Obviously, if they are passing quizzes and tests, there is a good chance they are learning at their grade level. However, sometimes we think they are, only to find out later that they aren’t/didn’t. (This happened in a couple early grades for us with spelling in particular.)
As a former middle school science teacher, I decided to limit the graded items in history and science in the younger grade levels of our homeschooling by choosing to use history and science more as educational read alouds. Our boys seemed to grasp a majority of the information we read (even more than I could remember often times) and the history and science books had/have cyclical reviews of past lessons throughout the book. So, again, there are a variety of ways to view (and check for) “successful learning”.
A couple of resources for checking learning include…Quizlet.com where people have created all kinds of quizzes and you can too. I used this with spelling or important history facts or science processes or vocab words…lots of options. Online learning games can be very helpful—there are many games online. And many of them can give instant feedback to a learner because they ask things as straightforward as “which word is the noun” and the multiple choice options can be clicked with instant feedback. I have used this type of activity to check for understanding or to help a weak area of learning. (It can become a different voice saying the same thing you have said…yet something clicks in the learner’s mind.) Khan Academy is a great resource for all subject areas. (I could go on and on here because I have bookmarked so many helpful things on the internet over the years.)
There are some helpful books with grade level break downs of what a student should be learning. I have purchased one by Ruth Beechick titled You Can Teach Your Child Successfully (grades 4-8) and one by Rebecca Rupp titled Home Learning Year by Year. Both of these authors have helpful insights and other helpful books to offer homeschooling families.
When it comes to standardized testing, I waited until 4th grade to have our older take a standardized test. I felt this was a good time where the learner needed to be responsible for their learning and know where they matched up to others. I chose to use the California Achievement Test (CAT)…which I also took when I was in elementary school… and this can be done online, at your chosen pace, with instant results upon completion (and a helpful explanation of the results) at Christian Liberty. We go to the library so both boys can work through their test simultaneously. (And I use the time to make plans for the next school year). One nice thing is that they have time allotments for each section of testing. But, if the student finishes early, they can just go on to the next test. Initially, we did all the testing in one day (2 hours or so actually is what it took). But the boys (after a couple years of that) showed their mind was exhausted toward the end of the test. So, we decided to take 2 days and do half the test each day. That was much more liked by the test takers! J We also used to do it a couple weeks after our Spring Break. But we decided to do it the week before our Spring Break…so it was done before our minds started heading too much toward summer break! J
After reading all this, you might still feel overwhelmed (or more overwhelmed). But I encourage you to tackle it just like anything else in life…one step at a time. I didn’t know all that I now know about homeschooling after the first year. In fact, I am still learning. Just like anything else in life, there is no “one perfect way” to homeschool. Just take it one step at a time… But enjoy each step because we all know how fast the time goes!