Earlier this week I presented the first step of a three-step process you can use to point out mistakes your children may make. I presented a way to re-direct them toward the correct answer without taking away their motivation. This step, first presented to me years ago by a mentor, Madeline Hunter, is to dignify…
Very few students like to be evaluated or tested for a simple reason. It bothers them to be wrong! And, if we’re honest, it bothers us too. That’s because we often see our children as a reflection of our academic and parenting efforts. It may explain partly why some parents experience difficulty in giving their…
Today’s Video: What Kind of Job Fits You? Dr. Jordan Peterson. (9 minutes) How do we guide our children as they enter their high school years and prepare to enter the work world? In this video, psychology professor Jordan Peterson discusses different kinds of jobs, IQ levels related to them, stress tolerance, hierarchies of competence, weaknesses and…
Remember how you felt when you took your driver’s test and heard the words, “You passed!” You probably didn’t care by how much or what your score was. Even being told “You barely passed” was probably OK with you since you got what you wanted- a license to drive. With achievement tests, it’s different. On…
It’s one thing to know and have mastered the academic objectives for a particular grade level. It’s another thing to be able to demonstrate this knowledge on a test. So, how do you help your child do his or her best on their next achievement test? One option is to buy a book of drills….
Last week we held our New Covenant Christian Academy graduation ceremony. I love this evening, especially the part when the parents (or parent, some are single) come up on stage to join their son or daughter. After I present the diploma, I go back to my seat. Then, the mom and dad take a few minutes…
Many students are scheduled to take, or have already taken, some form of an end of the year test. For many it was likely a nationally normed achievement test. Some families only tested at those years required by their state’s law. Their aim was compliance and making sure their students “passed the test.” Other families…
Last week, I suggested that based on your child’s achievement test report, it might be time to change up the curriculum you’re using. If you liked my suggestion and plan to do this, it’s likely that sometime in the first month of new school year you’ll be second guessing yourself about your new purchase. Here’s…
A great line from the movie, The Princess Bride, by Inigo Montoya to Vizzini’s use of the word, inconceivable is “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. “ Test results are subject to interpretation. They don’t always mean what we think they mean. A number of years…
Many parents get a wake-up call when the results of their child’s achievement test suggest the curriculum they used let them down. In other words, if your child flew through their curriculum easily yet did poorly on their achievement test, the question is why? What, if anything, went wrong? Was it test anxiety or poor…