Homeschooling?
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Homeschooling?
My honor roll student failed the practice FCAT.
Here (Florida) FCAT is a test that your 3rd grade child MUST pass to be promoted into 4th grade.
The real test is March 1.
How am I supposed to her prepared in less than a month.
How can my child have A's and fail this test?
It HAS to be test anxiety.
Her happiness over her straight A report card received today (which SHOULD count for something) is completely clouded by these test results.
We do not have numbers just "she failed."
I am so upset! I feel like one lousy test should not count for a child's entire year.
This is a child that worked her butt off to get those A's and it is like they mean nothing!
I am very close to homeschooling next year.
With my son being bullied by older boys, my daughter working hard getting straight A's yet still in danger of failing, and with the recent 2 deaths and 1 rape in nearby schools I just think there has to be a better answer for my children.
Is there anyone that is homeschooling?
Can you offer me some advice?
Any help is GREATLY APPRECIATED!
Yvonne
(((Yvonne)))
I had to do something at the end of second grade with oldest dd. You can read about the background under that post (DD and honor roll).
She had a delayment in language and speech and public schools weren't working at all. I decided to look into private schools, found the smallest one two miles away, in a building once owned by my dh's stepdad (all of these were signs from God if I were to tell the whole story, lol).
Anyway, she never came close in public schools to being happy and comfortable therefore, very poor self-esteem and grades.
The private school she attends has about 16-17 kids. She works at her own pace. They go to school Mon-Thurs and we homeschool on Fridays. To pay for it, I clean the school/church every other week and our daughters qualify for scholarships. In all we pay $800 actual money for school. This school has been a God sent.
They enjoy school and it does let them be around other children. I never thought of homeschooling until I lost my job but they were already in the school and everything is going very well.
I know this isn't what you asked, but I thought I just tell our experience
Good luck and keep us posted.
I don't homeschool, but in Texas we have the same type of mandatory testing. Here you get 3 chances to do it. Plus, just because she didn't do well on the practice test, doesn't mean she won't do well on the real one. Lots of time the children rush through that test because they are told they can read after they are finished. Tell her to take her time. Call the teacher and get a copy of the test.(you might check your district website, ours has last years on it). Our test here has very tricky wording. Also, ask the teacher how she has been doing on the practice worksheets through out the year. If your school is anything like ours, they have a financial stake in her passing, so they will be helping too.
High stakes testing are a pox on our education system!
I'm in Texas too. I took my son out of public and put him in private school where they don't have this testing.
I'm a big fan of homeschooling, but since I have to work I opted for the private school route. I hope you work something out. With No Child Left Behind it's only going to get worse.
I live in Florida also. If your straight A student fails the test after third grade they can be retested.
How has she been doing on the practice tests? This should be a strong indicator if it's test anxiety or something else.
She has test anxiety.
Last year she threw up and had asthma attacks the entire FCAT testing week and she failed it. Since she was in 2nd grade they promoted her (and she was getting great grades)
This years practice test she failed. She will not be promoted if she fails the real test.
Retesting may not help if she freezes during tests. What is strange though ----minor testing (like weekly spelling tests/etc she gets 100's) so she only freezes on FCAT. She says it stresses her out. She knows that it is important (after-all that is all the kids are told throughout the year "you must pass FCAT")
I think it sad and overwhelming for kids...
I have a question for Texannie, you stated get a copy of the test from the teacher. Don't mean to sound stupid, rude etc. But how is this helping the kids actually pass?
Dh works in public schools and I know what you are all talking about "making the schools look good" but it really isn't helping the students, only boasting the schools "appearance."
I like the Fcat tests. I think it holds each student accountable for their learning. If a child can not pass a test along with his peers then that is a huge red flag for that child's academic level. It also will stop kids from being passed along to higher grades when they certainly are not ready.
But there are exceptions and exemptions for the tests. Kids in special ed classes with challenges are taken into consideration, for example.
If your child is having a testing problem make that known to the teacher, principal and start documenting her test scores, practice scores, etc. They will not hold her back for a failed Fcat if she is a good student otherwise.
The same scenerio happened to my dd's friend last year. She didn't even have to be retested. They looked at her case and passed her without an incident. The mom had kept all pretests, class tests, etc.
Some information about the tests for other moms...
My kids have their writing tests on Tuesday. 1st, 2nd and 4th grade.
Example for her test:
Prompt...Where would you take your class for a field trip?
Opening sentence, 3 statements with an elaboration for each, closing sentence. Capital letter at beginning of sentence and punctuation at end. Spelling has to be close.
90% of the kids in her class can score between 4 and 6. 6 being the highest.
For first grade the kids have to write one sentence from the prompt, which they have been doing all year long for nightly homework. Capital letter, sentence, period.
For example:
What do you like to eat?
I like peza. Would score a perfect 3.
I sort of rambled on and sort of got lost in my post but I meant to convey that there are exceptions.
Hope this helps...somehow!
Sorry, first example is for my dd's 2nd grade class.
With No Child Left Behind, the special ed kids will have to be tested, too. I think it's insane.
Now, in Texas, special ed kids can be exempt from taking it. If they are exempt for their entire schooling they don't get a diploma when they graduate. They get a certificate saying they attended school.
I like the statistics that these tests produce, however. What they don't do, but should, and people are fighting for, is to release the scores by classroom, rather than grade. That way you can see which TEACHERS produce a lot of high scores and which ones produce low scores.
A local columnist was able to get a copy of a district's score by classroom (it's given to the administration, but not released to the public) and there is an obvious pattern, he says. The kids who every year get the teacher who produces the lowest score, get worse and worse with every year. They started out as passing, then each year for 3 more years their scores got lower and lower until they were low, low failing grades 4 years later. The kids who got the teacher that had kids with high scores did better and better each year.
Marg, we look at copies of previous years test to help as study guides. The wording on these tests are different that every day wording. How is that not helping the child?
When you stated getting copies of the test I thought you meant this years, to me that is cheating and if the school allows it that is helping the students pass which in turn is helping the school "Look Good."
I can give some clear examples of dh's job and how their county makes themselves look good if you'd like, it's on similiar lines.
I didn't meant to upset anyone, but if you go back and read the posts, it does sound a little strange.
This was your quote "Call the teacher and get a copy of the test."
In texas, and I assume other states. Special needs children are "exempt from testing". this does not mean they do not have to take the test, it just means that their scores don't count. Not for their own personal passing of grades or for the schools ratings. No child left behind is specifically focused on typcially developing children meeting some very basic standards. Teachers are afraid to fail students in elementary, this gives the school a chance to hold back a child so they may achieve their highest potential. I have a cousin who is a 3rd grader, she just can't read well. There is nothing wrong, she is just a little slow, she would do well to repeat a grade (and they should have done that in kinder), but she is the sweetest kid and she makes okay grades c's. Elementary grades are just hard to fail, they get so many participation grades. Anyway I digress. Yjja, one thing you can do for your daughter is give her some mental boost. One of the things that really helps my daughter is giving giving her a crutch. For example, I read a study about how peppermint is supposed to help your memory and there are results that show that a childing chewing peppermint gum or candy during a test score higher. So I presented this to her teacher, her teacher sent a note home with the kids and parents had to okay it. Interstingly enough her class had their best scores ever. It was a special treat that gave them "special testing ability". Whether it does or not, mentally boy did they think so. My daughter to this day will get a peppermint when working on some particularlly hard homework!
I'd like to add something to this discussion. Kaye has a point about the peppermint. If your daughter freezes during these tests, and you remove her from the system that requires testing, how will she fare when it's time for SATs etc. She will have never conquered her fears. No matter how you decide to resolve this issue, her fear of tests will not be resolved and will haunt her later.
Marg, I am sorry I was not clear. These are sample copies of previous years. It is not possible to get a copy of the current test as you are correct, that would be cheating. Again, sorry I wasn't clear.
Annie, I hate to say this but worse goes on in public schools I could go into great detail what dh is told to do (by the principal) and it ranks right up there with cheating, to make his school look good
No apologies needed;) Some schools will do anything to make themselves look better, this is the true fact of todays society...
I am questioning spending an entire year learning how to take a test. In addition to the FCAT problem we have also had 2 deaths and 1 rape in nearby ELEMENTARY schools. So there is an issue of safety.
While I CERTAINLY appreciate the advice on the actual testing (I will be giving her a peppermint and see if that helps her) my main question was if anyone homeschools and what advice they may be able to offer me.
My husband and I had a long drawn out conversation last night about the pros and cons of this decision. We decided I would start homeschooling the children over the summer as a test run. If it goes well I will continue it. If it is not going well they go back into public school when it starts in August.
I spent today looking for resources and found quite a large variety of text books and workbooks readily available. One bonus of this decision is I can teach my son harder subjects since he is currently above grade level in school and bored. We are going to look for a club or sport the children wish to participate in so they will still have other children to socialize with.
I just hope I am up to being my children's educator!
Yvonne
My sister homeschools and loves it! She has a current 1st grade boy and a 2nd grade girl. She WAS in FL until last Jan. FL has tons of homeschooling networks. Start asking around and find out what is going on locally in your area. Often the rec centers have special programs going on so that kids get lots of social interaction. Also, contact Tallahasse and the education board. They will have information for you.
As for my opinion, it varies a great deal from parent to child. My sister does a wonderful job w/ her kids. However, I think her DD would really blossom out of "Mommy's" watchful eyes. She is an independant little thing and loves to be center attention. Hard to do at home w/ brother and mom only. Also, I think it holds her back from trying harder on things she does not excel at. Her son, on the other hand I think it thriving with homeschooling. They live in PA now.
Also, even though homeschooled, each child must take a test every year to show that you are indeed teaching the required information to your child. It rates your child according to grade level in each subject. They must pass all subjects for their grade level. So if testing is the base line issue, you may still have trouble.
I would give serious consideration to your ability to preplan and organize. Is your daily life well structured? You will be taking on a full time job, plus maintaining your daily household responsibilities. As with regular teachers, you will be spending much of your evening times doing homework for future class studies. Also, how well are you at taking your child to their highest potential? Just as the teacher in school, this will now be your job. I'm not saying that all teachers do this well, but I'm sure you will be wanting to do that for your child. So, can you?
For myself, I would never home school. I am disorganized and don't plan well on a consistant basis. Also, I see my daughter offer much better "trying" to other adults than myself. She is a better risk taker w/ school authorties than me. I personally enjoy the quite time I get from her being at school, and I get such a thrill from watching her blossom with each passing day at school.
If you do decide to teach at home, from my sisters experience, you really need to follow a program that already has the outline. I think it is called ABECCA? Phonetically, that is correct, not sure of spelling.
Along w/ homeschooling ideas, I would consider having your daugther take some training in relaxation for test anxiety. Being a strait A student, sounds like she really puts the pressure on. Maybe she just needs to work on calming down.
As a side, I HATE FCAT! I too, live in FL. Just thought I'd share that with you
Actually NO tests are required. There is a portfolio evaluation option instead of testing.
I located a website that has all the Florida laws.
I am a very organized person.
What I didn't mention was last year my daughter was a struggling reader. I located many books on teaching her hands on (instead of phonics which wasn't working for her) and it finally clicked for her. I documented everything from what she did to what was and wasn't working.
In a way I feel like I am already homeschooling. My children bring home 2 hours worth of homework a night. The main reason for this is the amount of time spent in the classroom learning to take the FCAT. I have spoken with her teacher and she feels I am up to the challenge.
As you mentioned there are many support groups available that not only offer advice but also monthly field trips so the children can socialize. I just located them today and will look into joining one.
Although you are not required to follow any particular format or program I certainly would go with a program (ABEKA & Core curriculum are a few)This way I will know they are get a well rounded education similar to public school.
Dana--I appreciate your input!
I guess the trial run this summer will give me the answer I am looking for (whether I am up for the challenge and if my children will take me seriously as their teacher).
Thank you everyone for your responses!
Yvonne
I homeschool my 10 year old, half time. She's home in the mornings, and our main focus is language and math. We also work on the subjects she's doing at school, to reinforce them. She was getting special ed help for language and math, and doing very poorly in the other subjects. Our marks are A,B,C,D and R. She was getting mainly D's and R's, with B's in things like art and gym. Now most of her marks are B's and C's, which is wonderful! Our home life is much more calm, because we don't have the added stress of rushing to school, homework that lasted all night, etc.
Although we work in a very relaxed way, she is really improving.
My other 3 are in the school still. I'm not sure what will happen year to year. Just taking it a day at a time.
I pulled Nicole after March break last year, so that I could see how the final 3 months worked at home. We were both sold. I chose to do that instead of experimenting over the summer, because I really felt that she deserved a break in the summer. We all did.
I don't think anything is worth sending a child into anxiety attacks, putting a strain on home life, etc.
Good luck with your decision.
I just read Dana's post after I posted mine.
I homeschool diffently. We are very relaxed. I don't use a set curriculum, and I don't spend my evenings planning.
You will find that you can do much more than the teacher does, in much less time. Think back to school, and how much time was wasted. They have so many transitions in a day, and you won't have that. You can sit down and teach your child what you need to, and leave the area when she does her work. I don't sit with Nicole unless she needs me to. I am close by if she needs me, but I'm busy doing what I need to be doing.
We have several books that we use, but they're all based on her level of learning. She's in grade 5, using a grade 5 language book and grade 4 math.
If I need to go to the grocery store, she goes with me. If she wants to spend the morning working at her dad's store, she can. If we feel like baking, we do. She is learning so much from all of these things.
Don't get too caught up on the social thing. Being social doesn't mean interacting with only people your own age. To do that she can be a Guide, go to swimming lessons, dancing, etc. Real life socialization is being able to deal with people of all ages, races, religions, sexes, etc. You can offer so much of that if she homeschools.
Just rambling on, but I wanted to show there's different approaches to homeschooling. As mentioned in another post, there's a homeschooling board at www.momtomom.com . It's not that busy, but you can get good info if you ask. There are also lots of homeschooling mailing lists at yahoogroups.com.
Yvonne - sounds like you have all your ducks in a row to homeschool! I think it's a great idea. Much better use of everyone's time.
Yvonne, SOME type of test is given at the end or near end of each "school" year. My sister had to have both her children tested. Her best friend is a qualified "tester" (don't know the official name for it). The person giving the test is certified and also collects a fee for giving the test. It is thru this test you find out where you child fits into grade levels.
And SOMEhow, there is a way for accountability that children are learning the states required skills. I don't really know how it is done, but my sister called it both "test" and "evaluation"....either way the child is questioned in some manner on the information they should be learning and information they have learned that is above level.
She has done this in both FL and PA where she currently lives. Since I don't homeschool, I really don't know the actual facts about it.
Homeschooling can really offer a ton of things to the right families. There are times that I think I would like to do this....but I know MYSELF! It would never work. Thankfully, many places are realizing the need for outside events and large homeschooling networks are now available.
Good luck to you.
Dana, there are different laws in different states concerning homeschooling. Texas is one of the most lax. You actually have to do no testing and don't even need a high school diploma...sad VERY sad!
I am not accountable to anyone but myself and my child. No one will be checking up on us.
I'm in Ontario, Canada.
My neighbor who homeschools told me that Virginia now requires a college degree. They are trying to change that.
We just pulled our older DS out of public high school last Friday, and started homeschooling yesterday. Our main reason is that they don't want to meet the requirements of his IEP.
He is very bright, and has a very quick mind. However, because of early childhood abuse and trauma (we adopted him last year at age 14), he has a learning disability. He needs extra time for tests and homework assignments. His IEP also calls for a "small group setting" for his classroom. All of the "small group settings" are for DISCIPLINE problems, which he is not. He just cannot keep up with the pace of changing classes every 45 minutes, and crowded hallways. It's overwhelming to him, and he gets "lost in the shuffle".
He was coming home from school, having a snack, and falling asleep from 3:00 to 8:00PM.. I'd wake him for supper, and he'd want to sleep through, school was that draining for him.
Therefore, DH and I decided to try educating him at home for the rest of the year, and then make a decision for next year. He was in a college prep program, as he definitely wants to go to college.
I had to meet with the assistant superintendent today, as a formality. I had to tell him what I intended to use for cirriculum. I have an afidavit that I have to turn in in June, stating attendence and grades.
I was told that he gets graduation credits for every course passed, but the letter grade is not recognized for class standing.
One thing that REALLY disturbed me is, that IF we continue to homeschool him all through high school, he will NOT get a diploma from the high school! He isn't even allowed to walk accross the stage!
I KNOW that home schooled students go on to Ivy League universities, and the military academies, so HOW do they do this without a diploma?
ALSO....the school said that I must follow their cirriculum, but I can use my own sources. I am using some of his textbooks on loan from the school, but I have also ordered some materials from Bob Jones University Press.
Does anyone know about this diploma thing?...And also, what textbook series do YOU like? TIA
From my recent research I can tell you Bob Jones University and Abeka acedemy offer diplomas.
There are others too but I cannot think of them at the moment. It costs more to use them but will provide you with both credits and diplomas.
Umbrella schools or 600 schools sometimes offer a diploma too.
GOOD LUCK!!
The first week was the hardest. We are now settled into a routine and my kids are happy to be homeschooled.
Yvonne
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