Do I want my 3rd grader time do the standardized testing?
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Anonymous
| I just filled in the form to homeschool in mcps for 3rd grade. There is a question whether I want her to participate in standardized testing at our school. Is there a reason I would want to do this? I am only planning on homeschooling for one year but don’t really want to teach to the test of I don’t have to. |
Anonymous
| Anyone? |
Anonymous
|
If I were you, I would prepare your child for the entrance exam for the CES. It's the MCPS magnet elementary. 3rd graders take the exam, and the CES lasts for 4th to 5th grade.
The test is a modified, shortened version of the Cogat, and you can find workbooks online. It involves some vocabulary, arithmetic ability, but mostly critical thinking skills. MCPS also considers MAP scores, I believe, so I would also work on reading comprehension and a similar sequence of mathematics taught by MCPS. Contrary to what people tell you, there is little "teaching to the test" in elementary standardized testing. It's just a question of whether your child reads and understands well enough to answer questions about a text, and whether they have a good enough understanding of basic mathematical operations. I don't recall whether MCPS has science exams in 3rd grade, you could perhaps look at their website. You would be teaching those skills anyway. |
Anonymous
| Say yes and buy yourself more time to decide. We did the testing to preserve the option for CES and I was also just curious how DC would do on the tests. I also thought that since doing well on standardized tests is kind of a skill in itself, practice doing them wouldn’t hurt. |
Anonymous
The above examples are the same reasons why we choose to take standardized tests. |
Anonymous
| OP tks everyone . I’ll put yes. |
Anonymous
| In VA some people do the in-school tests bc they are free. We have to pay for our own CAT or Iowa or whatever tests. |