First Ever Standardized Test

Luke took his first ever standardized test today.  And not that these matter, but in the homeschooling world it's the law.  They must be taken certain years and this was Luke's first year of required testing.  Oh, friends.  I won't lie.  I was a little unsure how this would go.  He had never seen a scantron sheet before today.  We took a practice test Sunday, and it went great, but seriously.  A new building.  A person he doesn't know.  What would this look like for our boy?

I scheduled the test with Basic Skills, the independent, state accredited testing site located about twenty minutes from our home.  I chose to pay the extra cash for a private test, meaning it would just be Luke and the person administering the test.  People, he gets distracted easily.  Really easily.  SQUIRREL!  Right?  I mean, make the choice that makes sense for your person.

And then I did something that I ALWAYS wanted to do while teaching public school.  During the week that led up to testing, we did LESS school.  Yep.  We reviewed a few key math concepts that had shown up on the practice test, but overall, he did less seatwork this week than usual.  It was glorious.  We went on play dates.  He read books for pleasure.  (First three Redwall novels in three days. Perhaps a nine year old record?) Nobody would have guessed it was his testing week.  Perfect.

After a decent night's sleep, some piano practice (music relieves stress, people) and some protein, we headed out the door this morning with a calculator, a water bottle, and a Kashi bar.  They provide the pencils and scratch paper.  We arrived at 9:47 a.m. for our 10 a.m. testing slot.  After praying in the car for Jesus to give Luke both peace and joy during this process, we headed inside.  There was a little bit of paper work for me, but then it was time.  As Luke headed down the hall, I said, "Have fun, Buddy!"  And I meant it.  We were told he would be done by 11:30 a.m.  Okie dokie!

Paul and I headed out to visit our favorite homeschooling book store, Exodus Books, located about eight minutes from Basic Skills.  I perused the shelves while Paul played with the toys they put out for homeschool kids.  It's one of my very favorite places.  Curriculum I can touch and look though in an environment that is ultra kid friendly.  Happy Mommy.  Sidenote:  Exodus has the best summer reading program ever that includes fabulous grade level book lists.  You don't have to be local to participate.  It's seriously led us to amazing books that we might not have otherwise encountered.

I kept an eye on the time, deciding that I wanted to be back to Basic Skills closer to 11:15 than 11:30.  We put gas in the Volvo, bought a snack sized bag of potato chips for Paul (little brothers need something special on test day, too) and drove back up the hill to collect our Luke.

Upon our arrival, Jenny Bumcrot, the test adminstrator and co-founder of Basic Skills, popped out to tell me Luke had finished early.  She could tell I wasn't surprised.  She smiled at me, letting me know that she told Luke to triple check his work on each section.  That's how fast he finished.  I thanked her and she made a comment about how quickly he reads.  I didn't tell her about the Redwall read-a-thon (over 1,200 pages) this week.

I just laughed and said, "Yep."  What else do you say?  Then the surprise of the day came.

"His results will be available in just a few minutes."  One of the bonuses of paying for a private test is that you have immediate results.  I had been completely unaware of this fact.  So we sat in the lobby and made small talk with the other family there while we waited.

Sure enough within just ten minutes, our fabulous test administrator arrived with a basket of prizes from which both the test taker and the little brother were encouraged to pick.  She then invited the boys to sit  in the lobby (stocked with books and toys) while we stepped down the hall to go over Luke's results.

Guess what?  Luke did really well.  He took the California Achievement Test/Terra Nova 2 and scored in the 94th percentile overall for reading, language arts, and math.  And this dear, sweet woman who has been doing this a very long time, looked at me and said, "I just love to see children doing well.  You are doing a wonderful job teaching him."  I nearly wept.  She's an expert in her field, folks.  She sees homeschooled kids all day every day.  And those words of encouragement were gold to me.  Absolute gold.

We headed out to the lobby with Luke's test scores neatly folded into an envelope.  They will get filed in case the Educational Service District requests them.  Check that box for the year.  But we gained so much more from this experience.  Mrs. Bumcrot told Luke he did great and then encouraged him to thank me for being such a great teacher.  He grinned and gave me a big hug.  Good enough, Buddy.

We ate celebratory lunch with Daddy at Subway and took a trip to the park and the library to pick up four more Redwall novels.  Yep.  It's summer.  Wanna see a picture I took at the park of the test taker?  Sure you do.

I love the look on his face here.  Contemplative.  Quintessential Luke.