Testing's Over!

Now maybe I can relax a little bit! Of course, I always worry until I get the results back, LOL. Everyone assured me it was so easy, and that they all took their time and were very careful, but you never know . . . Jonathan especially took a rather cavalier attitude toward actually reading through the entire question (and all the answer choices) during our test practice time, so we'll see.

I tested the first-graders, of which the only one doing the testing with our homeschool group was Joel McC. Christine told me he had been nervous about the whole thing, but it worked out so well. Last year there was a snafu in signing up for the church building. The church built a new building and moved into in during last summer, and the lady who had taken our "reservation" retired, so we never made it onto the church's calendar. Another homeschool group signed up to use the church for testing during "our" week. When our lady in charge realized this, she ended up working out that we would share the facility. Our group was upstairs in some rooms. This was bad in that there was no nursery room, but the room that Joel and I were in was like where you might hold a small group meeting--2 comfortable couches, a coffee table, etc. It was like testing in your family room! I was worried about where I would sit while nursing, so it was so nice to have this couch! I even laid Micah down on it to nap beside me, and he was happy as a clam. And Joel felt totally comfortable in there too--definitely no nervousness. It was nice!

Since there was no real nursery, Christine watched my girls Monday and Wednesday at her house, and Lynnea took them to her house Tuesday. This was such a blessing! They had so much fun at these houses, and it was so much nicer than sitting at the church for 3 days in a row!

There was talk of combining the 2 groups next year, or at least having us test at the same time again, since that makes the church be used only for one week. I'm taking over as the testing head person for our group next year, and I really would rather not do either option. We really can't combine. The other group has an elaborate structure--moms sign up to make all these snacks (plus sub. ones with kids with milk, gluten, nut allergies, etc.), the 3-5 year olds don't have nusery, but rather a VBS-style program, and every mom has to volunteer for some job (well, I do like that). The big thing is that there is a $10 cost PER CHILD to cover all this. I can't afford to pay an extra $60 or so so to be able to test! The tests alone are fairly expensive! And I would just as soon pack my own kids' snacks. I know what they like, and it is a whole lot cheaper than $10 per child!! Too complicated and expensive.

I don't really want to share the facility either. I NEED to have a nursery next year! And we barely had enough rooms this year, so next year one group would probably have to use the youth building as well as the upstairs. That is just really not as convenient, and I don't want to have to deal with it! I think having the 2 groups test different weeks gives people as option, if one date doesn't work or whatever.

I guess I'll be figuring all that out next year, joy, joy! To be honest, in a few years, I think Christine and I will test together and not worry about the group. Stanford has changed the rules so now you can test your own children, although I think you have to test other kids as well (so just not ONLY your own children). But for right now--WE'RE DONE! And I'm not worrying about it until later, LOL.