I remember having an "I can't do it!" moment when I was 9. I was at camp for the first time and had to take a swimming test. The water was freezing and I was so cold, I could barely move (I've always been super-sensitive to the cold). I had never taken a swimming test or group lessons and didn't really understand what was going on.
They kept asking me to do stuff and I stood there freezing saying "I can't!!" It wasn't that I couldn't go underwater or whatever. It was that I didn't understand what they wanted or why they wanted it, and I was focusing on my own agenda, which was to GET OUT OF THE WATER!!!
The result: I was placed in the beginner group.
Kids naturally focus on their own agendas without even realizing why an evaluation exists, let alone being able to consider how it might affect them or how others see them in context of the evaluation (I've even noticed that many young adults don't have this skill fully developed). Explaining things doesn't necessarily help, at least not with the kids I've encountered. Trying to push very young children to deal with school on these terms could be counterproductive on the school's part.
Val
