YIKES!! Are we THAT far behind??

[Jenny in GA]

We are doing standardized testing for the first time in a few weeks, and I am nervous about it.

 

To help prepare a little, I googled "third grade sample test" and saw the CRCT (which I know our state takes; don't know if other states take it as well.

 

It was multiple choice, and for the sake of time and space I won't print all the choices, but some of the questions included:

 

1) Why were the people of the Cherokee nation sent on the Trail of Tears?

 

2) This Native American nation called themselves Muskogee. However, the early English colonists called them Creeks. Why?

 

3) What natural resource do the Rocky Mountains provide for the people of Denver?

 

4) Which geographical feature divide European Russia from Asian Russia?

 

5) Ships sailing from Europe to the American colonies frequently sailed south and then west across the Atlantic Ocean. Why did they follow this route?

 

6) Which branch of government is responsible for carrying out the laws?

 

7) Why is a metal spoon warmer than a wooden spoon when stirring a pot of soup?

 

8) Which of these trees keeps its leaves throughout the year -- apple, American elm, red maple, longleaf pine?

 

9) A scratch test measures what part of a mineral?

 

 

I don't know the answer to half of these -- and I don't think my third grader would know the answer to ANY of them! They are certainly not anything we've been directly studying or discussing.

 

If this is what the standardized test is like, my kid is sure to BOMB it!

 

Is that really representative of the questions? Would your third graders get these all right?? Am I failing as poorly as it appears??

 

Panic-y Jenny

[Pammy]

designed for public schoolers... they have a state standard scope and sequence. As private homeschoolers, we don't follow that sequence. I don't start testing until 6th grade, and that is only for the practice of test taking so that by the time they take the SAT they will be comfortable with it.

 

I don't really look at the scores in anything other than Math and Reading/Language/Spelling.

[Lolly]

Honestly, that is why you should only look at the language arts and math sections of standardized tests. They tend to be fairly standard everywhere by grade level (unless you use mus). History and science are very different. Not fair to test over stuff you have never covered.:D

[Sue G in PA]

These tests are for public schools who TEACH TO THE TEST! You are not behind in any way shape or form! My child wouldn't know the answer to these questions and I wouldn't expect him to unless we specifically taught that, kwim? As a pp said, please just look at LA and math. And even then...if you use a non-standard math or LA curriculum you might "think" that you are somewhat behind. My son, for instance, doesn't know the names for parts of speech yet b/c we don't do formal grammar with him yet. But, he knows how to speak correctly and write a complete sentence. As for math, I do not PUSH him forward simply to make sure he gets what will be on the test. We "camp out" on a topic that gives him trouble until he has grasped it. Take "carrying" for instance. We are camping out there until he gets it. That means he might not get to memorize his mult. facts before test time or even get to division! He will likely BOMB the test...he will take the CAT...but I don't really give a hoot! My child is on his own timetable for learning...not some standard timetable that somebody made up to allign with whatever federal "initiative" was in place at that time. I get hot about standardized tests...can you tell? :tongue_smilie:

[lionfamily1999]

We're sticking with Language and Math testing only, for just this reason. While ds would know some of this stuff (mostly the science, but some of the geography), this is completely different from OUR scope and sequence.

[Jean in Newcastle]

What standardized tests do homeschoolers take in your state? In our state we have a choice, but most homeschoolers take the SAT tests for their grade level. I go down to B & N and get the SAT test prep or practice book for their grade level. We spend a little bit of time every day working on those for about a week or two before test time. The SATs are multiple choice. All Social studies and science questions come with a paragraph that you read and then answer questions on (at the lower levels anyway). We've never encountered questions like the ones who listed here for 3rd grade.

[twoxcell]

Well our state doesn't require testing until third grade, and only for math and reading.

[LisaC]

I agree with Lolly and Pammy completely! Not only are the teachers/students in public school following a scope and sequence established by the state, but also much instruction in the classroom is geared specifically so that students can answer the questions on those tests. What you are giving your dc at home is probably much richer than what time will allow in a public school. You may not have covered those test questions at home, but you have no real way of knowing what you have covered that the children taking the state test couldn't answer, either.

[LisaC]

These tests are for public schools who TEACH TO THE TEST! You are not behind in any way shape or form! My child wouldn't know the answer to these questions and I wouldn't expect him to unless we specifically taught that, kwim? As a pp said, please just look at LA and math. And even then...if you use a non-standard math or LA curriculum you might "think" that you are somewhat behind. My son, for instance, doesn't know the names for parts of speech yet b/c we don't do formal grammar with him yet. But, he knows how to speak correctly and write a complete sentence. As for math, I do not PUSH him forward simply to make sure he gets what will be on the test. We "camp out" on a topic that gives him trouble until he has grasped it. Take "carrying" for instance. We are camping out there until he gets it. That means he might not get to memorize his mult. facts before test time or even get to division! He will likely BOMB the test...he will take the CAT...but I don't really give a hoot! My child is on his own timetable for learning...not some standard timetable that somebody made up to allign with whatever federal "initiative" was in place at that time. I get hot about standardized tests...can you tell? :tongue_smilie:

:iagree: Our motto at home is "homeschool is not for test taking; it's for learning."

[Jenny in GA]

So then does mean that your kids all do poorly on Science and SS parts of standardized tests ...?

 

My husband has been concerned that we're not "doing enough" and "not keeping up," and says he would be reassured by good scores on standardized tests.

 

If the standardized tests are really like this ... well, we are IN TROUBLE!!

[EKS]

By the time your child is finishing middle school (if not before) if you stick to the WTM way (or some variation that ends up covering the same content), your child will likely be off the charts on the science and social studies portions of those tests. Seriously! Just keep plugging along and it will be fine in the end.

[abbeyej]

The CRCT is based specifically on the GA standards, and the curriculum at the public schools is designed to prepare kids for this particular content. It is *not* like the material your kids will see on a nationally normed test like the ITBS or Stanford. There will be some content-based questions on science and social studies topics on those other tests, but they're more general and kids are not expected to have followed one particular syllabus in order to do well.

 

I would suggest stopping at B&N or Borders and looking for a general test-prep book for the grade level your kids will be testing. Particularly if they'll be filling in bubbles on a separate answer sheet, you want to make sure they've had some experience with that and are not intimidated when testing time comes.

 

Now, that said, based on your thread about using FIAR with a 4th grader... Well, it *may* be that you *do* need to consider increasing the challenge in your kids' academic load. Perhaps it is time to ask a little more from them.

 

But don't let the CRCT scare you. It's based strictly on the GA standards, and as home schoolers, we are not tied to those.

[Maura in NY]

We are in NY, where standardized test are required, at a minimum, 5th, 7th, and 9th through 12th. Before 4th, and alternate years from 4th through 8th, we have other options for annual assessment. My family has chosen to use standardized tests for every year, so that the kids are used to them. We started with the PASS (untimed, written specifically for homeschoolers), and then switched to the CAT/5 -- the long version. This test includes science & social studies sections -- but they are not curriculum-specific. By that I mean, they are really more about science and social studies skills: Can your child read a graph, a chart, a map. By middle school, the questions are slightly more specific (know about 3 branches of federal gov't, for example).

 

NY has it's own state exams, but we are not required to have our kids take them.

 

Maura

[Saille]

The math and science sections on the ITBS are nothing like that...FAR more general.

 

My 3rd grader wouldn't know many of those...and he would probably get hung up on that mineral question. "Part" makes it sound like a certain area on the surface of the mineral, rather than a quality/attribute of the mineral, which is really what they're asking for.

[phathui5]

We're doing testing for the first time this year, but just Math and LA.

[Teachin'Mine]

Jenny do you have to use the test you're referring to which includes history and science? If not, then I would suggest using a test which only covers English and math. Seton Home Study offers the short form of the CAT test - I think it's $20 or $25 for the test. I'm sure there are other ways to take this test as well. If you husband will be looking at the scores for validation that they're learning well, choose a test which will demonstrate what they've been taught. ;)

[lionfamily1999]

So then does mean that your kids all do poorly on Science and SS parts of standardized tests ...?

 

My husband has been concerned that we're not "doing enough" and "not keeping up," and says he would be reassured by good scores on standardized tests.

 

If the standardized tests are really like this ... well, we are IN TROUBLE!!

No, like another poster wrote, the CAT5s are far more general for science and social studies. Ds did exceptionally well on that last year. This year, we're sticking with Math and Language for testing. I expect ds will do well, he should know the material and barring any meltdowns it should go swimmingly :)

[Terabith]

See, I'm panicking today too.

 

My six yr old is taking the Stanford in two weeks. I picked up a practice book. I wasn't worried. She would technically be in kindergarten this year, so we aren't required to test this year, but we're working on first/ second grade material and I figured it would be good practice, good information, etc.

 

There is a lot of stuff she doesn't know. She can read on a fourth grade level, but we haven't done a lot of the: Which word has the same vowel sound as hill? kinds of questions. It's just a form of word analysis that she isn't familiar with. We haven't done hardly any of the language mechanics. She's awful at telling which word is spelled wrong.

 

Suddenly, I'm nervous.

 

I mean, she would be in kindergarten in public school. She's reading on a fourth grade level comfortably. She is reading for pleasure. She has handwriting that is legible and improving. We are pretty much finished with RS B and on track to finish Horizons math 1 before the end of the year. She can identify pretty much all of the US states, countries of Europe, and all the countries of South America on a map. She's listened to a ton of good literature, both picture and chapter books. She has listened to lots of books about the UK, China, and a few other countries. We've read and talked about US history from Native American times up to almost the Revolutionary War. (We're going really slow.) She's learned a lot about many areas of science just from read alouds and watching science based tv shows and reading Usborne books on her own. She's learned to (most of the time) tie her shoes and she's learned how to swim. We're working on jumping rope and gearing up for learning how to ride a bike. My gut says she is doing well.

 

But now I'm all frantic about this test. How dumb is that? I haven't trained her on filling in bubbles (doing a crash course now), or that the teacher won't tell you if you did something correct. That you can't dance between questions. That you can't just decide to go to the bathroom in the middle of a test. How to not freak out if you don't know something. That you should do your best guess rather than scream dramatically, "I DON'T KNOW........." complete with gestures of despair.

 

It's so dumb. Right?

[Angel]

We take the CAT tests. California Achievement Tests. The CAT only requires the language arts and math parts. You can choose to SKIP the science and social studies. You can skip it because those scores do NOT go into the total battery score. My state (OH) only requires me to submit the total battery score only.

 

That is for the CAT-5. We now take the CAT Survey through Seton Home Study School. It is ONLY a survey of Math and Language Arts. It doesn't even include the science and social studies. It has 20 questions in each area and then your done. Since I only test to get a score for my state (I already know what she's going to do poorly in), I don't care how short it is.

 

I don't know what test your state requires, but if you have a choice, here is the link to the Seton site http://www.setontesting.com/default.php It's also cheaper. We were paying $60 for the CAT-5, but it's only $25 for the CAT Survey.

 

By the way, I agree with getting a test booklet. It helps my younger dd go through some stuff that maybe we haven't covered or only touched on.

[lionfamily1999]

See, I'm panicking today too.

 

My six yr old is taking the Stanford in two weeks. I picked up a practice book. I wasn't worried. She would technically be in kindergarten this year, so we aren't required to test this year, but we're working on first/ second grade material and I figured it would be good practice, good information, etc.

 

There is a lot of stuff she doesn't know. She can read on a fourth grade level, but we haven't done a lot of the: Which word has the same vowel sound as hill? kinds of questions. It's just a form of word analysis that she isn't familiar with. We haven't done hardly any of the language mechanics. She's awful at telling which word is spelled wrong.

 

Suddenly, I'm nervous.

 

I mean, she would be in kindergarten in public school. She's reading on a fourth grade level comfortably. She is reading for pleasure. She has handwriting that is legible and improving. We are pretty much finished with RS B and on track to finish Horizons math 1 before the end of the year. She can identify pretty much all of the US states, countries of Europe, and all the countries of South America on a map. She's listened to a ton of good literature, both picture and chapter books. She has listened to lots of books about the UK, China, and a few other countries. We've read and talked about US history from Native American times up to almost the Revolutionary War. (We're going really slow.) She's learned a lot about many areas of science just from read alouds and watching science based tv shows and reading Usborne books on her own. She's learned to (most of the time) tie her shoes and she's learned how to swim. We're working on jumping rope and gearing up for learning how to ride a bike. My gut says she is doing well.

 

But now I'm all frantic about this test. How dumb is that? I haven't trained her on filling in bubbles (doing a crash course now), or that the teacher won't tell you if you did something correct. That you can't dance between questions. That you can't just decide to go to the bathroom in the middle of a test. How to not freak out if you don't know something. That you should do your best guess rather than scream dramatically, "I DON'T KNOW........." complete with gestures of despair.

 

It's so dumb. Right?

:lol: Mom :chillpill:

 

You're giving her a test that is a year ahead of where she is. Of course, she won't know everything!!!

 

:grouphug: Now go take a breather ;)

[i.love.lucy]

See, I'm panicking today too.

 

My six yr old is taking the Stanford in two weeks. I picked up a practice book. I wasn't worried. She would technically be in kindergarten this year, so we aren't required to test this year, but we're working on first/ second grade material and I figured it would be good practice, good information, etc.

 

There is a lot of stuff she doesn't know. She can read on a fourth grade level, but we haven't done a lot of the: Which word has the same vowel sound as hill? kinds of questions. It's just a form of word analysis that she isn't familiar with. We haven't done hardly any of the language mechanics. She's awful at telling which word is spelled wrong.

 

Suddenly, I'm nervous.

 

I mean, she would be in kindergarten in public school. She's reading on a fourth grade level comfortably. She is reading for pleasure. She has handwriting that is legible and improving. We are pretty much finished with RS B and on track to finish Horizons math 1 before the end of the year. She can identify pretty much all of the US states, countries of Europe, and all the countries of South America on a map. She's listened to a ton of good literature, both picture and chapter books. She has listened to lots of books about the UK, China, and a few other countries. We've read and talked about US history from Native American times up to almost the Revolutionary War. (We're going really slow.) She's learned a lot about many areas of science just from read alouds and watching science based tv shows and reading Usborne books on her own. She's learned to (most of the time) tie her shoes and she's learned how to swim. We're working on jumping rope and gearing up for learning how to ride a bike. My gut says she is doing well.

 

But now I'm all frantic about this test. How dumb is that? I haven't trained her on filling in bubbles (doing a crash course now), or that the teacher won't tell you if you did something correct. That you can't dance between questions. That you can't just decide to go to the bathroom in the middle of a test. How to not freak out if you don't know something. That you should do your best guess rather than scream dramatically, "I DON'T KNOW........." complete with gestures of despair.

 

It's so dumb. Right?

Terabith, do you HAVE to subject her to this test? Is it for your own benefit or required by the state? I just don't get it. Why put yourself through all that for a kid that is clearly doing great? Most states don't actually start standardized testing until 3rd grade specifically for the maturity issues you a concerned about. I wouldn't do it if I had the choice.

[Oak Knoll Mom]

We are doing standardized testing for the first time in a few weeks, and I am nervous about it.

 

To help prepare a little, I googled "third grade sample test" and saw the CRCT (which I know our state takes; don't know if other states take it as well.

 

It was multiple choice, and for the sake of time and space I won't print all the choices, but some of the questions included:

 

1) Why were the people of the Cherokee nation sent on the Trail of Tears?

 

2) This Native American nation called themselves Muskogee. However, the early English colonists called them Creeks. Why?

 

3) What natural resource do the Rocky Mountains provide for the people of Denver?

 

4) Which geographical feature divide European Russia from Asian Russia?

 

5) Ships sailing from Europe to the American colonies frequently sailed south and then west across the Atlantic Ocean. Why did they follow this route?

 

6) Which branch of government is responsible for carrying out the laws?

 

7) Why is a metal spoon warmer than a wooden spoon when stirring a pot of soup?

 

8) Which of these trees keeps its leaves throughout the year -- apple, American elm, red maple, longleaf pine?

 

9) A scratch test measures what part of a mineral?

 

 

I don't know the answer to half of these -- and I don't think my third grader would know the answer to ANY of them! They are certainly not anything we've been directly studying or discussing.

 

If this is what the standardized test is like, my kid is sure to BOMB it!

 

Is that really representative of the questions? Would your third graders get these all right?? Am I failing as poorly as it appears??

 

Panic-y Jenny

 

These look more like End-of-Grade questions--questions designed to test compliance with state standards. They are different from a standardized test. I would google "third grade standardized test sample" instead. HTH!

[Terabith]

VA requires us to test starting in first grade. So, I wanted to give her a practice year. She turned six in November, so she would be a very old kindergartener, and her academic work is solidly first grade, I think.

 

I remember taking the Stanford test starting in kindergarten. (Although I remember having little books that we wrote in, rather than bubble sheets.)

 

I know it's a year ahead of where she is. But a lot of it is stuff she knows, but I've never taught it to her in this way. So she's confused by the language of the test. We've never compared words to other words, and stuff like that.

 

Maybe I should have been teaching her spelling and language mechanics?

 

I really do need to chill, don't I?

 

I'm such a perfectionist. Sigh.

[rose_king]

I am so glad to be a Tx hser. Our state does not require us to test at all. I can tell you that my child probably would not have known the answer to all those questions in third grade, and she was in ps at the time. Keep on doin' what your doin'. Enjoy yourself and your kids, and the rest will come. Best of luck on the test. She may really surprise you.;)

[nrg]

Taking the test can still be a good, learning experience for your children. You know, lemonade from lemons...

 

 

Those questions look impossible because they reference a specific body of information that must be memorized to generate a correct answer.

 

Now look at the multiple choice responses. Help your children reason through the options to make a reasonable choice. Look for Red Herrings, obviously incorrect/silly answers, logical possibilities. Learn to read the question very carefully to see what is wanted and use the clues the question gives. Do a bunch together and talk about them. Help them not to be intimidated by unfamiliar references. Look for patterns in question format. Teach them to read the choices and reason through each one FIRST

: do not try to think of or calculate the answer except in terms of the choices given.

 

In math, often only one choice has the correct final digit. You don't need to solve the whole problem to find that correct answer. Often questions following a reading passage don't rely on a complete reading to answer. Have them look through the questions first to see if they need to read the whole passage.

 

It will be okay. Don't lose confidence over this. You could write a test that matches your curriculum perfectly, just as this test matched what is taught in the public school.

 

Learning to take a test can actually be fun and confidence building.

 

And then you can go back to important things.

[Mommyof4ks]

We had dd tested last year, and I prepared her ahead of time for the fact that she would not know all of the answers and she should just guess if she does not know something. I knew she would be behind in math, because we do MUS. I had no idea that she knew so much about science and history! She even aced the Bible part of the SAT even though we did not use the cirrc. that was used to help kids prepare for the test. You might be surprised, but either way it is just a tool to help you know where she is and what needs work.

[Dmmetler]

I'd seriously suggest looking across domains rather than 1 year at a time. Because we're in a testing state, and because DH is paranoid, I printed out the K-3 standards for my state, and "aligned" the curriculum we're using with them. What it showed is that, no, we won't hit all the 1st grade standards next year, but that by 3rd grade, the only real tweaking it will take is some of the social studies/current events stuff. What's more, it also clearly showed that her PAROCHIAL SCHOOL K curriculum didn't hit all the state standards, either (specifically, it looks like they hit most of the 1st/2nd grade science standards, but almost none of the K ones, and the social studies they've done has spanned parts of K-3 as well)-so if this well regarded, high achieving on tests school doesn't follow the standards as the state lays them out, why should I feel obligated to do so?

[lionfamily1999]

VA requires us to test starting in first grade. So, I wanted to give her a practice year. She turned six in November, so she would be a very old kindergartener, and her academic work is solidly first grade, I think.

 

I remember taking the Stanford test starting in kindergarten. (Although I remember having little books that we wrote in, rather than bubble sheets.)

 

I know it's a year ahead of where she is. But a lot of it is stuff she knows, but I've never taught it to her in this way. So she's confused by the language of the test. We've never compared words to other words, and stuff like that.

 

Maybe I should have been teaching her spelling and language mechanics?

 

I really do need to chill, don't I?

 

I'm such a perfectionist. Sigh.

:grouphug: It would be different if it was your own future. I completely understand.

 

I would look at this test as a chance to introduce these ideas to her. After all, isn't that the point of testing? You want to find their weak spots to work on them. So, now you know of a weak spot :D

[TravelingChris]

I live in VA and my older dd is using the ACT this year for her test. My younger one did the Seton test (short CAT) and did very well on everything except computation (she gets panicked about math timed tests and starts guessing, since she scored well enough on the ACT to be accepted into the CTY lower program, I am not concerned at all). NOw she is doing the IOWA 8th grade test to see if she goes into 9th next year. Yes, she is doing the science and social studies but I fully expect her not to do well on the SS. Why? Because she was studying Medieval to Renaissance times this year and Ancient times last year. It has been three years since she did American history which is the topic this year. Now if they start asking about Chinese history or Medieval European towns, she will know the answer.

 

What I think is funny is the vocabulary- she gets a lot right but inevitably, she gets all the science words correctly but only a few of the legal terms. Just reflects her interests.

[lovemyboys]

So then does mean that your kids all do poorly on Science and SS parts of standardized tests ...?

 

My husband has been concerned that we're not "doing enough" and "not keeping up," and says he would be reassured by good scores on standardized tests.

 

If the standardized tests are really like this ... well, we are IN TROUBLE!!

 

These tests reflect the curriculum in the schools and the state scope and sequence.

 

My dc have always done the whole tests (since testing was required from grade 2) because they've wanted to do the portions beyond the lang./math.

 

Your dd will probably do just fine. Mine have. Much of what's on it is very standard -- body parts, general geography, bits of basic physics and earth sciences, government, maps, reference materials (like alpha order in dict.). In fact, you'll probably be surprised by what she's picked up by osmosis or the connections she makes from things she's already learned.

 

Dh here was much more reassured about homeschooling when the test results came back just fine. It wasn't that he doubted my ability, more that he wanted to make sure ds was doing ok.

 

Part of why we would do testing even if it weren't required is so that dc get used to testing and the skills needed to get through them. Dc don't do tests during our normal homeschooling but the PSATs/SATs will be looming before long and those would be tough tests to start with....:tongue_smilie:

 

Just try to make the whole experience as comfortable as possible. And good luck!