evaluations
[email protected]
In a message dated 9/4/02 4:04:00 AM Central Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:
<<
Here in FL, I know many people who turn in portfolio's with mostly pictures
of where they went and what their children do. >>
That's what I did. The "examples" of their work were art pictures or anything
they had built or collected from road trips. I only brought a few of those.
Mainly what I showed was a scrapbook with loads of pictures and descriptive
sentences underneath.
The bad thing, is that I geared the scrapbook towards the evaluation instead
of just doing it for US. I realized this after a couple of years and decided
to quit doing that, they'd just have to deal with it. But then we moved and I
didn't register in the new county. Problem solved.
I was doing the scrapbook for the school year...from Sept. to June. Dumb! I
would just do it as our "2002 memories" or something that I'd make anyway,
with or without evals. if I did that again. But I won't. 'Cuz the umbrella
schools are way less invasive and there are a couple run by unschoolers down
here...the cost is minimal.
Ren
[email protected] writes:
<<
Here in FL, I know many people who turn in portfolio's with mostly pictures
of where they went and what their children do. >>
That's what I did. The "examples" of their work were art pictures or anything
they had built or collected from road trips. I only brought a few of those.
Mainly what I showed was a scrapbook with loads of pictures and descriptive
sentences underneath.
The bad thing, is that I geared the scrapbook towards the evaluation instead
of just doing it for US. I realized this after a couple of years and decided
to quit doing that, they'd just have to deal with it. But then we moved and I
didn't register in the new county. Problem solved.
I was doing the scrapbook for the school year...from Sept. to June. Dumb! I
would just do it as our "2002 memories" or something that I'd make anyway,
with or without evals. if I did that again. But I won't. 'Cuz the umbrella
schools are way less invasive and there are a couple run by unschoolers down
here...the cost is minimal.
Ren
[email protected]
In a message dated 9/4/02 4:04:00 AM Central Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:
<< <
I find the portfolio option just as offensive as tests. It is saying that
you can only prove what you have learned if you then write it down
to demonstrate that fact. Just like testing. >> >>
No, I don't think they aren't nearly as offensive. If only for the reason
that you don't have to prove anything other than the fact that the child
progressed in the last year. The paren'ts summary is one of the most
important things they consider, and it's all up to you really. If a nine
y.o. isn't reading, they technically can't say anything about that, you only
have to show that he's doing more than last year! The worst that has ever
happened here is that an evaluator has said there isn't enough english or
math in a portfolio and you have to turn some stuff in by August. I've never
heard of them not passing anyone, ever.
If that happened to me I'd just be up front and tell them we aren't turning
anything more in, ever. The good thing is you can find an unschool friendly
evaluator and then that won't even happen. I am going to be speaking with and
"educating" an evaluator here in pensacola to help her know how to handle
unschoolers. She's all excited about doing it and wants to understand
unschooling better. Very cool.
Ren
[email protected] writes:
<< <
I find the portfolio option just as offensive as tests. It is saying that
you can only prove what you have learned if you then write it down
to demonstrate that fact. Just like testing. >> >>
No, I don't think they aren't nearly as offensive. If only for the reason
that you don't have to prove anything other than the fact that the child
progressed in the last year. The paren'ts summary is one of the most
important things they consider, and it's all up to you really. If a nine
y.o. isn't reading, they technically can't say anything about that, you only
have to show that he's doing more than last year! The worst that has ever
happened here is that an evaluator has said there isn't enough english or
math in a portfolio and you have to turn some stuff in by August. I've never
heard of them not passing anyone, ever.
If that happened to me I'd just be up front and tell them we aren't turning
anything more in, ever. The good thing is you can find an unschool friendly
evaluator and then that won't even happen. I am going to be speaking with and
"educating" an evaluator here in pensacola to help her know how to handle
unschoolers. She's all excited about doing it and wants to understand
unschooling better. Very cool.
Ren
Shyrley
On 4 Sep 02, at 11:01, starsuncloud@... wrote:
My 7yo has read all the Roald Dahl books and the Harry Pooter
books in the last month. He has also talked about probabilty with
his dad and rolled dice.
We have no proof of any of this as he refuses to write anything
down. As is his write. He says, and I agree, that his learning is in
his head and he doesn't want to put it on a piece of paper.
My other two often write but often destroy their stuff when they
have finished with it.
Shyrley
"You laugh at me because I'm different. I laugh at you because you are all the same."
>But how do you turn in a portfolio if your child wont write anything?
> No, I don't think they aren't nearly as offensive. If only for the
> reason that you don't have to prove anything other than the fact that
> the child progressed in the last year. The paren'ts summary is one of
> the most important things they consider, and it's all up to you
> really. If a nine y.o. isn't reading, they technically can't say
> anything about that, you only have to show that he's doing more than
> last year! The worst that has ever happened here is that an evaluator
> has said there isn't enough english or math in a portfolio and you
> have to turn some stuff in by August. I've never heard of them not
> passing anyone, ever. If that happened to me I'd just be up front and
> tell them we aren't turning anything more in, ever. The good thing is
> you can find an unschool friendly evaluator and then that won't even
> happen. I am going to be speaking with and "educating" an evaluator
> here in pensacola to help her know how to handle unschoolers. She's
> all excited about doing it and wants to understand unschooling better.
> Very cool.
>
> Ren
>
My 7yo has read all the Roald Dahl books and the Harry Pooter
books in the last month. He has also talked about probabilty with
his dad and rolled dice.
We have no proof of any of this as he refuses to write anything
down. As is his write. He says, and I agree, that his learning is in
his head and he doesn't want to put it on a piece of paper.
My other two often write but often destroy their stuff when they
have finished with it.
Shyrley
"You laugh at me because I'm different. I laugh at you because you are all the same."
[email protected]
In a message dated 9/4/02 9:41:34 AM, shyrley.williams@... writes:
<<
But how do you turn in a portfolio if your child wont write anything? >>
They can dictate and you can type. Or you can play word games and list
those. The portfolio doesn't have to be written by the child. Kids don't
write their own school records. That's the teacher's job.
You could have a list of storytelling and narrative incidents (telling a
movie after he gets home, reporting on something he did, telling you what
happened when he visited another house, and that can be worded in
"educationalese").
<<My 7yo has read all the Roald Dahl books and the Harry Pooter
books in the last month.>>
You could interview him. Ask him what he liked best or whatever, and put
that down in interview form.
When I was teaching 15 year olds, I never used written book reports. They
sat with me and told me about the book and we discussed it. For one thing,
it's easier to spot faking (if they hadn't read the book). For another, I cou
ld ask them things about THEIR interests and their own ideas and get them
thinking about the book in a different way than they might have in
traditional book-report fashion.
You could do the kinds of analysis that's beyond the writing ability of
anyone the child's age if you do it verbally.
<<My other two often write but often destroy their stuff when they
have finished with it..>
Will they type/"keyboard"? Put your "Word" program on every-thirty-seconds
automatic save or something! <g>
Sandra
<<
But how do you turn in a portfolio if your child wont write anything? >>
They can dictate and you can type. Or you can play word games and list
those. The portfolio doesn't have to be written by the child. Kids don't
write their own school records. That's the teacher's job.
You could have a list of storytelling and narrative incidents (telling a
movie after he gets home, reporting on something he did, telling you what
happened when he visited another house, and that can be worded in
"educationalese").
<<My 7yo has read all the Roald Dahl books and the Harry Pooter
books in the last month.>>
You could interview him. Ask him what he liked best or whatever, and put
that down in interview form.
When I was teaching 15 year olds, I never used written book reports. They
sat with me and told me about the book and we discussed it. For one thing,
it's easier to spot faking (if they hadn't read the book). For another, I cou
ld ask them things about THEIR interests and their own ideas and get them
thinking about the book in a different way than they might have in
traditional book-report fashion.
You could do the kinds of analysis that's beyond the writing ability of
anyone the child's age if you do it verbally.
<<My other two often write but often destroy their stuff when they
have finished with it..>
Will they type/"keyboard"? Put your "Word" program on every-thirty-seconds
automatic save or something! <g>
Sandra
zenmomma *
>>But how do you turn in a portfolio if your child wont write anything?>>Include photos, museum brochures, ticket stubs, lists of books read, lists
of magazines read, lists of games played. Keep a very brief journal (in
educationese if necessary) on discussions had, comments made, observations
noted, etc.
Life is good.
~Mary
_________________________________________________________________
MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos:
http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx
[email protected]
On Wed, 4 Sep 2002 11:41:31 -0400 "Shyrley"
<shyrley.williams@...> writes:
printouts of the books Rain checked out and read from the library. I
wrote summaries of discussions we'd had. I turned in game score sheets,
mad libs pages (that I'd written, but she came up with the words, and
there was a lot of "toilet" and "poopy" in some of them), pictures of her
doing stuff (rolling dice, if you want, and caption it "working with
probability"). I know some people who did audiorecordings with the
computer and stuck them on disks. I know people who did "math logs" and
noted all the times a kid used math in a week - game playing, cooking,
standard stuff. We used flyers from exhibits and museums and wrote on it
"attended this on such-and-such date".
It's not about "proof", per se. If you were going to lie about what your
kids were doing, you could just as easily fill out a few worksheets for
them.
It was a little different for us because Rain always had the option to
drop out of the charter, which we eventually did...but she never ended up
doing anything special for their paperback, anything she wasn't already
doing.
Dar
<shyrley.williams@...> writes:
> But how do you turn in a portfolio if your child wont writeWe did this for the charter school. *You* can write. I turned in
> anything?
printouts of the books Rain checked out and read from the library. I
wrote summaries of discussions we'd had. I turned in game score sheets,
mad libs pages (that I'd written, but she came up with the words, and
there was a lot of "toilet" and "poopy" in some of them), pictures of her
doing stuff (rolling dice, if you want, and caption it "working with
probability"). I know some people who did audiorecordings with the
computer and stuck them on disks. I know people who did "math logs" and
noted all the times a kid used math in a week - game playing, cooking,
standard stuff. We used flyers from exhibits and museums and wrote on it
"attended this on such-and-such date".
It's not about "proof", per se. If you were going to lie about what your
kids were doing, you could just as easily fill out a few worksheets for
them.
It was a little different for us because Rain always had the option to
drop out of the charter, which we eventually did...but she never ended up
doing anything special for their paperback, anything she wasn't already
doing.
Dar
[email protected]
Shyrley,
YOU write it, keep a weekly journal!
DO they ever send Thank you notes to Relatives? Copy them before you send
them out along with anything you may "remove from the trash to put in the
recycling bin"
Photo's and a Mom's journal make a pretty full portfolio, especially if you
divide them into "subjects" to make it easier for the educrats to see the
learning.
~Elissa Cleaveland
An unlesson'd girl, unschool'd, unpractic'd;
Happy in this, she is not so old
But she may learn.
W.S. The Merchant of Venice III, ii, 160
YOU write it, keep a weekly journal!
DO they ever send Thank you notes to Relatives? Copy them before you send
them out along with anything you may "remove from the trash to put in the
recycling bin"
Photo's and a Mom's journal make a pretty full portfolio, especially if you
divide them into "subjects" to make it easier for the educrats to see the
learning.
~Elissa Cleaveland
An unlesson'd girl, unschool'd, unpractic'd;
Happy in this, she is not so old
But she may learn.
W.S. The Merchant of Venice III, ii, 160
[email protected]
In a message dated 9/4/02 1:05:32 PM Central Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:
<< But how do you turn in a portfolio if your child wont write anything?
My 7yo has read all the Roald Dahl books and the Harry Pooter
books in the last month. He has also talked about probabilty with
his dad and rolled dice.
We have no proof of any of this as he refuses to write anything
down. As is his write. He says, and I agree, that his learning is in
his head and he doesn't want to put it on a piece of paper.
My other two often write but often destroy their stuff when they
have finished with it. >>
That is where the photographs come in handy. Take pictures of them doing
their everyday stuff, whatever you think would make a fun picture or document
what they do. If your child has you translate his ideas to paper, that
counts too. Like I said, you don't have to prove the child is doing a certain
thing, only that they are progressing (pretty impossible for a person not to
show some progress of something in a years time).
Do they do art? Throw in a couple of samples.
Do your kids collect anything? Show a picture of the collection or bring a
sample in.
Write a list of movies you watch and books you read....it's fun to have later
anyway.
So much of what we do can not be taken in to an evaluation anyway, trips to
science museums, gallery nights etc....Pictures, pictures, pictures.
When you travel, or visit a cool place just grab a brochure if you can't take
a picture that day. I had such a full scrapbook of pictures, they don't have
much time to do anything else during the eval.
They will usually have a reading child read them a small sentence or
paragraph. But if your child does not read they can't ask for that.
If my child didn't want to I'd just decline that portion.
Evals. were a cinch for us, and my kids actually enjoyed it because it was
their time to show off everything they had fun doing all year. The evaluator
we had made it seem not at all like a test or that any pressure was on them.
It was just a chance for them to shine for someone other than Mom.
I would be careful in selecting a relaxed evaluator though, some of them
would probably freak out if they knew I had a 9 y.o. that didn't read.
I think the umbrella schools are the best option for many.
Ren
[email protected] writes:
<< But how do you turn in a portfolio if your child wont write anything?
My 7yo has read all the Roald Dahl books and the Harry Pooter
books in the last month. He has also talked about probabilty with
his dad and rolled dice.
We have no proof of any of this as he refuses to write anything
down. As is his write. He says, and I agree, that his learning is in
his head and he doesn't want to put it on a piece of paper.
My other two often write but often destroy their stuff when they
have finished with it. >>
That is where the photographs come in handy. Take pictures of them doing
their everyday stuff, whatever you think would make a fun picture or document
what they do. If your child has you translate his ideas to paper, that
counts too. Like I said, you don't have to prove the child is doing a certain
thing, only that they are progressing (pretty impossible for a person not to
show some progress of something in a years time).
Do they do art? Throw in a couple of samples.
Do your kids collect anything? Show a picture of the collection or bring a
sample in.
Write a list of movies you watch and books you read....it's fun to have later
anyway.
So much of what we do can not be taken in to an evaluation anyway, trips to
science museums, gallery nights etc....Pictures, pictures, pictures.
When you travel, or visit a cool place just grab a brochure if you can't take
a picture that day. I had such a full scrapbook of pictures, they don't have
much time to do anything else during the eval.
They will usually have a reading child read them a small sentence or
paragraph. But if your child does not read they can't ask for that.
If my child didn't want to I'd just decline that portion.
Evals. were a cinch for us, and my kids actually enjoyed it because it was
their time to show off everything they had fun doing all year. The evaluator
we had made it seem not at all like a test or that any pressure was on them.
It was just a chance for them to shine for someone other than Mom.
I would be careful in selecting a relaxed evaluator though, some of them
would probably freak out if they knew I had a 9 y.o. that didn't read.
I think the umbrella schools are the best option for many.
Ren
[email protected]
In a message dated 9/4/02 1:55:13 PM, starsuncloud@... writes:
<< Do your kids collect anything? Show a picture of the collection or bring a
sample in.
Write a list of movies you watch and books you read....it's fun to have later
anyway. >>
Some of Kirby and Marty's first "record keeping" was lists of action figures.
Sometimes it was finding a list already printed out or online and marking
those they had, and using another mark for those they hoped to get.
Sometimes it was making a list by copying the names off the card, or comic,
or game.
Sandra
<< Do your kids collect anything? Show a picture of the collection or bring a
sample in.
Write a list of movies you watch and books you read....it's fun to have later
anyway. >>
Some of Kirby and Marty's first "record keeping" was lists of action figures.
Sometimes it was finding a list already printed out or online and marking
those they had, and using another mark for those they hoped to get.
Sometimes it was making a list by copying the names off the card, or comic,
or game.
Sandra