What skills should a child know?

  I’m in the middle of portfolio season—evaluating portfolios for home-school families.  One aspect I’ve  had to consider long and hard is what does a child need to know, what skills, and at what age.  When I taught in private and public schools, I mainly taught Chemistry, with some Biology and Physical Science.  What do you use for standards?  Common Core? State Standards?  For the most part, at least in the sciences, teachers agree on the topics.  The topics, modules, or chapters are similar across different science textbooks.  But what about other subjects, like math?  Too often individuals drive change on a national level.  I’m not sure all the changes are good.   What should you do?  Let’s take a common sense approach.  I’ve been looking for skill based checklists.  I found a few.  Once you go down this rabbit hole, you’ll once again appreciate the value of a good, home-school curriculum.

1. Early Math Skills Check List looks good for early grades, kiddos 4-7, probably intended for kids 5-6. (We all know children develop at different rates.)  Here is an intermediate math skills check list, which looks appropriate for students 8-11, likely intended for kids 8-9. 

2. Scroll down to the Math paragraph here for skill-based, math checklists for K-5, based on Common Core Standards.  (I think the standards are fine; I’m not wild about how the standards have been implemented.) 

3. The American River Charter School’s “I Can” statements are checklists for core subjects: math, science, social studies, and language arts, for grades K-8. Take a look at these lists, which all seem reasonable.  

4. New York State has maintained high standards.  Look at this  English checklist, organized by a NY educator.

5. Home School Den has a History Checklist.  Believe me, Social Studies is a rat’s nest, which varies enormously by state. Although many districts focus on state history in fourth or fifth grades.   Often some sociology and geography is tossed into Social Studies.

 6.  National Geographic’s Geography Skills Handbook has a good outline for the overall scope of geography, based on National Geography Standards, based on teacher consensus.  (I recommend Evan-Moor’s Daily Geography Workbooks, which have a host of map skills.)

7. I’ve found Khan Academy to be reliable.