. Noah's fairly easy. If people ask, he's in fifth grade.

Asher is 9, with one of those summer birthdays. So, for public school, he could either be in third or fourth grade this year, depending on whether we'd sent him just after he turned 5 or waited a year. We'd have waited a year to keep him two grades behind Noah. So he'd be an older third grader this year and is actually about that all around at home. At Options, though, right now, he's in the fourth grade classes. His friends are in the fourth grade classes and there are more class choices for fourth grade. Next year, we'll probably declare him officially a fourth grader again, so that he can stay in that 4th-6th grade bubble a bit longer and so that he'll be back on track with that public school grade thing.

Micah is 6, just turned six. So, for public school, he could either just be starting kindergarten or be going into first grade this year. We'd have started him last year despite his late summer birthday (can't keep this kid down!), so we'll say he's officially a first grader this year even though at home he does half his subjects right alongside his older brothers and is already almost beyond the third grade math curriculum. But. At Options, he's in second grade. Because last year he wound up in the first grade reading and math classes because kindergarten wasn't challenging enough, and he can't take those classes again...and he'd be bored to tears if he did. ;) So, at Options, he's a very short second grader...who fortunately won't need to take a "reading" class this year at Options (as it would likely also not be the right level for him) and will have classes like cooking and art instead. ;) (Honestly, at home, the boy's beyond even second grade levels in just about everything except, maybe, scissor use, lol.)  

And that, friends, is what grades my boys are in. ;) In explaining this all to the boys, I also told them that it's perfectly acceptable to just answer with "I'm 9" since often people are generally just looking for how old a kid is anyhow when they ask what grade they're in. ;) Besides, it's just too complicated to explain every time. :)