"Yep Our twin girls are 2 and 3 levels above grade average because we have a home version of summer school where they learn basic Math, History and English."
Can you explain more?
Sounds like something we are trying to do. My wife got some Saxon math books because we felt the schools wasnt giving the kids enough homework, so we started them on that...
Well, take Math for example. Kids today get thrown from one type of math to another before the facts are firmly grasped. Multiplication is frustrating if your simpler addition isn't automatic. Frustration breeds resistance, so the fastest way to get them to not like Math is to dump it all on them at once.
At home, History is taught from an American standpoint, something the schools are woefully deficient in. Public school class time is spent more on the evils of slavery that the actual history of the Civil War, and teaching kids the words of the Declaration of Independence doesn't necessarily teach them the MEANING of it. The Founders went through Hell to establish this country, yet many of the hardships they endured aren't even noted in public schoolbooks.
We tend to stick more the Classical literature at home, too. Facts about Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, Rome, and England are covered along with age appropriate literature. They haven't actually read the Iliad or the Odyssey, but the parts they know through short stories and films has interested them, so they will be reading them as they get older. Odysseus is a favorite character of theirs.
English and literature are my favorite subjects. Grammar, punctuation and proper sentence structure is important. Something as small as a semicolon can change the meaning of an entire sentence. Words DO have power. :-)
Sorry if this hasn't been too informative. There are ton's of websites out there with worksheets and such. A lot of our school tends to be a short amount of bookwork and a lot of discussion. If there's something that really peaks their interest, or if they ask something I can't answer, I look for more information on it.
It really isn't the amount of homework, either. I can't tell you the amount of busywork my girls have brought home
Teach them what you'd think they should know along with things you'd like to know more about. Science is always a good start around here. We all learned more about hummingbirds by checking out library books and doing Internet research. Then I had them write a paper on the subject. Then they had to write it again with clarified sentences and proper punctuation.
I hate the way schools have conglomerated so much of the necessary education in one course. 'Social Studies' could be more aptly called World Cultures, IMHO. It's like trying to eat a 4 course meal in 45 minutes. No wonder all the kids are so confused.
How old are your children, BTW?