Testing Week

We are doing Iowa Testing this week, as part of our state homeschooling requirements here in North Carolina. The state requires that all homeschoolers ages 7-15 take an annual achievement test. Students age 16 and older must still be tested if they have a drivers license.
FAQs about NC Achievement Test requirement

This is Jason's first year with Iowa, having done the Woodcock-Johnson test up until this year. So far, he is surviving just fine. We are testing this year with 5 other families, with the younger kids at one home and the high schoolers at my house. With the Iowa Test, 3rd- 8th graders can test together - they have the same set of instructions - and 9th - 12th can test together. We are testing the younger kids over 3 mornings, and the high schoolers are pushing a little harder and getting it done in 2 afternoons. There are sections on Language Usage, Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, Capitalization, Punctuation, Spelling, Math Concepts & Problem Solving, Math Computation, Science, Maps & Diagrams and Social Studies. whew! Although the state only requires testing in the areas of English grammar, reading, spelling, and mathematics, we choose to do the Complete Battery.... just because. :-)

The kids really don't mind the testing. They almost enjoy it, I think, because it is a challenge... and because I generally don't require additional school work on testing days.