When did your child start standardized testing?

[jcross222]

I have twin seventh graders who have never taken a standardized test. We have always used portfolio reviews for our annual evals for the state.

I overheard a conversation between a couple of moms the other day and they were talking about SAT prep for their 8th graders.

I would like my kids to get comfortable with the different tests for college entrance before they really count. I know practicing will be valuable to them, but I can definitely think of other ways to spend the testing money.

They have NO IDEA what they would like to study in college and I can't be sure where in the country we will be living when it's time to apply to colleges so I'm thinking they will probably take both the SAT and ACT when the time comes.

It seems like taking the PSAT in 10th is pretty common before it actually counts in 11th. Anyone do anything else?

Thanks in advance.:001_smile:

[Susan C.]

never....

 

Both dc took SAT at the end of their junior years, and once in senior year. That is all we did. We weren't required to do standardized testing and I figured I was with them every day and knew what they knew. :)

[Melissa B]

We do the ACT in 7th and 8th in place of the portfolio review. The price to take the ACT is basically what I pay for a review anyway. We don't do any prepping for it. I think we will do the SAT in 9th and then the ACT "for real" in 10th and the PSAT and SAT "for real" in 11th. I don't think I need to do any reporting for 12th.

[regentrude]

DD took the SAT in 7th grade and the ACT in 10th.

She will repeat both during Jr year.

[Elizabeth in WA]

We are required to do a standardized test annually. I go to ACT as soon as practical, which was 15/9th for aspie ds16, 13/7th for middle son, and youngest son is taking it through NUMATS talent search this spring at 12. We do this because they prefer it to two days of SAT-10 testing and it has qualified the older two for JHU-CTY online or summer sessions if they wanted to do them. My daughter is still stuck with two full days of bubble-filling with hundreds of other homeschoolers this spring. They all took their first standardized tests in first grade either at public school or with other homeschoolers group testing.

[TranquilMind]

I have twin seventh graders who have never taken a standardized test. We have always used portfolio reviews for our annual evals for the state.

I overheard a conversation between a couple of moms the other day and they were talking about SAT prep for their 8th graders.

I would like my kids to get comfortable with the different tests for college entrance before they really count. I know practicing will be valuable to them, but I can definitely think of other ways to spend the testing money.

They have NO IDEA what they would like to study in college and I can't be sure where in the country we will be living when it's time to apply to colleges so I'm thinking they will probably take both the SAT and ACT when the time comes.

It seems like taking the PSAT in 10th is pretty common before it actually counts in 11th. Anyone do anything else?

Thanks in advance.:001_smile:

I started my kids in 2nd grade taking the IOWA Basic 3 day test every year. The co-op leader thought it was important and she built in snack time and gym time afterward. I'm glad we did it that way.

 

It isn't necessary, I guess, but it did give me a great idea where they were strong and weak and showed year-to-year improvement.

[mom31257]

Both kids started in Kindergarten. Dd attended a Christian school through 2nd grade and was tested every year. We started homeschooling in 3rd and have tested every other year. I started ds in K to have him testing on her off years simply to spread out the costs.

 

I use Iowa tests from BJU and am certifiied as a tester. Both kids usually look forward to the testing days because they think it's fun.

[Julie in MN]

We have to test yearly in MN, too.

 

I listened to a workshop by Stobaugh on test prep and he suggested that for some kids, test prep produces anxiety, and early failures make scores worse. So I'd evaluate what kind of kid you have, too.

 

Julie

[Kareni]

My child attended a public and charter schools from grades K through 6 both of which required state standardized tests. She began homeschooling in 7th grade and was required to take standardized tests in 8th and 10th grades due to state homeschooling requirements. In 10th grade, she took an AP test and an SAT Subject test. In 11th grade, she took the PSAT, SAT, SAT Subject tests, and AP exams. In 12th grade, she took an additional AP exam. Ah, and starting in 8th grade, she also took the National Latin Exam each year. She was quite tired of standardized tests when all was said and done!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[lllll]

..

[choirfarm]

A local Christian school allows my kids to take the SAT-10 at their campus when they give it. I have had my children do that until around high school. Scores for that allowed them to qualify for the Duke Tip program so oldest took the ACT in 7th grade and the middle one took the SAT in 7th grade. They were both state recognized for their scores. When my oldest was in 10th and middle was in 8th, they took the THEA so they could take dual credit classes at the cc. ( both of their 7th grade scores were ALMOST ( 1 point in the case of the ACT and 20 points for the SAT) enough for them to qualify for entrance into the CC. They both did really well on it. Since they were doing that plus oldest was starting to do AP exams, I didn't think the SAT-10 was necessary anymore. My oldest ( 11th grade) took the PSAT for practice in 10th and for real this year. He took the ACT in December and will take the SAT in March. That will probably be it other than AP exams.

 

I had them take the SAT-10 at the local school to get used to testing. It also gave me a feel for where they were in each subject.

[Home_s_Cool]

By middle school we were doing the Iowa - as I will again with dd15, ds13 and ds11 this spring.

 

Yes it costs about the same as the PSAT, SAT and ACT but we do it at home. That's the key.

 

Also the Iowa is much more thorough.

 

Plus my ds13 and ds11 are not ready for the level of academics covered by the PSAT, SAT or ACT (math level for these is for Alg I, II and Geom.) - probably the same for the LA parts.

 

So unless you are looking at a gifted child in middle school then I'm not sure it is worth going to take these higher level tests.

[J-rap]

Our state requires us to do it yearly, ages 7-15. We did the Iowa Basics.

[Lizzie in Ma]

We've have had our dc take the Standford 10's every year since 1st but I never give them to the schools. I consider it my grades for the year.

It has made them quite comfortable with the format and the setting.

We never do any prep for it.

[G5052]

We used the CAT-E from Seton for 1st and 2nd, then the PASS from Hewitt, and then group testing with the Stanford. No way would I do group testing with a kid younger than 5th or 6th grade though, and only if they were a focused kid. I've proctored the Stanford with a variety of ages, and it is agony for most of the younger guys.

[Julie in MN]

No way would I do group testing with a kid younger than 5th or 6th grade though, and only if they were a focused kid. I've proctored the Stanford with a variety of ages, and it is agony for most of the younger guys.

 

For some of us, standardized tests are required each year. Although there are some special tests you can do one-on-one.

 

But our co-op used to do it over several days, with lots of breaks including snack & going outside. And somehow doing it in a group made it less painful, because everyone had the same pain.

[Dustybug]

We are required to start during the first grade year, so my oldest will take her first one next spring.

[2cents]

We've been doing the SAT9 since K and will continue through 11th and be adding the PSAT and ACT when appropriate.

[G5052]

For some of us, standardized tests are required each year. Although there are some special tests you can do one-on-one.

 

But our co-op used to do it over several days, with lots of breaks including snack & going outside. And somehow doing it in a group made it less painful, because everyone had the same pain.

 

If groups do it like yours, I can see how it would work. The local groups I'm aware of cram it into two half days with only a mid-morning snack break. Last year I proctored 4th-6th grade, and it was painful. I had several that couldn't focus until I put them at a special table where I sat with them to remind them to keep going. Of course we got through it, and that has merit in itself.

 

I tested mine at home until 5th grade.

[chepyl]

I started my DS last year for kindergarten. It was not necessary, bit I want a record of his progress each year. We did the CAT-E from Seaton. It cost $25 and I gave it at home. No big deal.

[Miss Marple]

We start the ACT at the end of 8th grade. That gives me a baseline for planning our high school course work. They take the ACT yearly and in 10th the PSAT (practice) and 11th the PSAT. They also take the SAT at some point in 10th to determine if it might be a better test for that particular student. I would say that my boys take some sort of standardized test twice yearly from 10th grade through 12th grade (sometimes just once in 12th).

 

We administered the ITBS yearly starting in 2nd grade. I was one of the few in our homeschool support group who qualified as an administrator of the test so my boys just had to go along since I was there ;)