Need encouragement... SAT results

[Lineymom]

I have hsed my 7yo for K and 1st grade. We are very lax, but I feel he is average or well above on most things. We were enrolled in our state's free virtual academy (K12 curriculum) in Feb so because of that he had to take the SAT 10. Just got his results.... he did pretty bad.
I am so upset even though I know he had no practice taking standardized tests. Rationally, I know this doesn't mean much at this point especially, but I can't help but feel like a failure
I made the stupid mistake of telling my mom (a teacher) how he did, and now in her eyes he is doomed to be a ditchdigger

The teacher that gave the test had him as her only 1st grader, so I know he didn't get off etc. She had actually told me about some he missed in the math and the reason's why. Like a bad ruler they gave him but he did bad in the reading part too. I know he has no problems with reading comprehension!

Note: I am not making a big deal to him about it although he asked me how it said he did and I just said "not too good"
At this point, if I could convince him to go to regular school I would be so relieved!!!!!!!

[Handsomesmomma]

Has he taken the test before or was this his first try?
My son took it last year for the first time and we had practiced with Spectrum book tests to get him familiar with it. This year he took it again and did much better. He did okay last year, but, for example, math is not his strong suit and he ran out of time for most of the problems and did not do well for those sections. Did he do well enough to satisfy the requirement to move on?
I would not sweat it at all! If you think he is progressing fine that is all that matters. Not everyone is a good test taker and seven is young!
Try not to beat yourself up over it momma

Ann-Marie

[Satori]

No idea what the SAT 10 is but I'm guessing its like the Scantron CA's K12's school uses. Yep, googled it, same thing. Don't worry about it, the test is HELPFUL. It helps the teacher know what levels to place your child in. If they get it wrong and its to low a placement they will quickly see that and move them up but its better then giving all 1st grade stuff then finding out he needs 3rd grade LA but kindy math you see?

Its the end of the year assessment you need to worry about once they have been with K12 an entire year. That will really gauge how they are doing.

[Lineymom]

Yeah, first time taking it. He was the opposite as far as time. He was done with the whole thing an hour before he should have been Guess i should have known then. There are no requirements with this test to move on.

As far as the end of the year assessments w/ K12 he did fine. Barely pasted the math (because he can't count money by looking at black and white pics on paper and he missed the time problems (having the toughest time w/ time. Working on those more this summer. The rest was right.) He pasted phonics and language arts easily.

[ikesmom]

I think that testing at age 7 is kinda pointless. I don't want to offend anyone so please don't take it wrong. Most kids are just learning to sit still or write a sentence at 7.

It is easy to feel a little insecure that his performance on this test is a reflection on you and your ability to teach him. If I attended a cooking class to learn a certain technique and then went home and burned or seasoned my food wrong that doesn't mean I am a bad cook or the instructor did a bad job . I could be a great cook that just had a mishap or the timing was off. I don't think it is fair to measure kids on a certain skill or test and then label them as poor reader ect. That is why so many people have test anxiety or .."ok..this is it" kind of thoughts.

Another thing to consider is tests are usually boring. As a 7-12 year old boy I don't think tests are interesting enough to keep a child attentive in most cases. It would be difficult to do well on something you don't have a strong interest in.

I think you can grow your ds into a great learner minus the pressure of testing scores and the teacher mindset of labels.

[Lineymom]

thanks ikesmom! I needed to hear that.

[PGTlatte]

You may consider that for many who choose to homeschool, one of the reasons is specifically to avoid this type of testing....because it's not uncommon for parents to believe, based on previous experience, that these tests are not a good measure of what a child has learned.

Even though your child is participating in testing, depending on what is done with the results, you can still choose to take the results with a grain of salt.