Kids test results

Well, the kids test results came back today. I was surprised by my reaction when I saw the envelope. My stomach flip-flopped and my heart dropped. I felt nauseous. I went against Andrew Pudewa's advice to leave the envelope sealed up for 16 years because the results don't matter anyway. I had to know. Maybe I care more than I'd like to what these results say. I know some of you are curious, so I'll share the overall scores.

Jacob - just completed 6th grade
There are several different scores here, so I'll give you the Grade Equivalents because that's easiest for me. :)
Reading on a 10th grade level (I was so pleased to see this! Reading comprehension is one of those things I have no idea how to judge, so this was encouraging!)
Language Arts - 10.8 (That means 10th grade, 8th month)
Math - 8.6 (Yay! He scored off the charts in Geometry, Algebra and Measurement!)
Social Studies - 11.1 (Wowie!)
Science - 8.9 (Really? I always feel so inadequate with science, but I guess I'm doing okay)
Reference Materials (includes maps, diagrams, dictionary & encyclopedia skills, etc.) - 10.5
Total Composite Score - 9.7

Caleb - just completed 3rd grade
Reading on a 6th grade level (Awesome! Caleb was a 'late' reader (by public school standards) but I wanted him to LOVE reading, so I didn't push him. And now he loves to read!)
Language Arts - 3.6 (remember the portions on Listening Skills that had both the twins in tears? This was included in LA...I was not surprised at all to see the low score here. Now that we know about Caleb's APD, we can help him.)
Math - 4.4
Social Studies - 4.9 (I wonder what kinds of questions these were)
Science - 5.0 (Very high scores in Physical and Life Science - low in Earth Science and Space)
Reference Materials - 5.1
Total Composite Score - 4.6

Abbi - also just completed 3rd grade
Reading on a 7th grade level (I was surprised (not disappointed) that this score wasn't higher)
Language Arts - 5.5
Math - 6.5
Social Studies - 5.2
Science - 6.3 (same results as Caleb)
Reference Materials - 6.5
Total Composite Score - 6.0

The twins both scored off the charts (literally) for Word Analysis, Vocabulary, and Reading Comprehension. They both struggled with the punctuation part that included apostrophes, quotations, colons and semicolons...probably because I haven't taught that yet! The boys both need help with capitalization. No surprise there.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the results. I think the kids did an OUTSTANDING job, and I know they did their very best. I'm also a bit discouraged though, looking at the National scores. Of the 65 categories the kids were tested in, Abbi scored 100% in 24 of them, Caleb scored 100% in 9 of them, and Jacob scored 100% in 14 of them. Most of their other scores were in the 80's and 90's, some were in the 70's and just a few were below that (like Listening, Capitalization, and Punctuation). The National scores are mostly in the 50's (19) and 60's (36), with a few in the 40's (or lower) and a few in the 70's (7). The highest National score is 79...on the 3rd grade test that's in Spelling, and on the 6th grade test it's in Comparing Quantities.

When the kids were taking these tests, I couldn't help but think about the episode of Little House on the Prairie when Laura Ingall's took her graduation test (at the age of what, 14?). There were no fill in the dot, multiple choice tests back then. She had to KNOW dates of history and what happened on those dates, and how to solve math equations, and how to spell. I know that my Caleb is a very poor speller (he spells phonetically), but he was able to do very well on the spelling portion of this test. Why? Well, when you read as much as we do, it's probably pretty easy given a list of 4 words to pick out the one that is spelled incorrectly. That doesn't mean if you told him to spell that word he could do it correctly. Which is just one reason I believe standardized tests don't really tell us anything. As I've said before, it's just a comparison game.

I guess this whole thing makes me very thankful for homeschooling and the assurance that I can give my children a good education at home (and seemingly a better one than the government is doing). I don't have to 'teach to the test' as I hear so many parents and teachers talk about in the school system. I can go slowly when needed and pick up the pace when the kids have mastered something quickly. I can take my time with Caleb and not push him. I can let Abbi fly through her books. I can plug along with Jacob, not getting behind, but also not doing more than needed in one school day. I'm so blessed to be a homeschooler. And I'm so thankful for families like the Berreth's, Booth's and Cobbs', who led the way for us to begin this adventure. If not for their commitment, faith and example I'm pretty positive I would not be homeschooling. And of course, I am so thankful to God for leading us here, and for supplying my every need in teaching my kids at home.