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Summary: This article shares our experiences with annual homeschool achievement testing with our gifted/twice exceptional daughter. With mention of CAT testing at home, and how we found out that our daughter struggled with auditory processing. Please see my disclosure policy.
We found out that our daughter was gifted and 2e when she was quite young. Since I had a background in preschool teaching, we just decided to give that a try, and began homeschooling when she was about 4 years old.
Since the homeschooling worked out so well, we did not venture into having her tested professionally re her giftedness and her 2e tendencies. We noticed her learning issues, which centered around sensory and attentional issues but since I was an O.T, we just adapted things as best we could.
Well, that worked out well until we were faced with her homeschool requirement in our state. In WA state, annual achievement testing is required, or alternately, having an individualized assessment done by a certified teacher.
When our daughter was 8 years of age, we went ahead and arranged for her annual testing. And through that we learned that she had another learning issue. Something that we had not seen yet. We had avoided testing during our homeschooling years, preferring hands-on learning approaches. Until we needed to do her first annual testing.
Since the homeschooling worked out so well, we did not venture into having her tested professionally re her giftedness and her 2e tendencies. We noticed her learning issues, which centered around sensory and attentional issues but since I was an O.T, we just adapted things as best we could.
Well, that worked out well until we were faced with her homeschool requirement in our state. In WA state, annual achievement testing is required, or alternately, having an individualized assessment done by a certified teacher.
When our daughter was 8 years of age, we went ahead and arranged for her annual testing. And through that we learned that she had another learning issue. Something that we had not seen yet. We had avoided testing during our homeschooling years, preferring hands-on learning approaches. Until we needed to do her first annual testing.
We used the BJU Press Testing Service, with oral instructions.
And my daughter was at a loss. I repeated the instructions again. And she did not understand...again. Here was my child who had been doing great with all of her homeschool studies. She was an avid reader, a kid who enjoyed writing in her daily journal, and one who enjoyed doing her math.
But she was unable to follow the oral instructions. She felt traumatized. That was how we found out that our daughter struggled with auditory processing issues.
MAKING ACCOMMODATIONS
Since this first testing attempt was so upsetting, we decided to go another way, and dropped the idea of doing any testing that year.
This post is a part of the Gifted Homeschoolers Forum blog hop, Tips, Advice and Help When Having Your Gifted Child Tested. Click here to read all of the articles in this blog hop.
Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,
Betsy
Betsy is mom to her now college grad, whom she homeschooled through high school. She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, high school, college, gifted/2e and wrote - Homeschooling High School with College in Mind. She offers free homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting, and has had her articles picked up by the Huffington Post.
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