What Your Child Needs to Know When

Review by Vicki Bentley, HSLDA's Early Years Coordinator

    Homeschooling parents often ask me, "How can I be sure I'm teaching my children what they need to know?" This book provides helpful checklists to assess your K-8 students against state standards but, more importantly, you will be inspired by Robin Sampson to rely on God's standards for your children. Robin encourages parents to not separate academic standards from spiritual standards, but to teach and evaluate children from a Biblical worldview.

The book is divided into four major sections including:
-a brief philosophy and history of education,
-details on preparing for, giving, and interpreting achievement tests,
-guidance on how to use the Bible as the core of your curriculum, and
-the evaluation checklists section.
The section of the book that contrasts the Greek model of education (state-based knowledge) with the Hebrew model of education (home-based relationships) was so eye-opening that we made it required reading for our high school students!

The checklists comprise the second half of the book: The academic skills checklists are divided according to grade level (K-8th) in math, language arts, science, and social studies, with spaces to assess up to five children. There are also character quality checklists, sight word lists, and more! What Your Child Needs to Know When is a super tool to help you confidently set goals for your children, assess their progress, and chart your family's course for the next season.

Robin Sampson, PB 296pp. Heart of Wisdom Publishing, 2001