Standardized Tests & learning what "gifted" means - 03/22/12 09:36 PM
This is sort of a rant, just to warn you all.
I've been chugging through the practice test for the STAR test with Wolf. It's so amazingly, brain numbingly painful! At least it's good for making sure he hit the grade level standards...
I had to have a long talk with Wolf about how the tests are made to judge how well average students have mastered the material. He was upset with the test because you have to pick the best answer from a list of choices and none of the choices was the "best" answer. He complained over and over that EPGY would never allow those answers to be right. I had to explain that he just needed to pick the best out of what was available. These tests are a joke. The directions are confusing, the answers poorly written, and this crud is what they are using to find out if teachers are teaching?!?
Wolf is finally really figuring out that he's different. He just couldn't understand that students would have trouble with the tests. I used his math course as an example of how he learns differently. He does 20 minutes 3x a week. An average kid in a regular school does at least 40 min a day not counting homework. They both go through about a grades worth of math a school year, so he learns a year's worth of math with about a quarter of the work (when homework is added in) than an average kid. He simply doesn't understand the point of repetition.
I also explained that if his friend joined his martial arts school he would learn sparring and weapons much faster than Wolf is. Wolf would have to practice a whole lot more than his friend to get to the same level. His friend is very physically adept. Wolf is very mentally adept. That sort of helped him understand the repetition a little.
It's so hard to raise him. He just pointed out that Hermione learns differently too and that he's like her, but without all the studying. He's so amazing to be around, but it's so hard to readjust and remember that he's only seven and has a seven year old's emotions and physical coordination. I forget how young he is. It's like living with a toy crazed young adult more than living with a kid, except when he actually acts his age. It's such a shock when he does, so hard to remember that it's age appropriate.
I've been chugging through the practice test for the STAR test with Wolf. It's so amazingly, brain numbingly painful! At least it's good for making sure he hit the grade level standards...
I had to have a long talk with Wolf about how the tests are made to judge how well average students have mastered the material. He was upset with the test because you have to pick the best answer from a list of choices and none of the choices was the "best" answer. He complained over and over that EPGY would never allow those answers to be right. I had to explain that he just needed to pick the best out of what was available. These tests are a joke. The directions are confusing, the answers poorly written, and this crud is what they are using to find out if teachers are teaching?!?
Wolf is finally really figuring out that he's different. He just couldn't understand that students would have trouble with the tests. I used his math course as an example of how he learns differently. He does 20 minutes 3x a week. An average kid in a regular school does at least 40 min a day not counting homework. They both go through about a grades worth of math a school year, so he learns a year's worth of math with about a quarter of the work (when homework is added in) than an average kid. He simply doesn't understand the point of repetition.
I also explained that if his friend joined his martial arts school he would learn sparring and weapons much faster than Wolf is. Wolf would have to practice a whole lot more than his friend to get to the same level. His friend is very physically adept. Wolf is very mentally adept. That sort of helped him understand the repetition a little.
It's so hard to raise him. He just pointed out that Hermione learns differently too and that he's like her, but without all the studying. He's so amazing to be around, but it's so hard to readjust and remember that he's only seven and has a seven year old's emotions and physical coordination. I forget how young he is. It's like living with a toy crazed young adult more than living with a kid, except when he actually acts his age. It's such a shock when he does, so hard to remember that it's age appropriate.
