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LLR4
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| Posted: June 19 2008 at 12:38pm | IP Logged
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I hope this is the right place for this question.
I am looking for the specific required subjects in Massachusetts for each given grade level. I have researched like crazy and cannot find anything specific per grade. For instance, at the HSLDA it lists all of the subjects required to be taught, but not for what grade levels.
It's been easy thus far, with my oldest who has been home schooled the longest, from 3-5 grade, and having 3 kindergarteners this past school year. But now that our 3 are going into 1st grade, and our oldest into 6th grade, I want something more structured to refer to to have long term planning goals, in choosing which subjects to take.
I realize it is different for every state, so I hoped there would be MA home schoolers here who have a list, or have a helpful reference. I'm not sure I am positive which subjects they HAVE to take in what gardes, or which subjects are actually covered by other subjects, etc.
ANY help would be so appreciated!!
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~ Laura
Blessed: Mama to dd{A}13 y.o., and 7 y.o. triplets ds{J}, dd{O}, ds{S} and wife to Michael
Our House of Joyful Noise
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Cheryl
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| Posted: June 19 2008 at 6:12pm | IP Logged
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I live in MA. I don't know if there is such a list. I was looking last week and found only what you found - the list of subjects to be taught without grade levels. I was curious because I wondered if foreign languages were required for my 1st, 2nd and 4th graders. I asked my s-i-l who's a first grade teacher in our school district. She said that she teaches a little bit of French, Spanish and Sign Language, but foreign languages aren't required until 6th grade around here. Maybe you could call your school department's Director of Curriculum's office and ask them.
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Cheryl
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LLR4
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| Posted: June 19 2008 at 6:43pm | IP Logged
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Cheryl wrote:
| I live in MA. I don't know if there is such a list. I was looking last week and found only what you found - the list of subjects to be taught without grade levels. I was curious because I wondered if foreign languages were required for my 1st, 2nd and 4th graders. I asked my s-i-l who's a first grade teacher in our school district. She said that she teaches a little bit of French, Spanish and Sign Language, but foreign languages aren't required until 6th grade around here. Maybe you could call your school department's Director of Curriculum's office and ask them. |
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Thank you for your reply, Cheryl.
Yes, I thought of asking the office of Pupil of Personnel Services -- whom I submit my education plans to and also a overview of our year. I just wondered if they'll tell me what they would LIKE us to cover, as opposed to what is actually required by the state---kwim? They are pretty good overall, but sometimes I'm not clear through them as to what I really HAVE to do legally, and what they want, and make it sound like I have to. lol
Gosh...you'd think it would be pretty clear somewhere, what subjects must be taught in what grade.
See...my daughter is going into 6th grade so....I would need to know if she really HAS to take a foreign language (even though it looks like she will be taking Latin.) Also, I am wondering about stuff like Social Studies or Current Events kind of stuff.
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~ Laura
Blessed: Mama to dd{A}13 y.o., and 7 y.o. triplets ds{J}, dd{O}, ds{S} and wife to Michael
Our House of Joyful Noise
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LLR4
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| Posted: June 23 2008 at 7:09pm | IP Logged
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Ok....I'm not getting many responses here. Maybe it's not even a Massachusetts specific question?? Is it a ridiculous question in general?
I need to pay attention and do what I need to do, because my town has to approve my education plan every year, and I feel like they are getting more and more particular about what they want to know/see.
I DID call the Pupil of Personnel services. Whenever I have called before, they have been very nice. This time the lady that answered was unbelievably rude and condescending. I asked her how I could find out exactly what subjects should be taught in what grade, and she laughed and rattled off this long list. So I said "Social Studies in 1st grade?" and she yelled "YES!!!"...like I'm an idiot. Then she got aggrivated and said she'd have to have someone else call me back and I said "PLEASE DO!" Guess what...no call of course. I will be talking to her higher up (like the director). Afterall, I am a town tax payer, paying for schools I don't even use! Ok....thanks for letting me vent. lol
Here is the list of required subjects in MA, according to the HSLDA, and then I'll tell you why I am confused:
reading, writing, English language and grammar, geography, arithmetic, drawing, music, history and consitution of United States, duties of citizenship, health (including CPR), phys ed, and good behavior.
So here's my questions: Where is science in there?
Where is Social Studies in there?
Why is art and music in there, when our public schools were threatening to drop the 'performing arts' classes due to funding?
I just don't get when you are supposed start certain subjects---like history or the consitution of the U.S. As SUBJECTS every day??
I hope someone understands my confusion. If I being dense with my questions here, let me know that too. I managed to get my 5th grader through the last 3 years h.sing....but suddenly I'm confused. Please lay it out for me if you can.
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~ Laura
Blessed: Mama to dd{A}13 y.o., and 7 y.o. triplets ds{J}, dd{O}, ds{S} and wife to Michael
Our House of Joyful Noise
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Paula in MN
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| Posted: June 23 2008 at 8:41pm | IP Logged
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Laura, I'm with you on feeling confused!
Here in MN we have a list of required subjects, and that's it. No indication of what is taught when, or topics within each subject. I floundered my first year, and then I realized it didn't matter to OUR family what the kids learned, when they learned, and how they learned. As long as we are learning together, and I can tie in our topics to the required subjects, we will do fine.
And so far we have!
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 Paula
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MrsM
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| Posted: June 23 2008 at 8:54pm | IP Logged
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I normally hesitate to recommend ANYTHING we do here in California, but I have to admit I find the standards they have developed for each grade level very helpful. Here's a link:
http://www.education-world.com/standards/s tate/ca/index.shtm l
ETA: I don't know why it keeps moving the "l" at the end down a space. It won't keep my edit, so if you want to copy the link, you'll need to fix the "l" and move it next to the "m".
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guitarnan
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| Posted: June 23 2008 at 9:04pm | IP Logged
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Laura,
History, citizenship, geography and the Constitution are all social studies. In reality, in first grade, this usually ends up being a study of civic holidays (Presidents' Day, for ex.) and The Policeman Is My Friend.
I think you could cover art and music in several enjoyable and simple ways, such as listening to classical music in the car, reading artist biographies (Mike Venezia's series is great, and I found his books at our pubic library), using Draw Write Now or something like that on occasion (my dd loved it!), and, eventually, music lessons or occasional trips to concerts in the park.
Similarly, you can incorporate social studies into other subjects pretty easily - read living books about colonial days, do some map skills stuff related to other history you're talking about or to Bible stories (the journeys of Paul, or Jonah's travels, for ex.). Do map puzzles. Learn to draw a map of your school room (floor plan) or your street. Simple stuff.
Health is part of science (which I did not see on the HSLDA list). You could study the food pyramid or the effects of exercise, if you're not ready to tackle human anatomy in first grade (LOL!). You can also discuss food safety, hand washing, simple illness prevention, things like that.
Since you're in Mass., you could do some local field trips to historic sites - I'll bet you can find one or two! - and that counts as history, too.
I would not do social studies, art or music every day - art and music once a week or so, maybe more if you like doing them - social studies as part of your regular reading, plus some map skills once a week. English, math, religion - those are daily subjects in first grade.
Don't forget that in an election year, you can discuss/study that. What could be more constitutional?
IMHO, Latin counts as a foreign language. Many public school districts around the country think so, too.
I know it's confusing. I live in MD and we have a laundry list of high school subjects we have to cover - including art and music. Music is going to be our toughest one, and I have only 2 years left to get it done! (I thought PE would be hard, but Boy Scouts helped immensely.)
If you think creatively, you'll see that you can include some things they call "subjects" in ways you can work into a daily/weekly routine.
One final idea. We have Art Day at my house on occasion. I hate messy art projects (although I love creating things) and so I have learned to spend a day or afternoon making lots of messes, one after the other, instead of doing 45 minutes of art once a week. We do art less often, but for a longer period of time. Take photos!
I hope this helps a bit. I'm sorry your telephone experience was so frustrating.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Essy
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| Posted: June 24 2008 at 6:30am | IP Logged
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I'm from MA too and will be sending in my letter of intent for the first time this year, so I'm following this thread closely. Thanks.
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LLR4
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| Posted: June 24 2008 at 8:06am | IP Logged
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I'm so glad I bumped this thread and received more input.
Thank you to all who have responded -- especially Nancy > your post was very, very helpful to me.
I would love it if anyone had anything to add, but I am feeling I understand this more and am starting to get an idea of how to present it.
I truly appreciate the help. 
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~ Laura
Blessed: Mama to dd{A}13 y.o., and 7 y.o. triplets ds{J}, dd{O}, ds{S} and wife to Michael
Our House of Joyful Noise
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Willa
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MrsM wrote:
I normally hesitate to recommend ANYTHING we do here in California, but I have to admit I find the standards they have developed for each grade level very helpful. Here's a link:
http://www.education-world.com /stand ards/s tate/ca/index.shtm l
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Here's the direct link to the California standards Mrs M quoted:
State Standards
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Willa
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vmalott
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| Posted: June 24 2008 at 9:45am | IP Logged
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LLR4 wrote:
| So here's my questions: Where is science in there? Where is Social Studies in there? Why is art and music in there, when our public schools were threatening to drop the 'performing arts' classes due to funding? |
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Not from MA, but OH...but your question intrigued me enough to go googling for answers.  Here in OH, our curriculum guidelines are really vague, but they were set up that way so that home educating parents would have considerable freedom when it comes to designing curriculum. They are also considerably different when it comes to what the state standards are for the gov't schools (e.g. we're required to include state history at some point, but not specifically during 4th grade).
I realize that there are no specific statutes pertaining to home education in MA, and that you fall under the category of private education (right?), but it does look like you have a decent amount of leeway when in comes to deciding on your own scope and sequence. Nancy's suggestions are great.
Since you're looking to provide yourself some more structure as well as ensure you're meeting the legal requirements, perhaps you should read these threads:
CM Planning Resources
Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education
It's kind of nice to have a general plan, especially as the kids get closer to high school age and you begin to think about college prep or vocation.
Valerie
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Valerie
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Cheryl
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| Posted: June 24 2008 at 10:03am | IP Logged
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Hi Laura,
I'm sorry you had to deal with that seemingly disgruntled employee. I know that in MA it's the school district that decides whether or not you get "approved". So far, my district has been easy to deal with, but I have heard stories of other cities making it hard for homeschoolers. I can tell you what I did for first grade.
I tweaked this letter to fit my family, telling them that we were using CHC and that a copy of CHC's course of study and further descriptions of some subjects were attached. There was a progress report sample on the AHEM website that I used to help me with subject descriptions and progress reports, but I can't find it right now.
My 4th grader is not using CHC so I gave them short general descriptions of what we are planning to use for each subject. The subjects I listed for him this year were: language arts, mathematics, science, social studies(history/geography), art, music, physical education, and health. I also included a general list of resources (books from our home library, the public library, maps, CD's, etc.)
I do get kind of worried that we won't be approved. I spent time on my paperwork and tried to make it look professional. My dh has a completely different outlook. He says, "I bet they won't even read it." and he encouraged me to get a return receipt when I mailed it because he thought it might get lost in their office. I guess he doesn't believe our city's offices are very organized. 
I could email you my docs to look at if you think it would be helpful, but of course, they haven't been approved yet and because you're in a different district, they might not work for you.
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Cheryl
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Mom to Matthew 13, Joseph 11, Sarah 10, Rachel 6, Hannah almost 4 and Mary 1
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Cheryl
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Oh I found the sample progress report. There's also one for an older child. You may be able to use them to help with subject description lingo.
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Cheryl
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LLR4
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| Posted: June 24 2008 at 11:26am | IP Logged
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WOW!! Thank you all so much!! These links and tips are helping me immensely. Honestly...I think I have given the town WAY more than I am really required, out of fear of not being approved. But all of this help here is helping me simplify and structure both our progress report and coming year plan better.
I SO appreciate this thread. These are the things I give thanks for in prayer, when I count my blessings.
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~ Laura
Blessed: Mama to dd{A}13 y.o., and 7 y.o. triplets ds{J}, dd{O}, ds{S} and wife to Michael
Our House of Joyful Noise
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4Real Forums : Philosophy of Education
Topic: MA required subjects per grade level??
