The standards we teach to
What your child is expected to learn in each subject, kindergarten through 12th grade, and how Knowly teaches to it. For what your child actually reads and works through, see Curriculum.
One child, two grade levels
One of our team's kids is 10 and enrolled in 5th grade. Math is his harder subject, so he's working through 5th-grade math standards with extra review where he needs it. In language, he's working on 7th-grade standards.
In a classroom, both subjects move at the 5th-grade pace. That's about right for his math. In language, it means two years of material he's ready for, on hold. A report card gives one letter per subject, so neither shows up.
On Knowly, placement and progress are tracked per subject, so he's taught at his real level in each one. His parents see it in the parent portal, standard by standard, as it happens. They didn't know about the two-grade gap until they saw it there.
He isn't unusual. A Johns Hopkins analysis of state test data found 20–40% of students perform above grade level in reading and 11–30% in math. 1 Meanwhile 9 in 10 parents believe their child is right at or above grade level. 2 Across 13 randomized trials, teaching children at their actual level instead of their grade raised test scores, and the students furthest behind gained the most. 3
What your child is expected to learn, grade by grade
Pick a grade to see what the standards expect by the end of it, in plain language. Your child works at their own level in each subject, so they may be in different grades for different subjects. Full standards are linked at the bottom of the page.
Which standards we use, and why
A standard is a list of what a child should know and be able to do by the end of a grade or course. It doesn't choose the books, the teaching method, or the worldview. Those come from your curriculum.
| Subject | Standard | Who publishes it | Why we use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading & writing K–12 | Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) | Texas State Board of Education, 2017 4 | Phonics is written into the standard in kindergarten and 1st grade, and it carries through English I–IV in high school. |
| Science K–12 | Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) | 26 states with the National Research Council, NSTA, AAAS, and Achieve, 2013 5 | Kids investigate, build models, and explain with evidence, not just memorize terms. |
| Math K through Precalculus | Common Core State Standards for Mathematics | National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010 | Rated one of the two strongest sets of state math standards in the Fordham Institute's 2018 review. 6 We use the skill list only, not the classroom methods. |
| Calculus Grades 11–12 | College Board AP Calculus AB and BC frameworks | College Board 8 | Common Core's required standards stop around Algebra II. 7 For calculus we teach to the framework the AP exam is built on. |
How the platform uses them
Everything in Knowly is organized by standard, at every grade.
Placement
On day one, your child takes a placement assessment in each subject against the standards for their grade and the grades around it. Anything they've already mastered is marked done and skipped.
Lessons
Every lesson is tied to one standard. Your child is always working on the next standard they haven't mastered.
Mastery
A standard isn't marked mastered after one good day. Your child has to get it right more than once, in more than one format, over time. Across 108 controlled studies, this approach moved the average student from the 50th to about the 70th percentile. 9
Review
Mastered standards come back at longer and longer intervals. If one slips, it goes back into rotation, and the portal tells you why.
Each subject at its own level
When your child masters their grade's standards in a subject, they move into the next grade's in that subject, while still getting the time they need in others.
Real-time reporting
The parent portal shows every standard for your child's grade or course, in every subject, and where each one stands right now: New, Climbing (in progress), or Muscle (mastered and holding).
Annual testing
North Carolina requires homeschooled children to take a nationally standardized achievement test every year covering English grammar, reading, spelling, and math. Parents pick the test; the Iowa, Stanford 10, CAT, and others all qualify. There's no minimum score; results are kept on file by your family and are not sent to the state, though the Division may ask to see them. 10
Results go into the parent portal next to your child's standards, so you can compare what the test says with what you've seen all year.
Common questions
Does Knowly cover high school?
Yes, kindergarten through 12th grade. High school math runs from Algebra I through calculus, taught to the College Board's AP Calculus framework. Homeschooled students take AP exams through a local school that offers them.
Why Common Core for math? A lot of homeschool families don't like it.
Most objections to Common Core are about how schools teach it: the methods, the worksheets, the materials. We only use its list of grade-level skills. The Fordham Institute's 2018 review rated it one of the two strongest sets of math standards in the country. How your child learns each skill comes from your curriculum.
What if our curriculum teaches something differently than the standard?
Your curriculum decides how a topic is taught. Science is the usual example: if your family teaches origins from a faith perspective, choose a science curriculum that does, and that's what your child is taught. You can open any lesson and see exactly how it was handled.
Can my child be ahead in one subject and behind in another?
Yes, and it's common. Placement and progress are tracked per subject, so a child can be on 7th-grade language and 5th-grade math at the same time.
Where can I read the standards myself?
All of them are public: TEKS for reading and writing, NGSS, Common Core math, and AP Calculus.
Questions about standards?
Ask our CEO directly. Thirty minutes, and you'll see the parent portal with real standards loaded.