Jump to content

Menu

Why do some children test well and some do not?


Recommended Posts

This year my daughters decided to go to a brick and mortar school (except for my 4yr old, I made that decision for her , she needed it at the time).

Anyways since the beginning with my oldest daughter she has just not tested well. She is very bright, yet bombs tests like she doesn't know a thing. Her 2nd sister followed in her foot steps.

 

So this year my daughters are in a b&m school and they are just having the toughest time with tests. They have adjusted just fine socially and so on. Their grades have been pretty steady. Except my 13yr old's grades are starting to go down this term. :sad:

 

I just don't know what to do for them. My husband wants them back home and feels that being in a b&m school at this time is not for our family. Which I agree with. The school is closing down their 7&8th grades this coming year anyways. I don't have a problem with the school or the teachers, but this year has just totally wiped me out.

I just don't know what to do for them.

My 3rd daughter seems to do fine, and has kept 2nd honors all throughout the school year.

I'm just worried about my older two. Is this a sign to come when they head out for the real world some day? I feel like I let them down in some way. Maybe we didn't focus on something like we should have. They seemed to have done well at home. I wasn't picking up on any major problems ( except that my 2nd daughter had a tough time with math). So I just don't know what the deal is.

 

I feel like I've failed in some way.

My oldest refuses to tell her teacher that she doesn't understand something. Nor does she tell me or my husband , even when we ask. She isn't doing the corrections for math. Its just this on going thing all of a sudden. My oldest is a very good kid. Loving girl.

 

Does anyone have any advice for a mom with a newly turned teenager? I just feel at a loss, and her teacher does too. My oldest's teacher is very nice and she really cares about my oldest and she can't quite figure it out either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not testing well can have many different roots. First, they may not know the material well. (That is what is normally assumed.) Or, they may not read/work fast enough that keeps you from being able to get to the questions, or try to read faster than you really can and miss meaning. Some kids simply become anxious. They freeze up and cannot do work they normally can do. I've known kids who know 90% of the material who get to a question they do not know and totally fall apart. They get stuck on that question; and even if they move on from it, it is keeping them from being able to concentrate completely on the rest of the questions. The time of day the test is given can make a difference. Some kids will test well in the afternoon, but not in the morning when they are groggy. Others need to have just eaten. Some need to have not just eaten because it makes them sleepy. And, sometimes, the tests are simply very poorly made. (My ds just took one of these. He failed it the first time around. The second time, I watched as he took it. Many of the questions had multiple correct answers, yet there was only one that would be counted as correct. Other questions wanted a particular word that was used in the text, but it wasn't the only word that would fit. It was simply a horrible test.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My oldest refuses to tell her teacher that she doesn't understand something. Nor does she tell me or my husband , even when we ask. She isn't doing the corrections for math. Its just this on going thing all of a sudden. My oldest is a very good kid. Loving girl.

 

Does anyone have any advice for a mom with a newly turned teenager? I just feel at a loss, and her teacher does too. My oldest's teacher is very nice and she really cares about my oldest and she can't quite figure it out either.

 

Is the refusal to say when she doesn't understand a new thing she's doing? Can you discuss it with her in a general way - i.e., how do you like to handle things you don't understand? Does that method help you understand more clearly? Let's brainstorm some ways to do it better....

 

What reason does she give for not doing her math corrections?

 

Is her daily work good or does she struggle there also?

 

How does she feel about homeschooling this fall?

 

Teenagers are hard sometimes!!!

 

Anne

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have you read the book The Way They Learn by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias? http://www.amazon.com/They-Learn-Cynthia-Ulrich-Tobias/dp/1561794147/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298497897&sr=8-1

I find it very useful in explaining learning styles. I have always had a hard time testing. Even though I knew all of the material I really struggled on the tests. This really helped me to understand why. It's a pretty quick read and it might be helpful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently read Gifts Differing by Isabel Briggs Myers. There is a very interesting section of charts representing type distributions among a variety of groups of people (can't think of the word I want here.) I don't remember the details (loaning the book to someone right now, so I can't check) but there were a couple of charts associated with college entrance exams/grades/percentages of people with specific majors/etc. What really struck me was how disproportionately high the NT and NF types were on these charts. (Tended to test better, be more interested in higher ed). On the charts tracking types in business school, however, there were very few Ns, mostly SJ types. All that is to say, I think some types of people do inherently test better. Others may need more practice being taught specific strategies for testing. I don't know how helpful that is, but thought I'd throw it out there for consideration. :)

 

Oh, this also reminds me of a good friend of mine. She's super smart, bilingual, went to an expensive private school, worked for a gov't agency (you get the picture) who once told me that she just doesn't test well. I remember not understanding at the time how this could be. After reading about the MBTI, I'm pretty sure she's an ESFJ, which would fit with the general observations recorded in Myer's book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...