A little recap: we are in a part-time homeschool program out of a public school, which is pretty awesome. It’s free and the kids have classrooms and a locker and are learning through an enrichment set of subjects (art, music, science, history, english, etc), and it’s just for a few hours a week. But, since it’s through public school, we are asked to take standardized tests, which I’m fine with.

They aren’t my cup of tea, but we’re homeschoolers. But I’m trying to be a team player with the administration, so I haven’t opted out yet.

The tests are done on a computer, and the kids click the answers until they’re done. That’s how they’re tested. The sooner they finish, the sooner they get to play.

Evidently, my kids haven’t done well on the reading testing.

Sooo, I had to go to a meeting with the testing lady and the principal to discuss the academic performance of my kids.

Which…I said it before, but I didn’t go into homeschooling so I could get called in to the office.

But…team player.

So, I went and they just want to have a morning reading group for a few weeks, and then retake the test and see if there is improvement. And I’m fine with that. The kids will have fun, and I’ve offered to help in the class.

But here is my deal:

The kids just read MacBeth in the fall. They are finishing “Wrinkle in Time” this month. They read “Jane Eyre” and “Pride and Prejudice” last year. We do unit lesson studies on each book studying plot synopsis, character development, themes and imagery. They read books from the library every week and we have a number of writing/reading workbooks we do every day.

So, I know their reading is fine. But I can’t really tell the principal this since he has his tests.

Anyway.

We’re going to do the reading class, because that is a good opportunity anyway, and I am drilling them on practice standardized tests, so hopefully when they take the test again they’ll have significant improvement. The entire point of education is to find opportunities to progress with studies, so this can only end well.

It’s just frustrating, and maybe a little confusing, because of the judgement lines.

For instance, I met an unschooler the other day whose 9 year old can’t read or write. He wasn’t “inspired” to read, and his mom was really proud of that because it just shows how “out of the box” they were.

Yet, my kids are reading literature constantly and are doing 5 paragraph essays on Utopia/Dystopia societal systems, and they are considered bad readers.

Sometimes life is funny.