Nope, none, and I don't want to unless absolutely necessary. We are in a freedom state. I was a teacher for a long time, and the cons are way heavier than the pros. After 15 maybe but we won't. I know my kids' levels without testing and kids' test scores are honestly a very inaccurate way way to tell achievement. I don't think it shows you are "doing enough" ether as I have no desire to meet or make what our government deems appropriate. Please parents, don't base achievement on these pieces of paper- especially kids with anxiety, add or adhd. After 300 to 400 kids, a masters in ece and ese, I assure tests don't show knowledge accurately with most kids.
I agree with all of that. This is literally the only testing we have ever done in our homeschool for those very reasons. I don’t do tests for any of our subjects throughout the year. Like I said in the video though, my primary reason is that we are required to, and secondly that I think it’s helpful to be able to compare across all of the subjects how my children have progressed year to year - compared to themselves. Perhaps after many years as a teacher you have a better understanding of what kids are generally capable of at certain levels, but most homeschool parents have no idea what their kids should be capable of and I do think there is value in some level of being able to gauge where they are at. Not for the scores themselves, but to be able to see what needs more attention in the future. Doing them in a school setting is vastly different than at home. My kids are well aware that there’s no pressure and I don’t care what their scores are. Doing them at home in a no pressure environment, and since we don’t do any other tests, they actually kind of enjoy being able to test themselves in this way. They normally walk away talking about how easy they were.
@TheEclecticHomeschooler I knew we were on the same page bc of how YOU are, but the many moms I know here that do test take the information seriously and enforce it like it's law. Four homeschool moms meet at the pool, and 3 think testing is the only way to know anything, and 1 doesnt- they couldn't see past the test and how many other ways you can evaluate. It's sad because I know the stars have to align perfectly with the ideal test taker to get an accurate score. I actually was a terrible test taker however I had the knowledge. It was just the multiple choice threw me so much.... Over the years, I taught myself how to test even on things I didn't know well and do amazing. I passed 4 certification tests with no experience or studying due to this. Testing is a skill in the end and any child who is at any a disadvantage in any sense should not take anything standardized ( except per state law ugh).I just wanted that to be so clear because testing can be traumatic. I've seen way too many K through 4th have panic attacks, crying, getting sick and more over it. It was the worst part of my career. I guess perspective is everything when giving our opinions. I just wanted moms - the ones that are doing "school at home" still and have not relaxed( which is a skill too, lol), to know it's really okay not to.
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 say it again “if you have family or friends who aren’t supportive of you homeschooling think that maybe you aren’t capable ….. YOU DONT HAVE TO ANSWER TO ANYONE!” BUT SLAP THOSE RESULTS DOWN 😂
Our state, Virginia, requires annual standardized testing with results submitted to the county. It's the only requirement (no attendance, no record keeping, no portfolio, nothing else). I send my current year results with my next year's notice of intent. We use the mail order process you described and administer the test at home. I spread the different sections of the test out over 3 to 5 days during the 2 week "rental period." The kids each review a grade level test prep booklet leading up to the test. We select about 1/3 to 1/2 of the pages - it's about 15min a day, 3-4 days a week for 3 weeks. We do that they can see the type of questions and formatting and maybe brush up on something leading up to the real thing. I stressed so much about that first year, but now it's just a very long form to complete each spring. Now our attitude is, "Relax, Kid, and show 'em what you got. The hardest part is if your hand cramps up filling in the bubbles." It's not a cakewalk to get a first grader to do something so dull for an hour a day, but we suspend everything else and make sure our afternoons are fun/relaxing. Also, the minimum requirement in VA is the 23rd percentile. The results don't have to be amazing. This is a test you can pass with an F.
We live in a state where we are required to do an assessment or standardized testing. I don’t like assessments because I don’t get feedback of what I can do better or if there are gaps. We test twice a year - October and April and I submit the April score. Why? It helps me see gaps and it only takes a day. My oldest is on path to start college courses in 2 more years. We want him to have experience with testing before college testing. While I don’t believe in pushing children I do believe as homeschooling moms we need to do our best and give our children access to things that will prepare them for what is to come.
HI! I am a homeschooling mom in WA too and this is my first year needing to complete the standardized test for my now 8 year old. I was looking at FLO and wanted to ask when you complete your testing? The law says every year so I am assuming at the end of the year to get an idea of progress or in my case a baseline. I am probably over thinking it but since the law isn't super specific on that I wanted to ask what you did. Thank you!
We live in North Dakota and I always opt out. When I worked it the schools before I had children the teachers always taught what was on the standardized tests before they took the test lol 😂
I want to be clear that I am in no way telling you that you should do this, these are just my thoughts on them. I understand this can be a bit of a hot button topic and many people are adamantly against them, and that's fine. Everyone needs to do what they believe they should be doing. This is one of those cases of looking for the silver lining in something we are required to do. These kinds of tests can NEVER accurately test everything our children know and results should thus be taken very lightly. As a family that has always homeschooled, my children have no comprehension of the negative connotations of testing, as we don't do any other tests in our home. I am very clear to them that there is no pressure and I don't care what the scores are. For them, doing these are kind of fun, because they enjoy seeing how they scored and normally walk away talking about how easy they were.
This was our first year of testing! Our state requires every other year on odd years starting at 3rd grade. My son was kind of stressed out over it, because it was a bit different than what we normally do for school. It was nice though, like you said Erin, to be able to see his results and focus in on his strengths and weaknesses. His test results revealed that even though he is an amazing reader, we REALLY need to go back to some basics on spelling 😬 Loved this video!
We only have to test odd years in colorado but I have been looking at testing this year just to see where he stands…since this is our first year homeschooling and all his public school years 1st-3rd grade was Covid so he rarely had one-on-one instruction
Funny that I see this today. We live in Texas so no required testing. My kids go to a co-op for a class and they offer testing at the end of the year, which is today. lol They aren't thrilled to be doing it. :) I think I will try this next year. I feel like they would do better if they were at home. I'd like to capture their true strengths and weaknesses and I'm not sure that can be done when they're tired, etc. Thanks for this!
This video couldn’t have come at a better time. We found out yesterday that there’s a good chance we will be moving to a state that requires testing. We are in a state that is low regulation & I’ve never had to test our kids. 😅 I am planning to go ahead and test my kids just to see what it’s like and to prepare them a bit.
We have always chosen to opt out of test however as the kids get older, I see the benefit of them gaining experience in this area. The negative comes from when adults makes the kids value their test scores
Agreed! It’s so important to not put that pressure on them. They can’t possibly test everything the kids know anyway, so it’s not really an accurate representation of their true knowledge. Especially when you homeschool… everyone teaches on such different subjects and curriculum.
So do you test at the end of year with that grade completed or do you test for the next grade ahead? Someone mentioned in another video that it should be for the next grade which made me confused because ive always thought that it was done at end of the grade completed.
How do you feel about the assessment option by a certified teacher locally? We haven't done it yet but were considering. Would you think that would be focused on comparing them to "what they should know by a certain grade"? We are in WA state as well.
I haven’t done that before so I can’t speak from experience. Perhaps I’m wrong, but my understanding is that you would bring a portfolio of your child’s work and/or they have an hour or so where the certified person would interact with the child to see how they are doing in comparison to where they “should” be according to state standards. Sorry that’s not much help.
This is what we use and there are two options offered by the company I get them from: checklist or freestyle. Checklist has a checklist of topics that are “typical” for the grade you select and freestyle is blank sections for each of the 11 subjects. They have you attach a book list and some samples and just mail it back.
We are required to, but the reports are useless. They are completely unclear and are only beneficial to the state. No explanation of what the scores mean or anything. My kids don't mind it (they take it at our homeschool co-op charter). The thing I don't like is that it's one more thing to interrupt our homeschool schedule.
We are relaxed homeschoolers and I am with you on the testing!
Nope, none, and I don't want to unless absolutely necessary. We are in a freedom state. I was a teacher for a long time, and the cons are way heavier than the pros. After 15 maybe but we won't. I know my kids' levels without testing and kids' test scores are honestly a very inaccurate way way to tell achievement. I don't think it shows you are "doing enough" ether as I have no desire to meet or make what our government deems appropriate. Please parents, don't base achievement on these pieces of paper- especially kids with anxiety, add or adhd. After 300 to 400 kids, a masters in ece and ese, I assure tests don't show knowledge accurately with most kids.
I agree with all of that. This is literally the only testing we have ever done in our homeschool for those very reasons. I don’t do tests for any of our subjects throughout the year. Like I said in the video though, my primary reason is that we are required to, and secondly that I think it’s helpful to be able to compare across all of the subjects how my children have progressed year to year - compared to themselves. Perhaps after many years as a teacher you have a better understanding of what kids are generally capable of at certain levels, but most homeschool parents have no idea what their kids should be capable of and I do think there is value in some level of being able to gauge where they are at. Not for the scores themselves, but to be able to see what needs more attention in the future. Doing them in a school setting is vastly different than at home. My kids are well aware that there’s no pressure and I don’t care what their scores are. Doing them at home in a no pressure environment, and since we don’t do any other tests, they actually kind of enjoy being able to test themselves in this way. They normally walk away talking about how easy they were.
@TheEclecticHomeschooler I knew we were on the same page bc of how YOU are, but the many moms I know here that do test take the information seriously and enforce it like it's law. Four homeschool moms meet at the pool, and 3 think testing is the only way to know anything, and 1 doesnt- they couldn't see past the test and how many other ways you can evaluate. It's sad because I know the stars have to align perfectly with the ideal test taker to get an accurate score. I actually was a terrible test taker however I had the knowledge. It was just the multiple choice threw me so much.... Over the years, I taught myself how to test even on things I didn't know well and do amazing. I passed 4 certification tests with no experience or studying due to this. Testing is a skill in the end and any child who is at any a disadvantage in any sense should not take anything standardized ( except per state law ugh).I just wanted that to be so clear because testing can be traumatic. I've seen way too many K through 4th have panic attacks, crying, getting sick and more over it. It was the worst part of my career. I guess perspective is everything when giving our opinions. I just wanted moms - the ones that are doing "school at home" still and have not relaxed( which is a skill too, lol), to know it's really okay not to.
@@FLMeganl o v e this. Thankful for the comments on UA-cam Videos (:
I listen to a lot of your advice you have lots of wisdom and i agree with this.
Thank you for sharing your perspective on this. It was very helpful!
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 say it again “if you have family or friends who aren’t supportive of you homeschooling think that maybe you aren’t capable ….. YOU DONT HAVE TO ANSWER TO ANYONE!” BUT SLAP THOSE RESULTS DOWN 😂
oh my God i started sending my kid because of this pressure and she is sick nonstop with diff viruses since 3 months...no study whatso ever no gym
I needed this today. I have been wanting to do standardized testing and this made me feel very informed!
Our state, Virginia, requires annual standardized testing with results submitted to the county. It's the only requirement (no attendance, no record keeping, no portfolio, nothing else). I send my current year results with my next year's notice of intent.
We use the mail order process you described and administer the test at home. I spread the different sections of the test out over 3 to 5 days during the 2 week "rental period."
The kids each review a grade level test prep booklet leading up to the test. We select about 1/3 to 1/2 of the pages - it's about 15min a day, 3-4 days a week for 3 weeks. We do that they can see the type of questions and formatting and maybe brush up on something leading up to the real thing.
I stressed so much about that first year, but now it's just a very long form to complete each spring. Now our attitude is, "Relax, Kid, and show 'em what you got. The hardest part is if your hand cramps up filling in the bubbles."
It's not a cakewalk to get a first grader to do something so dull for an hour a day, but we suspend everything else and make sure our afternoons are fun/relaxing.
Also, the minimum requirement in VA is the 23rd percentile. The results don't have to be amazing. This is a test you can pass with an F.
We live in a state where we are required to do an assessment or standardized testing. I don’t like assessments because I don’t get feedback of what I can do better or if there are gaps. We test twice a year - October and April and I submit the April score. Why? It helps me see gaps and it only takes a day. My oldest is on path to start college courses in 2 more years. We want him to have experience with testing before college testing. While I don’t believe in pushing children I do believe as homeschooling moms we need to do our best and give our children access to things that will prepare them for what is to come.
HI! I am a homeschooling mom in WA too and this is my first year needing to complete the standardized test for my now 8 year old. I was looking at FLO and wanted to ask when you complete your testing? The law says every year so I am assuming at the end of the year to get an idea of progress or in my case a baseline. I am probably over thinking it but since the law isn't super specific on that I wanted to ask what you did. Thank you!
We live in North Dakota and I always opt out. When I worked it the schools before I had children the teachers always taught what was on the standardized tests before they took the test lol 😂
I want to be clear that I am in no way telling you that you should do this, these are just my thoughts on them. I understand this can be a bit of a hot button topic and many people are adamantly against them, and that's fine. Everyone needs to do what they believe they should be doing. This is one of those cases of looking for the silver lining in something we are required to do. These kinds of tests can NEVER accurately test everything our children know and results should thus be taken very lightly. As a family that has always homeschooled, my children have no comprehension of the negative connotations of testing, as we don't do any other tests in our home. I am very clear to them that there is no pressure and I don't care what the scores are. For them, doing these are kind of fun, because they enjoy seeing how they scored and normally walk away talking about how easy they were.
This was our first year of testing! Our state requires every other year on odd years starting at 3rd grade. My son was kind of stressed out over it, because it was a bit different than what we normally do for school. It was nice though, like you said Erin, to be able to see his results and focus in on his strengths and weaknesses. His test results revealed that even though he is an amazing reader, we REALLY need to go back to some basics on spelling 😬 Loved this video!
We only have to test odd years in colorado but I have been looking at testing this year just to see where he stands…since this is our first year homeschooling and all his public school years 1st-3rd grade was Covid so he rarely had one-on-one instruction
Funny that I see this today. We live in Texas so no required testing. My kids go to a co-op for a class and they offer testing at the end of the year, which is today. lol They aren't thrilled to be doing it. :) I think I will try this next year. I feel like they would do better if they were at home. I'd like to capture their true strengths and weaknesses and I'm not sure that can be done when they're tired, etc. Thanks for this!
This video couldn’t have come at a better time. We found out yesterday that there’s a good chance we will be moving to a state that requires testing. We are in a state that is low regulation & I’ve never had to test our kids. 😅 I am planning to go ahead and test my kids just to see what it’s like and to prepare them a bit.
We have always chosen to opt out of test however as the kids get older, I see the benefit of them gaining experience in this area. The negative comes from when adults makes the kids value their test scores
Agreed! It’s so important to not put that pressure on them. They can’t possibly test everything the kids know anyway, so it’s not really an accurate representation of their true knowledge. Especially when you homeschool… everyone teaches on such different subjects and curriculum.
So do you test at the end of year with that grade completed or do you test for the next grade ahead? Someone mentioned in another video that it should be for the next grade which made me confused because ive always thought that it was done at end of the grade completed.
I have always done at the end of the year for the grade they are completing.
I think a big problem with testing is choosing which grade level test to purchase. We are on different levels for each subject.
We are as well. I just choose the grade level they would be in if they were in school based on their age.
How do you feel about the assessment option by a certified teacher locally? We haven't done it yet but were considering. Would you think that would be focused on comparing them to "what they should know by a certain grade"? We are in WA state as well.
I haven’t done that before so I can’t speak from experience. Perhaps I’m wrong, but my understanding is that you would bring a portfolio of your child’s work and/or they have an hour or so where the certified person would interact with the child to see how they are doing in comparison to where they “should” be according to state standards. Sorry that’s not much help.
This is what we use and there are two options offered by the company I get them from: checklist or freestyle. Checklist has a checklist of topics that are “typical” for the grade you select and freestyle is blank sections for each of the 11 subjects. They have you attach a book list and some samples and just mail it back.
We are required to, but the reports are useless. They are completely unclear and are only beneficial to the state. No explanation of what the scores mean or anything.
My kids don't mind it (they take it at our homeschool co-op charter). The thing I don't like is that it's one more thing to interrupt our homeschool schedule.
Which test do you administer?
We do the Terra Nova 2nd Edition.
hi.we use academic excellence!