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Testing all help will be greatly appreciated!
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I am new to both homeschooling and Charlotte Mason. We adopted our granddaughter two years ago and times have changed so much! We tried her in public school for kindergarten but I pulled her out midyear and enrolled her in Abeka Mainly because it seems like the simplest thing to do. Now, going into first grade I have had to get more serious about which program would be best for her. My question is simple and maybe obvious but I have completely missed it. How do we test the children who use the Charlotte Mason method? Just testing the same for each year all the way through 12th? How do we keep records etc.? We recently moved to Chattanooga so we are going to have to have an umbrella church act as our overseer, otherwise, we will need to report to the state. All help will be greatly appreciated!
I live in PA — a state with more requirements than most. So, first – check your state’s homeschool law and see what’s required. Make a list, so you can check things off.
As far as testing within a CM-type homeschool: Narration is the test. And at her age (1st grade), it’s as simple as the following: Tell me what I just read to you. Or “Draw me a picture of something you heard in our history reading.” Or “What do you remember from today’s math lesson.” Etc.
You can write down what she says, date it, and put it in a three-ring binder. And that’s it! At her age, I think one “formal” narration per day is plenty. (You have plenty of opportunity throughout the day for you to ask her questions about stuff, and you can always put a bug in daddy’s ear (or grandma’s ear) to ask her about whatever.)…..So, you’ll maybe only do one formal narration each day — and each day from a different subject. At her age, there’s no need to get stressed about it – unless your state requires you to stress out. 🙂
As she ages, you’ll keep her math papers. And you’ll ask for written narrations. And you’ll ask harder questions, (look around the SCM site here — there are printable bookmarks with ideas of narration questions, aka essay questions aka higher thinking questions), and she’ll become accustomed to answering in full sentences. She’ll be seeing how different subjects relate to each other, without you even needing to point it out to her.
If your state requires standardized testing, you’ll have those papers to “prove” how smart she is. Jot down narrations from her about the field trips you go on or about what she saw at the park that day…..all that paperwork is “proof” that you’ve been educating her.
These are just some thoughts off the top of my head. The other moms with more experience will chime in, I’m sure. 🙂
I agree with confirming with HSLDA what your state requirements actually are. Sometimes when I ask a friend they are not always accurate, I go to the source Home School Legal Defense, because they know exactly what is required.
We are required to do national standardized testing, but not starting until 3rd grade. We have had no problems following SCM guidelines and standardized testing, my oldest just finished 6th grade.
As for daily work, it is simple to keep samples of work as the student progresses through the year. I keep a simple portfolio for each of my kids using a 1″ binder. I fill it up throughout the year putting in drawings, dictations (that I write for them when they are young and they write when they are older), samples of their copy work or dictation pages, map work, a few math workheets throughout the year… it is not too tough and it is amazing how fast it fills up 🙂
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