Proficient

Most people who know us are aware that we don't put much stock by standardized tests in this family and that we measure progress quite differently from a great majority of parents in this country.  With our neuro-different children, standardized test results only show that they are not good at taking standardized tests. Throw in the fact that they're English language learners with a host of other challenges, and you have a perfect set-up for failure. That doesn't mean my kids aren't smart, it just means they show what they know by other means that cannot usually be measured, timed, or quantified nor are they generally noticed or valued by educators.

Because our eldest was the recipient of an academic scholarship through the Department of Education for the 2017/18 school year, she was required to take the statewide standardized test given to all third graders.  She knew that we wanted her to try her best, but also that we would not be upset if she didn't pass the test.  In fact, she was not expected to pass the test by her intervention team at the public school who began to prepare us for this possibility just a little over a year ago.  It was one of the reasons we decided to home school as we did not want Ella to work in an environment that was already assuming limits for her and thinking of ways to work around academic proficiency.

Unlike her peers at the public school, our daughter spent no more than three hours total preparing for the test.  We simply took some time and practiced the mechanics of the online testing, navigating through the pages, figuring out the tools to draw shapes, using the mouse, and so on.  She did not take any practice tests other than the required one in October before sitting for the real deal in April.

A few weeks ago we received the results of our home schooler's testing and she is proficient in all tested subject areas.  She scored well above the Reading Guarantee and showed some advanced skills in writing.  I can tell you that she was very proud to see a tangible representation of the hard work she has been doing this past year.

For us as parents, the test results were a confirmation that home school was the right choice and that we focused on the correct academic areas to drive our child's education into the right direction, even if those areas were not always part of the third grade curriculum.  Despite the demands that it places on me as a mother, we will forge forward into fourth grade with home school now and allow our child to learn at her own pace, using some methods that you're not likely to see in any mainstream classroom.  We're looking forward to this new school year which begins on July 1 and hope to continue to see growth and progress for our big girl.