Reply to Poll: degrees of AAP "prep"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
When people refer to test "prep," they are referring to what you have described as extreme, first, second, and third. Many people see what you call "fourth" as tutoring for kids who need extra help to understand what is happening in the classroom, not really test prep, although I see how it could be. The remaining categories are simply general educational enrichment, not what people consider test prep.

Google the words "test prep" and you will find all kinds of companies offering services and products that promise to raise test scores. Here's how Wikipedia is defining it: "Test preparation (abbreviated test prep) or exam preparation primarily refers to educational courses, tutoring services, and educational materials/learning tools designed to increase students' performance on standardized tests, particularly entrance examinations...."

Reading at home, playing games, doing puzzles, going to museums and historic sites with your child all add to the child's education in a positive way, but they are not test prep.

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I agree with you, but I also know that some of the things we do at home for fun are sold by web sites dedicated to test prep. Example - the game "Set". We have it - both the cards and the ipad version. I play it more than my kids, but they do play it. One of them is surprisingly good at it for her age. I know of at least one web site that sells "Set" as a test prep activity for the NNAT. Did I know that when I bought it off Amazon? No. Will I stop playing it with her because she hasn't taken the NNAT yet? No, we both enjoy playing it. Am I prepping my kid? You tell me.[/quote]

The game "Set" is great fun and good for learning to look at things in different ways, but it is not test prep, per se. You are not "prepping" your child when you play the game with her, just having fun.  :)

Some people would like you to believe that anything you do with your child that is even remotely educational is test "prep." Some folks will posit that is better for a child to be in the house doing test prep than outside on the athletic field, but by a very broad definition of test prep, I could call playing sports "test prep" because the healthy, fit child is likely to do better on a test than the sluggish child who sits at a table with workbooks all afternoon. Broaden the definition enough and anything can be defined as test prep.

If you were to poll teachers and people on the street (not just here on this forum!), you would be likely to find general agreement that the first four items on your list fit the definition of "test prep" while the others do not. (The first two items actually go beyond "test prep" into a whole different arena, of course, but that was not your question.)

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