Jyniffrec Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 :confused: My son is the only one of my children who goes to school away from home. I have found his school to be tolerable (which is likely to say a lot considering my aversion to the school culture in the U.S.) but a few concerns rise here and there. I have been able to mentally overcome them for the most part, but this one just has me in a tizzy. How in the world is it helpful to have multiple choice spelling tests??? Father of Pearl says to just give him a test at home that isn't multiple choice - I think that is a great idea and I will do it, but has anyone else heard of/seen this? What is the reasoning? By the way, he isn't there for the academics. He is afterschooled (I tell him that I am his teacher and that the teachers are employed by me! :D), so I'm not terribly worried about his education. I'm just totally baffled as to why they would do this. It isn't like these tests make it to the state boards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jyniffrec Posted October 11, 2011 Author Share Posted October 11, 2011 Oddly I'm a very good speller, but I have a tough time with multiple choice spelling tests. :001_smile: Yes, the only one that ds missed was one letter off from our last name, which we had discussed. He said that he confused an 'a' for an 'e' and that is why he got it wrong. He usually flunks spelling tests, but only missed one this time. They have always done traditional tests before this last one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen in PA Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 It sounds like test prep to me, since there is a section like that on many standardized tests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jyniffrec Posted October 11, 2011 Author Share Posted October 11, 2011 It sounds like test prep to me, since there is a section like that on many standardized tests. I wondered about this, but then why would they do traditional tests at first? I think ds has a good teacher but he also seems restrained by unseen powers. Maybe he got it from on high that he has to start test prep now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fhjmom Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 It sounds like test prep to me, since there is a section like that on many standardized tests. :iagree: We started "A Reason for Spelling" this year with my 2nd grader and there is a section that is multiple choice where she must identify the misspelled word. It is one of the things I liked about the curriculum because it is prep for standardized testing format (that section even has the little bubbles to fill in). Of course there is also the traditional assessment where she writes the words as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddykate Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Maybe they are preparing him to be an editor? I know I can spell very well, but when I see a word that looks "almost" right, it takes me a minute to determine where the misspelling has occured. Lots of practice helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celticmom Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Another thought, I have terrible handwriting but I am a generally good speller. I noticed in school (this was before the days of readily available word processors/computers) that even if I mispelled something(sometimes on a spelling test) the teacher did not always go to the trouble of deciphering my scrawl to catch it. In high school one teacher sometimes had me help grade spelling tests since I was fairly good at reading scribbles. A multiple choice test would catch eliminate the bad handwriting problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen in PA Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 SWO has that too in the review sections. Yup, my DD loves it when we get to those pages since it means less writing.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntieM Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 It's good that you also give him a written test. Decoding and reading a word spelled out are different skills than what it takes to write out a properly spelled word. Kids with visual processing issues may be able to read a word just fine (and thus able to choose a correct spelling when they see the word written out. However, it is difficult for them to spell the word from scratch. The clue is that they will misspell the word in different ways each time they write it. I can see the logic in multiple choice quizzing for test prep, but actually handwriting the word should not be neglected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorMom Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Oh lord - I'd fail a multiple choice spelling test! I'm a rather good speller (although I was a better speller before I became reliant on spell check). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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