Can I tell you a secret? Well, its only kinda a secret to those who know me.
I am a half-ass homeschooler.
This isn't because half-ass is what I am aiming for, its just that we all seem to like to do other things MORE. Things like going to the pumpkin patch or Littleton Historic Farm, things like the museum and the zoo, even things like going for a walk with my 90+ year old grandmother.
We are aiming for EPIC childhood with a passable education.
Every state is different, and here in Colorado, we are required to do testing or teacher review every other year starting in grade 3. I am not against accountability, I think testing gives us so idea of where the gaps lay in our children knowledge.
Testing makes me crazy nervous.
See, I am ok with our kids learning what they need to know when they need to know it. I also know that much of the knowledge my children posses is not that kind they test for; things like what chickens eat, how to care for foster kittens, the colors to mix to get the perfect shade of brown for the pony, how to make gluten free cookies...
This year we did testing for all the kids, even though it isn't required for all of them. Despite the fact that my children have never taken that style of test (all on a computer) they seemed to manage ok (except for Jamison, who broke down in tears because he had never used a mouse)
Know what? My kids all tested within grade level, totally average.
I am stoked. Maybe not all parents hear "average" and get excited, but I think average is perfectly fine for the amount of effort we put into actually school stuff. I know that test doesn't tell me how kind, helpful, grace-filled, curious, enthusiastic, and loving my children are. It doesn't measure how good of friend they are, how good they are at art and music, and it doesn't measure compassion. At the end of the day, I am much more concerned with raising well rounded humans than I am on raising children who do well at a test where someone else decided what is important.
Of course, you can be all of the above AND really good at school tests. Maybe I will end up raising a kid like that too. At the end of the day, I am really very happy with average.
I am a half-ass homeschooler.
This isn't because half-ass is what I am aiming for, its just that we all seem to like to do other things MORE. Things like going to the pumpkin patch or Littleton Historic Farm, things like the museum and the zoo, even things like going for a walk with my 90+ year old grandmother.
We are aiming for EPIC childhood with a passable education.
Every state is different, and here in Colorado, we are required to do testing or teacher review every other year starting in grade 3. I am not against accountability, I think testing gives us so idea of where the gaps lay in our children knowledge.
Testing makes me crazy nervous.
See, I am ok with our kids learning what they need to know when they need to know it. I also know that much of the knowledge my children posses is not that kind they test for; things like what chickens eat, how to care for foster kittens, the colors to mix to get the perfect shade of brown for the pony, how to make gluten free cookies...
This year we did testing for all the kids, even though it isn't required for all of them. Despite the fact that my children have never taken that style of test (all on a computer) they seemed to manage ok (except for Jamison, who broke down in tears because he had never used a mouse)
Know what? My kids all tested within grade level, totally average.
I am stoked. Maybe not all parents hear "average" and get excited, but I think average is perfectly fine for the amount of effort we put into actually school stuff. I know that test doesn't tell me how kind, helpful, grace-filled, curious, enthusiastic, and loving my children are. It doesn't measure how good of friend they are, how good they are at art and music, and it doesn't measure compassion. At the end of the day, I am much more concerned with raising well rounded humans than I am on raising children who do well at a test where someone else decided what is important.
Of course, you can be all of the above AND really good at school tests. Maybe I will end up raising a kid like that too. At the end of the day, I am really very happy with average.
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