Standardized Testing.

I hate standardized tests. What's more my ditzy Cass plays silly sods with them. I watched her do it (I was helping supervise) & there was nothing I could do because it's a test, you know. sighs!

Math paper. I looked through this one & freaked. I couldn't have done most of it to save my life. We haven't done most of the work in over 2 years ~ since the last test! Then there was the pre Algerba question! We have done NO pre~algerba. Hands were going up all over the room. Kids couldn't make head or tail of that question. NOT Cass' hand so I sneaked a look later. I think she aced that question! Mind you if she performs to usual she will ace the difficult questions & flunk all the easy stuff.

So yesterday was the English paper. I'd been pre~warned the written part was at high school level but I was hardly going to try & teach that 2 days prior to testing. Compare & contrast frogs & toads. So I'm watching Cass out of the cornor of my eye. I know this is her Waterloo. Unfazed. Totally. She starts writing. She keeps her writing neat & clear & writes steadily for 15 minutes. I'm madly impressed. Then she stops. She's done maybe 3/4 of a page. Everyone else is still writing like mad & is on their 2nd page. Cass is drawing a picture of a frog catching a fly. It was a great picture. Frogs aren't easy to draw. So I have a look at what she's written while the kids are on break. One short paragraph telling how frogs & toads are similiar, using & spelling correctly the word amphibian. A short paragraph on frogs. An even shorter paragraph on toads. I'm still laughing. Cass did the bare minimum, far too intelligent to waste her time on this nonsense & so obviously not interested. If I thought she was as dumb as her test results I would be seriously worried but knowing Cass I can pick every moment she just lost interest. Spelling; first half all correct, even the difficult words; second half all wrong but spelt phonetically & unusually ~ try possetions. Ouch! I think she's seriously playing with my head space. I distinctly remember teaching 'tion' says 'shon'.

Worse, the teacher confessed he'd 'taught to the test' for the past fortnight, revising what would be on the papers. Not in our house we didn't & I wouldn't have bothered even if I'd had any idea what was in the papers. Apart from comprehension where Cass usually scores well above the average, we are not one of those homeschooling families who blitz the test scores. You have to have an academic child for that & I don't. Do I care? Obviously not. I failed every math test I ever sat but I have effeciently managed my household finances for 40 odd years, & much better than my maths wizz of a husband!

On the other hand I am passionate about learning & seeing my child, who spends her days actively engaging even when she doesn't much like what we're doing, sitting in a classroom with her eyes glazing over & her effervesence flattened did not make me a happy mummy. Some things are too important to risk in a classroom. Train up a child is about more than just teaching a child to know & love God. It is about finding out how God made that child, the purpose He has in mind for that child & then helping them achieve their God given purpose. Thank God that should be the last of these silly tests we have to take.