I totally agree. It doesn't do any good learning something without knowing how it applies to real life. And then you have the kids that don't test well, but know the stuff. We haven't had to test yet. Our requirements are written so that you don't have to do standardized testing until 4-8 on an every other year basis. The years between you can actually do the written end of year assesments, so technically you can get away without testing until 5th grade because you can use 4th, 6th and 8th grade as a written assessment. 9-12 is mandatory standardized testing. At this point if I admistered a standardized test, I don't think it would truely show his level because anything timed stresses him out so much, he can't complete it even knowing the material.When we homeschooled in Nevada, we just had to keep the books from the year before, to prove work done. My kids hate work books, but i've been in such a habit of using it to prove their moving forward since the books are easy to fill out and as long as they get 90% of the answers right for their grade, it proves they are learning enough to pass the grade.
I don't believe in no child left behind, or mandated testing, I also don't believe in testing to test... My oldest can pass a test, but can't apply anything... what good is it, if you can do a math problem on paper, but can't figure out how much to substitute in the kitchen, or how to keep a mental tally of math going in your head when grocery shopping?
One of the fun things we do for math, is the kids help with household projects. When we go to the feed store, they have to figure out what we need, and how much it's going to cost with sales tax by the end of the shopping trip. Person who guesses closest, gets a prize. LOL Dad usually wins.but it's good practice for trying to keep a mental math going to keep in your budget if you have one while shopping.
We do hands on stuff like that, to really help make sure they know how to "apply" stuff.
My 5 year old is the one who measures the amount of feet for all her chicken fencing, then tells dad how many feet of fencing we need, how many poles, etc. She's out there right now, digging holes and carrying buckets of pea gravel to help put the fences in so her EE batch can have a free-range area.
They've helped remodel houses, do plumbing basic electricity stuff, do painting, molding, they've done it all (we've remodeled 2 houses since we've moved to texas.)
So, for them, hands on learning has been far more beneficial. I know my daughter will be able to do basic house repairs as an adult with out "relying on a man around" to do it for her... you know?
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. I can't believe to was that long ago....
