Those Are My Kids...

... For Better or For Worse (Part 2)...

It was a heck of a school year...

As a homeschooling parent, in a state with no standards for homeschoolers, I am always a little bit concerned about whether my kids are getting the education they really deserve. Up until this year, I always believed they were, but then with the difficulties that came with my pregnancy, I started to really worry that they were going to get far behind and fail the standardized tests at the end of the year (which aren't required, but we do them anyway). I even considered opting to not test Caleb, because he struggled so much with learning to read this year, and I think there is a distinct possibility that he is dyslexic, and with that in mind, I was just sure he would fail the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills... the state of Indiana will not allow homeschoolers to take the Indiana standardized test, so I figure the ITBS is the way to go, since it is nationally recognized, and if I ever choose to move anywhere, it would be Iowa...)

Well... in the end we decided to go ahead and test everybody, because the truth is I'm pretty hard on homeschooling parents who don't test their kids, and if I couldn't claim to be a great educator this year, I still wanted to at least be able to claim that I'm not a hypocrite!

As we tested, I peeked at the answers my kids were giving, and I thought... this is not good. I mean... they weren't missing everything or anything like that, but it just had this feel to it that the year really had been as bad as I'd thought. (I was... at no point... worried that they would not get the minimum 30th percentile score that, if not achieved, can relieve you of your homeschooling choice in many states. But I wasn't happy with what I thought they might score, either. And again... a reminder... we live in a state with ZERO standards, so it doesn't really matter as far as our ability to continue homeschooling, but it matters... a lot... to me that our kids are getting a good education)!

When we returned from the regional children's quiz, the first thing I noticed in the mail was the envelope with their scores... So I opened it...

Seth's scores were on top, and I just stood there sort of gaping...

I am not going to bore you with every detail, but his composite score was in the 78th percentile (not as good as usual, but OK), and what really surprised me was that his grade level came out as 6.6, which means his knowledge is comparable to a sixth grader in January. Since Seth will be starting 5th grade in the fall, I'm good with that. On Seth's behalf, I would also like to mention that the total percentile score would have been considerably higher if he didn't stink at capitalization... and that's something we can easily work on. The rest of the scores were quite good.

Grace's scores came out next...

Her composite score was in the 81st percentile, with a grade level equivalent of 5.2 (or 5th grade, roughly September). Since she will be starting 4th grade in the fall, she is also still ahead of the game. Grace now has a 7th grade reading level, and although her math scores continue to be a struggle from year to year, she has "caught up" to where she should be, scoring average for a child finishing 3rd grade. Another sigh of relief...

At this point, I looked at Phil and informed him that I really didn't even want to see Caleb's scores. But we figured we'd better look at them anyhow...

So I flipped to the next page, and I'll be darned if the kid didn't score in the 98th percentile! What? Are you kidding me? Caleb's grade level came out at 1st grade in May, and he will be beginning 1st grade in the fall. His math level was mid-2nd grade. And even "reading words" (which was his lowest score) was right at Kindergarten grade level in May, which is when he took the test. Perhaps I have forgotten what Kindergartners are expected to know at the end of the year...

And perhaps I am too hard on my kids...

And perhaps I am too hard on myself...

Live and learn... again... and again... and again...

Lisa