SAT Testing??

[freesurfer]

Ours starts next week for grades 2, 4, 6, 8

Both my daughters will be taking them and they get so nervous. My oldest actually will sleepwalk because of the stress they cause for her....

Anyone else's children taking them and how do they react??

[wss4]

My oldest is 8 in the 3rd grade. They took FCAT tests last month. Reading and Math. Fortunatly she does well with testing. I just tell her not to worry about what the grade will be. As long as she does her best that is all we worry about.

My middle one is in Kindergarten and they are going to be taking Stanford 9 Tests next week. I assume that these are the same kinds of tests only for younger kids. The K-2 kids are taking it. My oldest did not have to take these in Kindergarten so it is new to us. This will be the first "test" that my 6 year old has taken so we will see. But I tell her the same thing. Just do the best that you can and we will be happy!

Good luck to your daughters. I hope they do well.

[jen6889]

Freesurfer, your poor daughter! Those tests must have gotten a lot harder since I took them! I never worried about them when I had to take them and I always did fine. When I was in the younger grades, I actually thought it was fun to fill in those little bubbles. (yep.. see.. I've always been weird!) Of course, once I got into high school and on I hated those stupid bubbles because there were so many of the blasted things to fill in completely and my hand was tired before I was even halfway through!

Good luck to your daughters. I'm sure they'll do great!

[fiveforall]

Originally posted by jen6889
Freesurfer, your poor daughter! Those tests must have gotten a lot harder since I took them! I never worried about them when I had to take them and I always did fine. When I was in the younger grades, I actually thought it was fun to fill in those little bubbles. (yep.. see.. I've always been weird!) Of course, once I got into high school and on I hated those stupid bubbles because there were so many of the blasted things to fill in completely and my hand was tired before I was even halfway through!

Good luck to your daughters. I'm sure they'll do great!

The tests aren't that much harder, but school systems are putting so much more emphasis on them than they did when we were in school. My dd is in first grade and I was surprised to find out that she will be taking them. Her class has done nothing but SAT prep for the past two weeks. If she scores in the 90th percentile she gets to go to a skating party, so she's nervous.

[freesurfer]

If she scores in the 90th percentile she gets to go to a skating party, so she's nervous

You are kidding me?? Doesn't that seem unfair to the kids who are slow learners?? Just curious...

[jskarp]

If she scores in the 90th percentile she gets to go to a skating party, so she's nervous

Who's ridiculous idea is that? Not only does it sound unethical....but discriminatory.... Stories like this make me so sad. ~Joy

[kat]

Freesurfer - I'm sorry that your daughter is so stressed from the testing! Have you talked to her teachers about this? I know that in some schools they really stress doing well on the tests (something that I have a problem with - especially when the teachers start teaching only to do well on the dang test).

Luckily my children have never had a problem taking tests - my son is like Jen - he actually enjoys them (maybe because he always does well on them with little or no studying so the stress just isn't there). But, I do know that at least one of his friends goes into some serious stress before tests - even just the weekly spelling test puts this kid into fits. I seem to remember his mom talking about doing some breathing exercises with him to help him calm & relax before the tests - and according to my son, they do seem to be working.

Good luck to your daughters! Hopefully things will go well & just remind them that it's only a test and they just need to do their best for you to be happy.

[KAMA]

they put so much pressure on the kids, parents, teachers. these tests are geared to a "standard". they do not take into account any of the variables that contribute to these scores. all the board of ed sees is the bottom line. they don't take into account if the child has test anxiety ( i did even as an adult),unstable home life, new move, upset stomache, anything. these scores are a one shot deal that are supposed to reflect what a child has learned all year or how effective a teacher was all year. at one time, and i still believe it's done in parochial schools, these tests were given in the beginning of school year to assess what the children already knew,and what they were lacking. they were used as tools by the teacher to plan for the year. no anxiety on students or teachers. just some helpful insight into what the child(ren) needed. sad really. now all teachers do is "teach the test". there's no more fun or time for exploration. new phrase floating around "think out of the box". well how are kids supposed to do that if they are forced to stay "in the box".(only one answer to any given question) very sad indeed...

[tlspiegel -Closed]

I'm amazed. When my son was in 7th grade (gifted and talented) they offered him a chance if he wanted... to take his SAT's. No preparation, just do the test on a certain day. Not an obligatory thing. I can't believe that test is given at such a young age. When he took it, it was like a special thing. Woah. Hard to believe.

[KAMA]

Originally posted by Uvgtml
I'm amazed. When my son was in 7th grade (gifted and talented) they offered him a chance if he wanted... to take his SAT's. No preparation, just do the test on a certain day. Not an obligatory thing. I can't believe that test is given at such a young age. When he took it, it was like a special thing. Woah. Hard to believe.

i don't think they're referring to the sats for high school. these are standard aceivement tests they give in every grade.to decide if they learned enough to be promoted to the next grade.it's really an awful, unnecessary stress to put on kids.

[tlspiegel -Closed]

Originally posted by KAMA



i don't think they're referring to the sats for high school. these are standard aceivement tests they give in every grade.to decide if they learned enough to be promoted to the next grade.it's really an awful, unnecessary stress to put on kids.

Oh I see, thanks KAMA. Still not good - lots of kids have test fear and that's not a fair assesment of how good a kid is doing overall. Geesh.

[laurath]

When I had my kids in school, they placed major emphasis on the TAAS tests. The kids actually came home singing songs about them. They emphasized the test so much I felt it actually interfered with their learning. One of the many factors that caused us to decide to homeschool.