Standardized Tests — Good or Bad?

I guess I may have a bias where it comes to standardized testing. It may be the reason most of my seven sons have never taken a standardized test at all. The oldest ones did, when I was a new homeschooler and lacked confidence, but it still went against my principles. My younger children have never even seen a standardized test.

Why am I so skeptical of these tests that our education gurus seem to think are the answer to our broken education system? It’s because of an experience I had in college. Yes, that was several decades ago and I’m still not happy about it.

My last semester of college I was carrying a 3.8-grade average. I was almost finished and happy with my accomplishments. I was studying to be a special education teacher and during my last semester, I was required to take a course on utilizing standardized tests in the classroom.  The class was rather boring at best. All about statistics and numbers and correlations. I knew I wasn’t doing well. I had a hard time understanding the purpose of all that information. I was training to teach children who already had disabilities and had trouble learning. What good was this talk about tests anyway? My students would likely never do well on any sort of test.

I knew my grade in the class was hovering around a C. If I earned a C it would be the lowest grade I’d received in my four years of college and in my very last semester…and in a course that didn’t seem to be helpful. Then the final day of class arrived. We sat and listened to the professor sum up what he’d been teaching us in the preceding weeks. His final comment?  “Test results are not reliable.”  What?? You mean to tell me I got my lowest grade (Yes, I got a C) in a class that I worked hard to convince myself was of value and now you tell me everything I learned isn’t really that useful anyway?

So if the results aren’t reliable, why do we spend so much precious learning time teaching students how to pass the tests? I hear you saying, “Yes, but your experience was 30+ years ago. Things have changed.” But have they changed for the better? I don’t think so. I think classroom teachers, as well as some homeschool teachers, spend so much time teaching to the test that they miss the opportunity to instill a love of learning in their students.

And I think that the test results are more likely testing whether the child ate breakfast or slept well. Or whether they had a fight with their sibling or forgot their lunch. It might also test the tension in the home. Are the parents fighting, are the cupboards empty, or is someone in the family sick? All those things are reflected in the test scores as well as the level of anxiety of the student with regards to testing in general. In 2002 it was reported that the Stanford-9 test came with instructions on what to do if a child vomited on the test booklet since there were so many children suffering from test anxiety. Is this the best way to see what a child has learned?

All students learn differently. It never made sense to me that you could design one test that could accurately assess all those learning avenues at the same time. It isn’t even logical. I’ve never used exactly the same plan twice. My boys have all done their schooling in their own unique way, using different materials and different methods. It was about what worked for them and not about how they measured up with each other or with the zillions of other students all taking the same test.

So there’s my bias. But I won’t attempt to force you to agree with me. Here is an excellent website that does a great job of giving you well thought out pros and cons on the subject of standardized tests. Read through it and decide for yourself. And then come back and leave a comment. I’d love to know what you think.

The Death of Education — The Birth of Learning

I ran across this really interesting and informative video about the current state of affairs in education and how our kids learn. It talks about the impact of technology on our traditional views of education.

One of the things we must do is approach the idea of learning and education from a completely new perspective. The way students learn and the way they have access to information is unlike anything we’ve seen before. They don’t need to learn and memorize all sorts of information anymore. They need to learn how to find and process information and they need to develop a desire to do so. The current model of education doesn’t offer these opportunities. It continues to crank out students who are like products of a factory, all experiencing the same things at the same time. By using the technology available to this generation, more students than ever before have the opportunity to follow their passions and achieve their dreams. Why would we choose to keep them contained in a system that stifles their creative minds by using an outdated form of education?

 

The video even hits the subject of standardized testing pretty hard:

“No one I know takes standardized tests for a living. So why are we using standardized tests to see if you’re gonna’ be good when we don’t have standardized test after you take it? It’s infected the entire marketing ecosystem of education. Because famous colleges are famous because they’re picky about your SAT scores. Parents want their kids to go to a famous college. Parents push the school to create kids who will get into a famous college by doing well on the SAT.  All of which is corrupting the entire reason we have education in the first place. ”

Seth Godin

Most parents get hung up thinking that their child has to have standardized testing to be able to succeed in their education and subsequent career. For more about standardized tests, watch for my next post.

Source: http://www.ericsson.com/

Source: http://www.ericsson.com/

 

 

Color Blindness – An Invisible Disability

Color Blind Test ControlIt was a simple request. My first grader was playing with a set of brightly colored foam shapes that he’d been placing on cards to make pictures. He’d been working contentedly for quite a while but now it was time to move to a different activity. My request was for him to sort the colors out and put everything back in the box.

When he had finished the task to his own satisfaction he proudly said,” Look, I’m all finished!” But there was a problem. I pointed out that he’d forgotten to sort the shapes in one of the containers. He looked puzzled and responded, “Those are all the same color.” It was a moment of instant understanding for me. He had failed to sort the purples from the blues because he saw only one color. My son was color blind. The color distinction was extremely obvious to me but not to him. It was also not a new issue for me. I’d watched my mother match my father’s clothes for years. He was also color blind.

Color blindness occurs in 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women. At my house, those statistics are way off. I have seven sons, four of which are color blind. I also have one female cousin who is color blind.

While there is much information about color blindness available, those of us who have normal color vision may find it difficult to imagine living life with this disability.  One year I decided to go very simple with my Christmas decorations. I put up a tree and decorated it with simple silver ornaments and bright red bows. My color blind sons were not impressed. They say that was the most boring Christmas tree we ever had. For them, the red bows were the same color as the green tree. After that, I tried to be more varied in my decorating choices!

There are quite a few careers that are not a possibility for those with a color deficiency. My color blind sons cannot be pilots, electricians, firefighters or police officers. I have one who loves cars and works for a car dealership, but he’ll never be able to work in the body shop. And my boys probably wouldn’t do too well as painters or landscape designers.  I also have one son who may have become a chef but the color issues were just too big of a challenge.

Even though there are limitations in regard to career choices, we are thankful that we live in the US where they can all obtain driver’s licenses. In some European and Asian countries, those with color blindness are prohibited from driving. There is much being done through research that is promising for those who are color blind but in the meantime, there are things you can do as a parent to make your child’s life a little easier.

Here are some resources with helpful information about color blindness. There are many ways to help your color blind student work around the often color dependent learning materials available.

 

http://thecolorblindstudent.weebly.com/

http://colorvisiontesting.com/color4.htm

http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-vision/what-is-color-blindness

http://www.colourblindawareness.org/

 

First Day of Homeschool 2013

The beginning of another year. Year 23 for us. Five of those years I was teaching five grade levels at the same time. If we continue to homeschool until the youngest one graduates and you count each grade level taught as one year when I am finished I will have taught 26 school years but 87 grades.

Is it any wonder why we say homeschooling becomes a lifestyle all it’s own? It becomes the lens through which you see everything else. For 22 years, the heartbeat of our family has been learning. We have learned things I didn’t plan and would never have imagined.

So today, as we begin another year, I am teaching 9th and 11th grades. Of course, if you want to be honest, I’m not really teaching anything. I am simply watching my last two high school students learn on their own. We’ll do a few things together, but mostly they are on their own. Sometimes they don’t seem to be doing what I would like them to if I had my way, but in the long run, they are learning. I only have to look at my older boys to be convinced that homeschooling has been a success for us.

Sometimes I get those questions from people who don’t understand how it all works. Questions like “what do you do about the gaps in their learning? How can you be sure that you’ve taught them everything they need to know?” I had to come to terms with that a long time ago. I realized when my oldest son was ready to graduate that I hadn’t taught him everything I wanted him to know. I was in a panic.

I spent some time thinking about this and finally came to a conclusion. I asked myself what my primary goal had been when we began this homeschool adventure. I decided what I wanted was to raise intelligent, responsible, godly young men who would take care of their families and honor God. If I look at the five sons I’ve graduated, I believe I’ve done that.

I haven’t taught them everything they need to know. But who ever knows everything they need to? What I have done is teach them how to learn, and where to find the information they need when they need it. What I’ve done is raise a houseful of boys who are much smarter than their teacher! I ask their advice on many occasions.

No, they aren’t all college graduates. They were not pressured to go to college unless they felt the need to. So far, only one has taken that path. Each of them is finding their niche and finding satisfaction in their chosen field. And if they decide they want to do something different, they aren’t afraid to jump in and try something new.

So today we begin the next phase of our journey. Only two left in school now. It will be much quieter than it used to be on the first day of school. We don’t buy new school supplies and set out our book bags for the beginning of a new year like students in government schools do. We don’t really do much at all to get ready for school except maybe go to bed a little earlier and get up a little earlier. Today won’t be that much different than yesterday because homeschooling is our way of life. It’s what we do every day in one way or another.

50 States Notebook

notebookingIf you are familiar with the concept of notebooking, you will enjoy this website full of ideas for creating a notebook of the 50 states.  If you have never considered doing notebooks with your students, this topic lends itself very well to learning the ropes.

By doing one state at a time, you can easily get into a rhythm of working on it a little at a time. Here are some possible plans.

              • You can work as fast or as slow as you want. You could do one state every couple of days for the entire school year and get a simple overview of each state.
              • You could stretch it out and do one state a week and cover everything in two years. Perhaps pulling in a little history in the process.
              • You could also allow several weeks to each state and use it for geography and regional studies for all of your middle school years.
              • If you wanted to work with several students who are in different grades you could start the oldest one and when the next one is ready, have them work on each new state together until the oldest one is done and then complete the states the younger ones haven’t done yet. You could probably work with students from grades 5-9 at the same time, just requiring a little more effort from the older ones.

There are many subjects that work quite well for notebooking. Try the 50 states and then go on to other topics. Soon your students will have a collection of their learning adventures to share with others.

Here are a few other resources that might help.

The Homeschool History Notebooking Journal

Notebooking: For Homeschooling, A Beginners Guide

Exploring the 50 States Notebook Journal

Motivating Kids to Read – Part 2

IreadingIMG_3794n our highly technical age, we are all aware that the love of books and reading takes more effort to build in our children than it used to. There are so many other things that compete for their time that reading gets pushed aside.  Renaissance Learning published a great resource listing ways you can encourage your kids to love reading:

  1. Read to and with your child every day.
  2. Make reading meaningful.
  3. Dedicate time to read as a family.
  4. Show your child how much you love to read.
  5. Set up a reading area in your home.
  6. Let your child choose the books of interest.
  7. Pair books with activities your child enjoys.
  8. Visit the library often.
  9. Revisit the books you loved as a child.
  10. Practice writing with letters to family members.
  11. End every day with a bedtime story.
  12. Celebrate your child’s success.

You can download the detailed list here.

You can also take every opportunity to involve your kids in library programs. It’s a step beyond just taking them to get books. Most libraries have regularly scheduled storytimes as well as special events throughout the year. Many libraries also offer reading programs in the summer and some even during the school year. Check with the children’s librarian at your local library to find out what is available to you.

 

 

 

Motivating Kids to Read – Part 1

There’s an excellent report published by Renaissance Learning who studied reading among school-age kids. The name of the report is What Kids Are Reading: The Book-Reading Habits of Students in American Schools. In the introduction, Roger Farr, Ed.D., Chancellor’s Professor Emeritus of Education at Indiana University states:

Motivation to read is the result of the interaction of three conditions:

(1) a student’s interests and experiences,

(2) a book or article that matches those needs and interests, and

(3) a student’s success in reading.

The goal is to bring those three conditions together. It is not an easy task to accomplish but it is not only possible, it is accomplished by successful teachers all the time as the reading lists in this report suggest.

A great thing I’ve found, if you have more than one child, is to get the older ones to share their favorite books with the younger ones. One way to remember what books were especially enjoyable is to keep a log of what has been read along with a brief — and I do mean brief — comment about what the reader liked or didn’t like. I’m not talking about book reports here. Those definitely do not motivate a child to read.  Most of us have memories of the dreaded book report. Better to allow book recommendations to come in a more natural way since most of the time, having to analyze a book makes it much less enjoyable.

The goal here is to connect the three points listed above. One way to explore interests is to spend time at the library browsing the shelves. Sometimes we’ve come home with stacks of books in all different subjects just by finding things that sparked our interest at the moment.  Once kids have books that interest them, they will be more motivated to pick them up. The more they read, the better readers they will become and the more they will want to read. If you can get this cycle moving it can build momentum all by itself.

 

Is it Time to Take a Brain Break?

A couple of years ago there was a new phrase added to the educational buzzword collection. The idea of brain breaks isn’t new. But with the heavy push for academic achievement at an ever accelerated pace, it’s a good time for a reminder that some sort of regular rest period is important.

What is a brain break? It’s a pause after a learning session when the student (and the teacher) take a short break to let their brains rest.  The idea of recess in a school setting attempts to meet the same goal. But one or two breaks for recess in a school day isn’t really enough. Students will benefit from breaks that are much more frequent. Some experts say that a young child actually needs a break every 10-20 minutes. Older students and adults need a break about every half hour. That seems like a lot of time away from learning.

When your brain takes a break from the task you’ve been focusing on, it really doesn’t just quit thinking. When you change activities for even a brief time it allows your brain to continue to process the information you were just learning in a less intense way. Your brain is still working on the task but using a different method.  Some research suggests that while you are taking your short break your brain is moving the information into your memory banks so you can use that information later. The idea is that if you take in too much at a time your brain doesn’t have time to process all of the information before you lose it. So regular breaks are when your brain catches up and becomes ready for the next upload of information.

So what do you do during a brain break? There are many resources available that are full of ideas. Many suggest that the activity be physical in nature. This also helps the students who get restless when they have to sit still for extended periods of time. Something simple like doing ten jumping jacks or some sort of simple contest such as seeing who can hold their breath the longest are possibilities. Anything that allows for a few moments to breathe and even laugh together creates great moments of refreshment that help get everyone ready to go back to their lessons. These breaks don’t have to be for extended periods of time. A break that lasts one to five minutes or so is usually sufficient.

Here are some resources to help you find brain breaks that work for you and your students.

Free Kindle Books!

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I think most homeschoolers look for bargains when it comes to buying curriculum. That’s why the market for used curriculum material is so hot.

I ran across this post this morning for free educational books you can download for your Kindle. You don’t own a Kindle? No worries…you can download Kindle apps for your browser, smartphone, or tablet here. This means you can download and use these books even if you don’t own a Kindle. All you need is an Amazon account.

Take a look at these books on Frugal Homeschool Family. But don’t wait…they won’t be free for long.

Large Families are a Blessing

It still happens. I still get negative comments about how many kids I have. I still get those raised eyebrows when people hear that I have seven sons. Some just say, “I don’t know how you do it.” But some comments are much more hurtful.

In the early days, when I was still having children, I would get the question “are you still trying for a girl?” I was never trying for anything but a healthy baby. Actually, I wasn’t really trying for anything at all, just welcoming each little boy as God sent him.  And God was so good to us with the arrival of each son. Some came with complications but nothing we couldn’t handle with the Lord’s help. My oldest turned thirty this year and with each passing year, I can tell you that having a large family is still a blessing. And now with grandchildren arriving and the family growing, I can see that our lives will be rich until the end.

Why do some people have so much trouble with large families? Is it that they have bought into the “overpopulation” propaganda? Or is it that they are too self-centered to imagine sharing so much of themselves with someone else?  Those could be likely answers.

But I found this article about the connection between the anti-large family position and the pro-abortion message that made me see a new side to this issue. The article talks about how, as a society, we’ve come to believe that it is a responsibility to limit our family size and not just a personal choice. We’ve been taught to believe that it’s irresponsible to have more than two children. This thinking has only become popular in the last fifty years or so. Strangely, about the same time as the free-thinking 60’s began which paved the road to Roe vs. Wade.  Our parent’s and grandparent’s generations didn’t have an opinion about how many kids a family had unless those kids weren’t being taken care of properly.

There is also something else to consider. In previous generations, there was an understanding that in order for a family to prosper or sometimes even survive, there had to be children. Families depended on their offspring to help with the family farm or business. And the parents also looked to their grown children to help take care of them when they became old and unable to care for themselves.  Now, people are all about self-sufficiency. We don’t need anyone, we can manage all by ourselves.  This doesn’t just affect individual families, it affects our entire society. This article talks about how as the birth rate continues to drop there is concern that there won’t be enough people contributing to the economy to support our country. And it’s not just our country, it’s happening worldwide.  I don’t think that is the way God intended it to be. He said for us to be fruitful and multiply for good reason.

Things have definitely changed as our society has become more about the individual an less about community. But those of us who have experienced the joys of a large family know that there is nothing like a crowd of people to love all at the same time! And we likely won’t be alone in our old age!