Did you watch Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?
I was so excited when I saw Fox was doing this show. I have all three nights this week set to record. I even got a piece of paper out a made a column for Homeschool Mama, Homeschool Daddy, B, then one for the correct answer. I thought it would be fun to “compete” (Can you tel I love a good challenge?) and see who could get the most answers right. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy, right?
Uh, maybe not… I got 3 out of 6 right*, but not the same three Homeschool Daddy got right. I didn’t even have B watch, because I knew she would feel like she wasn’t smart. Which, of course, she is.
All throughout the show I told Homeschool Daddy that I thought the questions weren’t a true showing of what the kids really learn in each grade. The topic may have been touched on, but not studied in such detail that every fifth grader, second grader or whoever would know the answer. Seriously… What fourth grader knows which President was the first to be impeached? We are in our second year of American History and I had no idea. Now, when we cycle back to the first year of American History in 7th grade, we will probably cover details like that.
This morning I had an e-mail from another homeschooling mom who felt like she needed to revamp her whole curriculum after one episode of the show. I think as homeschooling parents, we do worry about whether our kids will learn everything public and private school kids learn. But the bottom line is that if you use a curriculum that is reputable, your kids will be fine.
Over the last few weeks, I have had to remind myself that if the kids don’t get every page in a book read or get every worksheet completed, life will not stop. Luckily, I have some wonderful friends that support me and remind me that learning should also be fun and that we only have so many years with our hunnies in our care. So, I’m adding art projects and fun activities that accompany the historical period we are reading about. It’s a privilege to help them love to learn. So, that’s what I learned…
Relax, mommas!
*Being a competitive person, I am happy to announce I got all but one right from last night, and I would have used a help. So, I could have been rich, y’all! Woohoo!
We watched this show several times and while it’s very fun I agree that the questions are not a good representation of what kids that age are learning. My kids and I were hollering at the TV that there was no way kids were learning those things in 1st grade or 2nd grade and so on. It was just crazy! haha!