Testing week

Holy Toledo! We're testing this week. It's our first time. Nat "comes of age" (ie. she needs to be tested or assessed prior to) in July, and the virtual academy that we're enrolled in is testing this month, so it seemed as good a time as any.

We're using the CAT5 Comprehensive Battery. Anytime something is referred to as a "battery", it's just not good. Nat's hangin' in there, but today was day two of testing, and she was fighting back tears during the last section. No amount of "you're doing great!" and "this isn't a big deal" and "really, if you want to just fill in the bubbles at random, it's okay" would put her at ease. When I realized that the test results were not going to accurately assess her knowledge in the various areas due to her reading anxiety, I seriously meant it when I told her she could bubble in anything. I know she knows subject-verb agreement. I know she has an excellent vocabulary. And I know she's still struggling to read. I also know she's improved by leaps and bounds in her reading in just the last couple of months. Dumb tests. Of course, when she ends up acing the test, I'm sure I'll rush right over to blog about it, LOL! She's testing at second grade, since that's the level curriculum she's working on (except for third grade math), so some of the stuff has been pretty easy. One question in social studies asked how the pilgrims got to the new world, and one of the possible choices was "by bus". Lord, help us. She wanted to know why they didn't ask her about ancient Rome's lasting contributions to modern society. ;P