If you do test (as in standardized testing type thing) do you find it helpful? Has anyone found it not helpful? If not, why?
in the 8 years I have homeschool I tested once and it was ok, showed me where we needed to put more time at and least time at. But, never done it again, after the first test I can kind of watch and feel where they are with the test they have in there books to take at the end of chapters and things.
Okay so what you said makes sense but I'm only responding to say I LOVE YOUR QUOTE! LOL ;-) I don't have to test, but am wondering if I would find it helpful or just a waste of time. Especially since we're on a "later rather than earlier" homeschooling journey.
We do not test. Never have. I feel like I know what my kids are strong in and what they are weak in. I don't need the state of texas to tell me what they think my kids should and shouldn't know at a certain age.
Okay but what I want to know if you test is if it was helpful or not. Thank you to all who have replied but I'm not really looking for a survey. . .I'm trying to decide if I'll find it helpful based on other experiences? Hope that clarifies.
When Jeannie took the CAT test at Sylvan, it helped me to know she had a firm grip on reading, but some issues in math. Salesmen that they are, they had a whole program ready to tell me about, but I never enrolled her. I just try to remind her of the strategies she can use to get her answers.
We felt the tests were very helpful and my kids were very excited to take them, believe it or not! Those tests can let you see how well your child is doing compared to the rest of the kids and see their strengths and weaknesses.
I asked the same question to some of the ladies that I know who hs. My reasons were the same as yours......Is it gonna help see were we are? What are weakness are, etc. The best answer I recieved was from a hsing mom of four. She said she does test as they come up because she feels that it will better prepare the kids for act/sats. If they are falling behind in an area she can work with them and get them up to speed and if they are above grade level she continues with what they are doing. She also feels that getting them used to the testing atmosphere will help them on the above tests as well as testing in college. Personally I still haven't decided if I am going to or not but I did find the fcat prep book for third grade and if I do not test officially I still may use it as a test booklet to see were ds stands. We still have a couple years to go yet so who knows what I will actually decide.
Always keep in mind that tests can also be a reflection on how well the student did that day. If a child is sick or something it can effect the test score.
We test per state law yes, I find it helpful I already know my kids strengths and weaknesses, but since I want them to go on to college I want to know how they are per the "expected" grade levels We use the Woodcock Johnson testing which is individual one-on-one testing that overcomes most of the "just having a bad day" issues. After testing, I sit down with the administraters and discuss issues and strengths (they aren't trying to sell anything). My kids enjoy test day - :love:
WA state requires standardized tests each year starting in 3rd grade, I believe it is. So we test each year. It's helpful to a degree, but not something I couldn't live without. It's kind of fun to see how well they do, and good to see what areas they need more work on. One thing I don't like about them is that they are timed. My oldest didn't do well with timed tests, as he reads slower. He could do it all, it just took him longer. So, for him, it wasn't a true test of what he knew, it was a test to see how much he could fit in in the time alotted. My middle one is the opposite, he rushes through to get it done. My dd is in between the two boys. We always have taken the ITBS/ITED. I can administer them, and I test other homeschoolers as well. I don't charge them, except for the cost of the tests. I am now going through www.brewertesting.com They are absolutely great and easy to work with! The tests get back in less than 3 weeks! You may want to check it out.
Our state requires Hs'ers to test every three years, starting with 3rd grade. I'm fine with waiting til 3rd grade to start, but I like testing my oldest every year. We use the PASS test found at www.hewitthomeschooling.com. I like it because it isn't timed, and I can give it myself. I find it very helpful because even though I try to be laid-back, I'm actually quite anal about knowing how well he's doing compared to other kids! (I try very hard not to let the kids know this, though, as they both inherited their mother's tendency toward perfectionism, unfortunately...) The PASS test compares them to other homeschooled kids, and to public schooled kids who take a similar standardized test. So far, every year he's been right about average when compared to other homeschooled kids. But the fun thing is seeing his scores jump when compared to public schooled kids...he's like in the 90th + percentiles across the board. Call me egotistical if you must, but I find it so encouraging to see that! It's like my annual proof that we're doing a better job than the schools would do with educating him. In my gut, I know this. But there is something very fun about seeing it in writing! And it was last year's test results that showed me that we needed to work a little harder on grammar this year. So it'll be interesting to see if his scores improve when we test this summer.
we do not test yet, I am wanting to do it for dd as sheis in high school now, but think she will be tested next year... I am looking into testing her this spring as well as my ds to see how they are doing.
I test and will be testing this summer. Everyone one else is doing it next month, can do it with some HS groups. We started some late so I will test late. Is it helpful? Hubby likes seeing where DD is at. He wants to know if this homeschool thing is working, in academics. If she is in the average of 85 and above she can stay home and if she falls than I have one year to get her back up to at or above 85%. I use the CAT that does all subjects and this will be the 3rd year using it. The company is from Washington state but cannot remember the name of it right now. In my state we can do portfolio review or state tests. Personally I like to keep it simple and easy and test taking is easy. For portfolio I have to find somemone and get her stuff all organized, find someone to watch my younger ones while her and I go. More than likely I will have to go to the next town over and have it done. TOO much work for me. I order the test, give the test, send out the test, mail results with my letter to continue homeschooling for the following year. So in this way testing is much easier for me. Last year my younger two played outside while my daughter tested in out camper. That was her 'school' My mom tested her. This year my husband is going to take a weekend and test her. The first year I tested her while my babies were sleeping at nap time. So it's much more helpful for me to do the test and mail in the results to the Super.
We are required to test every year. I just received our tests from Seton this week. I don't find them useful at all. Beth
We are required to test, but don't have to turn in the results. Either its a honor system or the ps just assumes we'll test through them so they'll see the results anyways. My way around that was to test at a private school. In the future, I want to look into tests that I can do at home. As for being helpful - I know that dd really struggles with spelling and grammar. She loves, loves, loves science. Her test results - very high in science and low in spelling/grammar. No real surprise there. If I didn't have to test, I probably wouldn't.
They are very easy to work with. The first year we used a company that sent you the test right before your test date and you had a date they had to be mailed back in by. The price was a factor too. Seton for both my girls was $50.00. The first year I paid nearly twice that at a different company. They are also very fast to score the tests and get the results back to you. For some it would be a negative that they don't offer a lot of different tests to choose from. We only test to meet our state requirements so we are very pleased to use Seton.
