Why You'll Surpass State Standards When You Homeschool

A huge concern many families have when considering homeschool is how they can be sure to keep learning on track with state standards in case they want to return their child(ren) to "regular" school at some point.

I understand this concern, because I felt the same way.

​Having a list of items to cover and use as a benchmark is certainly helpful when you start out (and as you progress), and you'll quickly learn that what you're teaching your child(ren) at home exceeds those standards.

How is this possible? 

Your instruction with your child(ren) is one-on-one; the instruction they receive in school is, at best, 1:20. And the individual instruction they receive probably takes up all of fifteen minutes each day - assuming they receive any individual instruction at all, that is. 

Also, the lessons are not developed with your specific child in mind when they're at school - and the speed at which the subject is taught does not vary either. 

So whether your child already understands a concept (which you could review quickly and move on to another concept with homeschool) or isn't given sufficient time to master a concept - the pace of the class is the pace. You'll be teaching missed concepts to your child at night to "catch them up" regardless, assuming the school alerts you to the deficiency, which they often do not. 

When you homeschool, you naturally teach well beyond what's required. It's pretty impossible not to!

But regardless, to put your mind at east - this page shares links to the educational standards for every state in the United States. Print out the standards for your state (and a few others, if you like!) and track how quickly you not only meet, but exceed them!