THERE ARE ALWAYS EXCEPTIONS – Homeschooling Is Where The Heart Is!
To test or not to test…that is the question? NOT to testing…that is the answer. Homeschooling your children is like parenting one child. Take it from me, an only child, when something broke in the house the jig was pretty much up! My mother didn’t have to line up six kids and conduct an inquisition to catch the culprit.
When you are teaching your child what a fraction is and what a fraction is capable of doing, you will discover quite quickly if your child struggles with converting an improper fraction into a mixed number; therefore no test required.
A classroom teacher with 28 students needs to test the children to determine if all of them comprehend what she has been teaching them. She doesn’t have the luxury of spending one-on-one time with a student, for however long it takes, to clarify what is confusing the child.
I explain and work math problems on the whiteboard for my daughter. Next, we work more math problems together until she has mastered the technique. Then she teaches me the math problems as she works them out on the white board. We do not move on to the next level until I know that she knows the current math method we are working on.
This process easily transfers to other subjects.
After we read from her science book I ask her the questions at the end of the chapter and she has a written assignment. If my daughter is daydreaming about Fili the dwarf from the The Hobbit and she misses a question verbally or written, we review the material. This works for reading, writing, etc.
There are always exceptions to the rule…spelling and vocabulary.
I test my daughter in these subjects because it works well for us. Aaaaaah, it works well for us, the four magic words! If it works well for you to dole out tests in math, reading, and science go right ahead. This is one of the joys of homeschooling we don’t all have to do the same thing.
I have given you my opinion, now do what you feel best serves your children’s educational endeavors.
Email me with your homeschooling questions at homeschooling heart@gmail.com.
Until next month, God bless you and your little or not so little ones!
> Read Full Biography
> More Articles Written By This Writer
- S-U-C-C-E-S-S – Homeschooling Is Where The Heart Is! - January 20, 2017
- PRAEMONITUS, PRAEMUNITUS – Homeschooling Is Where The Heart Is! - November 18, 2016
- HOMESCHOOLING ANXIETY – Homeschooling Is WhereThe Heart Is! - September 23, 2016