How can you tell when your child is not placed correctly?

[Maadrose]

I know it's easy to tell when the material is too challenging, but what about when it's the other way around? Dd9yo (will turn 10 in July) grade 4 is in unit 10 of preparing. She is consistently doing the work on her own. She insists on reading the T boxes on her own. Is consistent in her comprehension. Writes excellent narrations and many times they are longer than they need to be. Works without complaining. Loves school. Oral narrations are not a problem for her. How do you know whether or not you should bump her up to the next level? She reads with great discretion. Memorizes easily. Handwriting not an issue. Does really well with cursive. She places well into CTC. Don't want to keep finding things to add. What would be the reasoning behind staying put or moving on? She is working at or above grade level for core subjects.

[mom23]

In our house, incorrect (too low) placement began to show up with lazy habits. Bad attitude, not liking school, not trying on anything because there seemed no point. Just boredom. I think that as long as your child is enjoying school and learning and growing in some skills, there isn't reason to push too far, too fast. However, you mentioned not wanting to have to keep finding things to add. Are you having to consistenly do this?? That might be an indication that you might consider bumping her up. There is also some maturity level to consider...sounds like your dd is very advanced academically, but you also want to think about some of those other issues.

[arstephia]

Having done all of the other guides, I can recommend to NOT bump her up to CTC. There is a big jump in content and then you are then potentially in a cycle of everything being a challenge. Also, there is a certain maturity that needs to develop. We did Preparing with my daughter as a 5th grader, and it was very much as you describe your child. However, after looking at the content of CTC, I decided to place her in Preparing. It was a good choice. She was much more ready maturity/emotionally for CTC the next year. She loves school and continues to excel. She just does the extensions and reads the regular Storytime books in her free tims. No one has ever said schooling needs to be DIFFICULT. I agree that if you aren't getting lazy, sloppy work, and she is enjoying it, she is learning. There is a love for learning that can come from that. I think we as homeschoolers tend to push and push until we find their frustration point and then think we've arrived at the proper place of challenge. It just doesn't have to be that way.