I'm in charge of standardized testing for our co-op, and that is the last big thing for me each school year, so it is always such a huge relief to have it over and done!
We tested Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but one boy was sick yesterday and couldn't come, so I had to go to his house and finish testing him this afternoon. It didn't take long, and I was able to tape up the big box o' tests at his house and take it straight to the UPS store to ship it off. Yay--gone!
We had a much smaller group testing this year. We only had 15 families (29 students), down from 21 families and around 40 students last year, which was down from the year before. I think the main difference is that now you can administer both Iowa and Stanford tests at home (used to be just Iowa) to just your own kids, and a lot of the younger families are choosing that option. If I only had a few kids, then maybe I would do that as well, but for me, it would take forever, and our house is not really the nice, quiet testing environment one would hope for, LOL. So it is better to do it in a group. Plus, as my kids get into 4th or 5th grade, I would want them to be used to testing in a group setting anyway, so I'm sure I would choose a group testing option at that point. Unfortunately, in today's society, knowing *how* to test is a really important skill. Might as well practice for a few years while it doesn't mean anything.
On that note, it was Grace's first year testing, and she loved it, as does Anna, the old pro. Anna said on Wednesday morning, "I wish testing was 5 days, not 3!" They think it is easy, and they love having special snacks like M&Ms with raisins to eat on their breaks, when they get to play outside on the playground (praise the Lord for 3 beautiful days of weather!). The younger 3 kids had an absolute ball in the nursery with a few other kids and the wonderful volunteer moms who watched them. I thought Micah especially might have issues, since he is so resistant to the church nursery now (and because by Wednesday, he was absolutely fried and needed to sleep longer), but he was fine with it too. I'm sure it helped that Faith was in there too, as well as some other "big" kids.
With such a small number of families, it was a challenge to be able to have enough people to administer the tests. The high school parents were fantastic about volunteering to test, but their kids are only there Monday and Tuesday, so I had to scramble to fill all the holes on Wednesday! But it all worked out. Whew!
Nathan and Luke didn't test this year, since they had both just taken the ACT in April. I'm going to send those scores in to the county in July. Tuesday they greeted an honor flight (so nice that Nathan can drive now!!), and Wednesday they had their last online history class. So now they are done too, except for studying for the SAT II tests for US history and chemistry.
As for me, I am so tired! For some reason, testing really wears me out. I guess it's just being responsible for everything. I'm glad it's over, and I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend, remembering all our brave soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom. I do not take our freedoms lightly, and I know they have come at a very high price. I see some of that price every time I go to Bethesda, and also when I go to the commissary and drive by Arlington Cemetery. And it reminds me to pray for those in other countries who don't have these freedoms, like Meriam, the pregnant Christian Sudanese woman who has been sentenced to death for her faith, and for Pastor Saeed in Iran, who actually in an American, but is being held and tortured over there for his faith. I encourage you to pray for them, and other persecuted believers around the world, as well this Memorial Day weekend and then keep on praying!
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