My educational opinions have vastly changed in the last two years. Having earned a bachelor’s degree in education and having taught middle school, high school, and university students, I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly.
When it came to standardized tests, I did not see a point in them when I took them or when I gave them.
As a teacher, I knew my students’ strengths and weaknesses and would have preferred the time to just focus on improving those skills rather than spending a week taking a test. Of course, I still gave the tests, but I did not value the standardized tests.
As a parent, I am so thankful for these tests. My son took his first standardized test this year and scored at the high end of average all the way to the 99% (the highest reported). Most of his scores were above grade level and proved that he has received an excellent education.
On the other hand, my daughter was not given a standardized test at school. As we are no longer affiliated with a school, we were able to have her independently tested.
Though she received all excellent (above-average) and satisfactory (average) grades throughout kindergarten and first grade, her standardized test revealed that she is below average.
Verifying what we already knew was true, the standardized test gives us a point of common ground as we progress forward with homeschooling this fall. I am definitely valuing standardized tests and look forward to seeing how much she improves this year.
If you, like me, never saw a need for standardized tests, then be grateful. I definitely have changed my position and am valuing standardized tests from now on. Happy valuing!
Question: What topic have you changed your position on recently?
Hello my friend! Very proud of you for taking on this venture of homeschooling the kids… I know you will do an amazing job and with knowing some of the struggles you have had the past couple of years, they are going to benefit immensely from your strengths here… not only as an educator, but a loving and caring parent (of which you both are!). I look forward to following your journey. Are you going to start a homeschooling blog??
Thanks, Jen!!! Thus far, I’m loving going through the curriculum. We have finished gathering everything, planned the entire year with chapters to cover, and flushed out the first quarter plan. Due to investing in so much time into preparing for Monday’s start, I’m not at a point to start a homeschooling blog. However, this is using time wisely, and more specifically, how I am using time wisely. So, though I won’t start a separate homeschooling blog, I will be blogging about our homeschooling here.
I have quite a few posts that need to be written with homeschool items included. So, you can follow our journey here. Once we get more established and I find our routine (which may take a year or two), I might branch out into two separate blogs. But for now, I’m hanging out here.
Thanks for your encouragement along the way. It has been a tough 2 years. The freedom we have now is so worth all those efforts. I have no regrets, and I have no doubt that we made the right choice. I can’t tell you how much I have appreciated your listening ear, guidance, and friendship. 🙂 Love you, friend! Hugs!