We have come to the end of another school year at home – our seventh. Two more years and poof, our eldest will be in high school. Time flies when you are having fun.
Learning to work with a thesaurus
This week, we received news that they canceled the nationally standardized test our children take at our umbrella school. In a way, I felt relief. But in another way, I felt robbed of the opportunity to check where our children have managed to arrive in their studies.
This brings up a very good question: if your children did not have to test every year, what would you teach them? Somebody once told me to teach my children what I want to teach them and not put too much emphasis on these standardized tests. I agree with this advice to a degree and I behave accordingly. We study and read what I feel is important for them to know.
Our daughter learned how to use a thesaurus this week.
However, there are certain things I insist on. We must have strong math and literacy skills, and we should know most of the things they get asked in science and social studies. And so this balance between my philosophy of education and the requirements of annual tests keeps making my teaching schedule every year.
One last point: we have begun to see some of our friends in person, as the Governor of Tennessee has let the safer-at-home order expire on April 20, 2020. The children had a blast meeting with their friends and I really enjoyed the fellowship with other homeschooling moms.
