During any point during the year, or when you deem them ready to test for that
year. Some kids aren't ready for third grade testing until the following year. I
actually found it beneficial to test out at the first of the following year.
Tests were fresh, still available for that "odd numbered year" and my kids
weren't flinching at the bit to get back outdoors. They wanted to settle in for
some book time because AUGUST is HOT.
They were fresh for the tests and I got a more accurate appraisal of what they
really knew.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Motivation and Encouragement for New Home School Families
First of all, your daughter would have to be 87% ignorant to test out below the 13% allowed by the state to continue home schooling on any test. You can write a clear sentence, so I'm reasonably convinced that your daughter has more than adequate educational options, and probably a better than average education. That would be 50%.
Stop worrying.
Encourage your daughter to get involved in something of high-interest to her. My daughters got involved in very different topics at about that age.
My youngest daughter took on a teen pregnancy forum where she figured and spouted statistics like they were mean numbers, learned all the details of pregnancy, giving birth (including all the options), and started discussing the vast details of pregnancy prevention methods with other girls her age, in logical, well studied language that they could understand and put them into effective use. Her studies took her through a course in budgeting so she could train teen moms to create a budget for themselves, and financial management so they could manage checking accounts, cash flow and limited income from the kinds of jobs high-school drop outs get, and save for a better life in the future. She learned anatomy in ways that the average child NEVER learns about anatomy. She learned about chemistry (birth control methods use chemistry) and figured out all on her own that the pill creates an "abortion type reaction" before you've been pregnant a month, in order to prevent pregnancy. She talked young girls through their delivery options and explained the details of what was happening to their bodies by knowledge learned from studying, interviewing new moms and investigating the options at local hospitals and birthing rooms.
My older daughter took on marine biology with the same attention to detail, including figuring out how many lbs of fish food it would take to house a Great White Shark in the calm waters of the Denver Aquarium. Education based on their interests becomes vastly more effective than trying to force feed a group of students the contents and solutions that will be found only once, on a test they're required to take at the end of the year. Their studies have purpose and reason, something that isn't found on the tests.
Using a variety of testing methods throughout their years of educations, gives you a glimpse of what their real education may be. Ultimately, each test has a different value and purpose. The Standford Test is specifically designed for a future in education. It will tell you the child's strong points and how to instruct your child to balance out those points, with their weak points. Personally, I never focused much on weak points. The Bradford/Johnson (or similar named test - I've forgotten the name of it) is basically a test about life skills and lifetime learning options for a wide variety of student types. Mostly your student learns that he/she is capable of living at a given level of knowledge, and the test will remain along the same % rates, no matter how many years they take that test. It isn't based on what they know, but rather what they can learn at any given point in life.
Every adult I've ever known has one topic they absolutely hated in school and didn't excel in that topic, EVEN if they passed it with an A in school.
IF you focus on teaching your children how to learn, where to find information, who to ask and what questions to ask when they need information, they'll have the basis of any education they may need and be able to answer their own life questions without any learning dysfunctionalism. Promote this kind of learning in your children and don't look back. You'll do fine.
Good luck with your endeavors of home based education.
Stop worrying.
Encourage your daughter to get involved in something of high-interest to her. My daughters got involved in very different topics at about that age.
My youngest daughter took on a teen pregnancy forum where she figured and spouted statistics like they were mean numbers, learned all the details of pregnancy, giving birth (including all the options), and started discussing the vast details of pregnancy prevention methods with other girls her age, in logical, well studied language that they could understand and put them into effective use. Her studies took her through a course in budgeting so she could train teen moms to create a budget for themselves, and financial management so they could manage checking accounts, cash flow and limited income from the kinds of jobs high-school drop outs get, and save for a better life in the future. She learned anatomy in ways that the average child NEVER learns about anatomy. She learned about chemistry (birth control methods use chemistry) and figured out all on her own that the pill creates an "abortion type reaction" before you've been pregnant a month, in order to prevent pregnancy. She talked young girls through their delivery options and explained the details of what was happening to their bodies by knowledge learned from studying, interviewing new moms and investigating the options at local hospitals and birthing rooms.
My older daughter took on marine biology with the same attention to detail, including figuring out how many lbs of fish food it would take to house a Great White Shark in the calm waters of the Denver Aquarium. Education based on their interests becomes vastly more effective than trying to force feed a group of students the contents and solutions that will be found only once, on a test they're required to take at the end of the year. Their studies have purpose and reason, something that isn't found on the tests.
Using a variety of testing methods throughout their years of educations, gives you a glimpse of what their real education may be. Ultimately, each test has a different value and purpose. The Standford Test is specifically designed for a future in education. It will tell you the child's strong points and how to instruct your child to balance out those points, with their weak points. Personally, I never focused much on weak points. The Bradford/Johnson (or similar named test - I've forgotten the name of it) is basically a test about life skills and lifetime learning options for a wide variety of student types. Mostly your student learns that he/she is capable of living at a given level of knowledge, and the test will remain along the same % rates, no matter how many years they take that test. It isn't based on what they know, but rather what they can learn at any given point in life.
Every adult I've ever known has one topic they absolutely hated in school and didn't excel in that topic, EVEN if they passed it with an A in school.
IF you focus on teaching your children how to learn, where to find information, who to ask and what questions to ask when they need information, they'll have the basis of any education they may need and be able to answer their own life questions without any learning dysfunctionalism. Promote this kind of learning in your children and don't look back. You'll do fine.
Good luck with your endeavors of home based education.
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