Exactly my point about the American Public school students getting left behind. They are tested and tested by our socialist education system to no avail. I hope for something better for my children than to have their education dictated to them by some liberal agenda.
I choose to homeschool because my husband and I can do a better job than the public schools ,and all of their tests. We will decide what our children need to be tested on. We will decide what they need to learn and when they learn it.
I have no problem having my children tested, but I believe it should be for our purposes. If they are not up to par, than we pay the consequences.
I am talking about standardized test for homeschoolers.
This is the population that needs to LOWER our standards in order pass the public school standardized tests. There are a hundred good reasons my children will never attend a public school. Their low standards are just one reason.
For example, my five year old loves learning about the theory of flight, inventions, fractions, computer technology and science. I am not going to hold him back ,by forcing him to STOP learning these things, so I can spend his time addressing the state and federal standards for pre-schoolers.
In America I have that right ,and I choose to use it. Since we are talking about the welfare of my child, I take it seriously enough to make sure he knows whatever he needs to know to be sucessful in the market when he is older.I have already begun my research on what college entrance may look like in 10-13 years, and what skills may be needed THEN ,for success. The people who make up, and force ,the standardized tests are not as interested in my child's welfare as I am , believe me.
I have no intention on forming my child's education on any standardized test, ever.
You may think it is bogus, but my sister in law over there at NASA agrees with me about homeschooling, if you are in the San Fan area you could look her up and ask her if she know about OHM's law. I bet she does and my husband , who will be teaching my five year old science and math , understands it and knows how to apply it. I estimate we will be learning about that in a year or two. My son has already asked some basic questions about electricty..... Perhaps we should not bother since that won't be on the standardized tests for kindergarden, will it?
Personally, I don't think they are being tested enough. If they were, it would be easy enough to determine that thousands of students have been promoted to the next grade level still lacking the basic skills. Something then would have been done sooner.
I also think that the only real hope for the deplorable school system is homeschooling. If little Johnnie really loves Chemistry, he might be lucky to get 2/hrs a week lab time in school, at home, he could pretty much take what he wanted.
The stats also show that homeschooling turns out a far more superior student in so many ways.
So whats the problem with a little test? The home school kids would ace it. I just don't buy into the "I won't submit to standardized testing, because it infringes my freedom" argument simply because unless you plan to totally drop out of society altogether, testing is a part of society. That's simply the way it works.
We take a standarized eye test to apply for a driver's license -- tests for health insurance -- tests for higher learning. I can't see a future lawyer wanting to be presented before the court even though he hasn't yet taken the bar exam because he doesn't believe in standarized testing. That will simply not fly. If you or your kids ever want to work at a place like Microsoft, expect to be tested, because that's what they do.
The parents say they have been teaching their kids, yet refuse to submit to a standard test to demonstrate it. How do we really know that they are teaching the kids? Because they say so? Suppose the parents have been subjecting the kids to porno movies every day. How do we know that the kids are really getting an education?
Like I said, if the kids are really getting an honest education, then given the state of the school system today, a homeschool kid should take any test given to him/her and ace it.
Then the next step, is for the homeschool parents to demand that the school teachers sit for the same tests. Those teachers that can't pass, get tossed out. Make 'em live by their own rules. Turn it into an opportunity ("my kid can do calculus at 14, why the state school kids do the same?") Demand higher standards. That's the only way to break the back of the teacher's union.