I just switched DS10 to online homeschool via the K12 program. Even attending out of district in one of the best schools in the state he was getting bored this year. After a lot of thought (and asking myself if I was insane), I felt this would be the best choice for now. It is our first foray into the homeschool realm.

For a little backstory he was found to be above average on the WISC IV, just missing the "gifted" cutoff. On the WIAT III mathematics (his true skill), he hit the ceiling at 160 and in the >99.9th percentile. His psychologist rated him as profoundly gifted in mathematics and well above average in verbal.

I was wondering if any other homeschool parents use this program, if any are familiar with the Scantron test, and if any would be able to explain the results of the Scantron. His results are listed below:

Math:
Scaled Score 2816
SEM (55.725)
Performance: Above Average
Numbers & Operations 2618-2741-2864
Algebra 2528-2658-2788
Geometry 2994-3203-3412
Measurement 2825-2954-3083
Data Analysis & Probability 2496-2629-2762
National Percentile Rank 98th percentile

Reading:
Scaled Score: 2780
SEM (65-820)
Performance: High Average
Vocabulary 2839-2957-3075
Long Passage 2308-2463-2618
Fiction 2849-3021-3193
Nonfiction 2485-2656-2827
National Percentile Rank 74th percentile
Words Per Minute 155

His reading honestly could have been much higher but he was bored and fidgety.

The school did decide to do grade level acceleration for math, which I fully agreed to. They offered full grade acceleration but I declined because he does need to work on several core items in Language Arts.

If anyone has insight, advice, personal stories (good and bad), please let me know!

A public virtual school is not actually homeschool. It is distinct from homeschool as there is not parental control of curriculum choice and sequencing. For example, "The school did decide to do grade level acceleration for math, which I fully agreed to. They offered full grade acceleration..."

The scantron test is the school's type of computer-adaptive test, similar to COMPASS or NWEA/MAP, and may be used for placement and also for monitoring student progress. The school will typically provide families with score interpretation and percentiles, which it seems you already have. You'll want to see growth reflected in your child's next set of scores.

I get that it's not "homeschool" like many do on here. However, this is my first time attempting to do anything outside of a regular school for his full education. I wanted to make sure that I didn't miss any needed areas for him. Or even possible ideas for strengthening his weaknesses.

Scantron is not the name of a test, it's the name of a specific format of answer sheet. No one will be able to tell you anything about the test without a real name.

While you are correct, that Scantron is the name of a bubble-in form, the OP is also correct that is the name of a proprietary online test.

Huh - I would have called that test "Performance Series," but I guess I can understand referring to it as "Scantron." I don't know anything about it, though.

Because the tests are not standard achievement tests, there is not much to go on to provide additional interpretation. That said, the words per minute is a fluency measure...

Looking at two reading fluency tables easily found online with a websearch (A to Z and read naturally), these tables seem to agree that 155 words is roughly a 5th grade level.

The read naturally chart indicates that a winter score of 156 words correct per minute is at the 75th percentile among 5th graders, and a spring score of 168 WCPM would be 75th percentile among 5th graders, with growth of approximately .9 WCPM each week.

Looking into such measures may help you informally assess your child's progress in the interim.

Indigo, thank you for those links. I will save those to my favorites.

I'm not sure how they got the words per minute on the Scantron but he does a new DIBELS on Wednesday. His fall DIBELS at his brick and mortar was 197.

Depending on how this goes the remainder of the year we may go to an actual homeschool program next school year. I was just very concerned starting.

Concern when contemplating beginning homeschooling is not uncommon. The public virtual schools may even capitalize on this concern by advertising their program as "homeschool" to attract parents who are considering homeschooling.

Meanwhile the availability of homeschool curriculum and support resources has increased in recent years. Possibly you are already familiar with Gifted Homeschoolers Forum (GHF) which can be a great starting point.

No, I am not familiar with that forum. I just bookmarked it so I can look through it later on.

GHF is an all-in-one gifted, 2e, and homeschooling website with curriculum ideas, support, books, etc. Some features include:
- The tab of " favorite things". (Very helpful curriculum and resources list, for homeschooling and for enrichment/afterschooling.)
- The tab of "GHF Professionals", "Complimentary Brochures" (Great introduction of giftedness, to present to pediatricians and others, as conversation starters.)
- The tab of "Articles", including "Education Alternatives" (Lots of good info here about beginning homeschooling.)
- Book summaries and reviews.

Thank you so much! For right now we will finish out the school year with K12. That will give me time to research and learn so I know exactly what I need to do for next year.

I do have to say, he is really enjoying learning at home and moving at his own pace. He is able to complete his assignments much quicker without waiting for others.

While we weren't with the same cyberschool, that was what we ultimately found was the best thing about them--

for HG+ kids, it was all the credentialing in 1/3 the time!

Leaving time for things other than jumping through one pointless hoop after another and stopping to pause in between, I mean. It wasn't that the hoops were different-- just that jumping through them could be compressed into a much less odious amount of time. LOL.

What grade is he in?

DS7 (second grade) did Performance Series and was at around 3050 for math but the highest level he did on Khan Academy was around 5th-6th grade level so I am really not sure how he was able to show mastery on so many high-level skills. Most kids don't get to the 3000's until they hit around 9th grade. He is at around 2850 for reading. All I know is that that my DS scores 99th percentile for both math and reading for second grade, and that doesn't really mean that much (how MUCH above 99th percentile?) but there is a quartile chart you can look at to get a better idea of where he falls in terms of comparing to other grade levels.
http://www.tcss.net/cms/lib3/AL0100...%20Placement%20Indicators%20-%202013.pdf

I wish I had a better chart because it only goes up to 75th percentile. Even though DS's score is so high, he is NOT at a 10th grade level and should not be accelerated that much. The school accelerated him to 6th grade math and that seems to be about right for now. The test just means that he is guessing as well as the 10th graders.

In terms of the scores with 3 numbers in a row, those are the confidence intervals so I think you want to look at the numbers in the middle. If you compare these numbers, you can see if anything is particularly low or high compared to the others. But take it with a grain of salt. In the fall, DS's fiction score was several hundred points higher than nonfiction, and in the winter the scores reversed and his nonfiction score went up about 500 points even though all he was reading was fiction in between tests. In the case of your DS, it looks like he struggled the most with Data Analysis and Long Passages.

While it may not be homeschooling it does mean your child won't be twiddling his thumbs half the day. He can do his work and move on
You can add stuff alongside - after school without intruding into his free time.

I forgot to add that in terms of the WPM, I think it is just timing them from the time they first start reading a passage to when they answer a question. It's another thing to take with a grain of salt. So DS, for instance, was only at around 80-90 WPM in the fall--he probably spaced out at some point, or he was searching for the answer to a question in the passage. In the winter, it states 180 wpm for reading speed, so that is a huge difference and probably more in line with what his "real" reading speed is rather than 80-90. Things haven't changed THAT much in 4 months, esp. since his oral reading speed assessed in the fall was 132, not 80-90.