John O. Andersen

Cheryl,

Thanks for your note.

> I thought I'd share as well.
> Unfortunately for my dd, we tried "teaching" her how to read and she
struggled and we had tears, etc. You
> know the gamut. (We were worried because at age 8 you have to start
reporting to the sd and turning in
> portfolios, testing, etc.) Well, we finally came to our sensed again and
stopped pushing. At age 11 she
> blossomed! She is now a voracious reader and not that testing means much
but she has been post high school
> in her reading scores since sixth grade.

What did you do about her testing requirements before the age of 11? That's
the only thing which has me concerned about our son. He has to take a test
in Spring 2002.

John Andersen
Uncoventional Ideas at http://unconventional.go.to
Themestream Articles
http://www.themestream.com/gspd_browse/browse/view_by_tag.gsp?auth_id=34436

Cheryl

I was able to purchase the test and have a friend administer it at our home. (Parents aren't allow to give the test in grades 3, 5, and 8 )  My friend read the questions and answers (multiple choice) and the children filled in the dots.  We found that the schools do the same thing for late readers. :-)
Something an evaluator and good friend told me recently was that home educators in our state [PA] are worried about the schools trying to force our children into school if they don't do well on the test.  When in fact, the schools want the children with good test scores to make the schools look good.  They DON'T want the poor scorers.  She tells people to buy the test, turn in a blank answer sheet and the resulting score.
Since we're also required to show portfolios and logs each year along with an evaluation for proof of progress and appropriate education, they'd have quite a battle trying to prove anything other than the child is a poor test taker. :-)
In HIS service,
Cheryl
"John O. Andersen" wrote:
Cheryl,

Thanks for your note.

> I thought I'd share as well.
> Unfortunately for my dd, we tried "teaching" her how to read and she
struggled and we had tears, etc.  You
> know the gamut. (We were worried because at age 8 you have to start
reporting to the sd and turning in
> portfolios, testing, etc.)  Well, we finally came to our sensed again and
stopped pushing.  At age 11 she
> blossomed!  She is now a voracious reader and not that testing means much
but she has been post high school
> in her reading scores since sixth grade.

What did you do about her testing requirements before the age of 11?  That's
the only thing which has me concerned about our son.  He has to take a test
in Spring 2002.

John Andersen
Uncoventional Ideas at http://unconventional.go.to
Themestream Articles
http://www.themestream.com/gspd_browse/browse/view_by_tag.gsp?auth_id=34436
 

Valerie

What did you do about her testing requirements before the age of 11? That's
the only thing which has me concerned about our son. He has to take a test
in Spring 2002.

John Andersen

Hi John. I don't remember Oregon's requirements, but have you looked into
FLO? (Family Learning Organization). You can purchase standardized tests
from them. I did this with my almost 11 yo last spring. Her first test. It
was easy that way....it was mailed to me and I administered it here at home,
then just mailed it all back to FLO and they sent me the results. They have
a wide variety of tests to choose from. We used the Metropolitan and it cost
$22.

--Valerie