Signs your homeschooler is on track this year

Compare your child to where they were a year ago. A grade-level chart and someone else's kid are both the wrong ruler. If they read more easily than last fall, can do math they couldn't do before, and can tell you about what they're learning, they're on track. Reading and math are the two to watch most closely, since they build on themselves.

If you're asking it in February, you're in good company.

Look back a year

Pull out a writing sample from last fall and one from this month. Have your child read aloud from a book that was hard for them in September. Look at the math they were doing then and now. This comparison tells you more than any checklist, because it measures your child against the only standard that's really fair, the kid they were twelve months ago, before this year's books and this year's work and all the ordinary mornings you've already forgotten.

Signs things are going well

• They read more smoothly, and longer, than they did last year.
• Math builds, each new idea leaning on the old one, and the old ones hold.
• They can tell you about what they read or learned, in their own words.
• Their writing is getting longer, clearer, or more interesting.
• They ask questions and follow their curiosity.

A child who's doing all five is doing fine, no matter what page of the workbook they're on.

Signs something needs a closer look

If reading hasn't moved in six months, or if math facts they once knew keep slipping away, pay attention. So does a child who dreads every lesson. It may be the wrong level, the wrong materials, or a learning difference worth an evaluation. None of those mean you've failed. They mean it's time to change something.

Use a test if it helps

Some states require standardized tests at certain grades, so check your state's rules. Even where they aren't required, some families test once a year for their own peace of mind. A test is one snapshot on one day. Use it as one piece of information.

About being behind

"Behind" at home means something different than it does at school. A school has to move thirty kids along together. You can slow down for a hard unit, then move faster once it clicks. A kid who spends an extra month on fractions and really understands them isn't behind. He's building a floor that the next four years stand on.

About you

You know the night. The kids are asleep, you're looking at another family's schedule online, and you're sure your kid should be doing more. That feeling comes from comparing, and it mostly isn't true.

You're watching your child learn up close, every day, which is more than most teachers ever get to do. If they're growing, you're doing enough.