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I still think that he is in grade 3 and that is too early to be focussing on tests.
I would focus on a love of life and wanting to learn. Music, kite flying, plants & animals, the stars. By all means read together. Do spelling together. Do maths together. But do it so the kid learns not so that they will do well on a test.
I would focus on a love of life and wanting to learn. Music, kite flying, plants & animals, the stars. By all means read together. Do spelling together. Do maths together. But do it so the kid learns not so that they will do well on a test.
You are presuming that we DON'T do all those things, or similar.
Which is ridiculous. We do plenty of all the great kid stuff. And more. He is probably one of the most well-traveled 8 year olds you will meet, apart from the Jolie-Pitt kids.
And you are presuming that my DS does not have a love of learning.
Which is also ridiculous.
Anyone who has been around a gifted child knows that you cannot squelch their natural curiousity and deep ingrained desire to know, to learn, to understand.
At the same time, the tests, no matter how much in theory I am opposed to them, are a part of his life. I cannot make them go away.
It is all well and good to say, oh what a terrible school, etc.
But the reality of life is that sometimes you pick the best of your options.
This is where the job is. This is where we have to live. This was the best school we could afford. We are just trying to make the best of the whole situation. What's so wrong about that?
I haven't read all of the responses yet, but wanted to add my thoughts while they are fresh. By the time the test comes around, he shouldn't have to even think about the answers. They should just be in his head. My DD has spelling tests for the first time this year (1st grade) and one thing we do to really get the words memorized is during the week, we say a spelling woord and she spells it out in sign language (we have a reference chart if she needs it for the sign). Along with writing the words 3 times each, spelling it out in sign language really seems to help and it is fun.
You also need to quiz him the same way his teacher does. Match her style as well as you can.
I had it. (Still do sometimes.) When I was in school I would know the material backwards, forwards and upside down and as soon as the teacher said the word "test" everything I knew went right out the window. My BP would go up, my heart would race and I'd break out in a sweat. Horrible.
I would absolutely look into this. If he suffers (and it is suffering) from test stress all the preparation in the world won't help him. Tremendously smart people can have test stress.
I think I simply outgrew most of it but it made my early school years absolute hell. My parents were the ones who realised I had it. There was more than one elementary school conference because of it. (I'm not sure what their solution was. I've blocked all of that out. I have a knot in my stomach just thinking about it.)
Edited to add:
Calgirl I went back and re-read this thread. He didn't take tests in school until this year? Now I'm really thinking it's the testing itself not how smart he is or isn't. Hopefully the teacher will understand this. I hope you let us know how the conference turned out. (This is the little Pacifist, right? Boy, you have such a challenge! I'll bet you can see the wheels in his head turning. And if he thinks in pictures - I do - he'll need more time to process the pictures in his brain onto paper. HE knows what he knows. He's trying to figure out how to show everyone else what he knows. At 9 (?) he probably doesn't have the tools to do that yet. Does he know stuff that surprises you? I'm guessing he makes a lot of connections in his head. Is he intuitive? Perceptive? Two things: Test stress and trying to explain what he knows.)
Last edited by DewDropInn; 09-20-2011 at 10:50 AM..
BTW, how much homework do your similar aged kids have?
Daughter, 8.3 years old, started 3rd grade this month at a small rural school with small class sizes. Homework is from 0 to 20 minutes a day. Sort of age-appropriate, I think, (as I keep comparing to my own school timeline in Europe when we started school at 7 years old).
I try to anticipate things though and taught my daughter math a lot this summer (the whole multiplication table, multiplying large numbers in column, and dividing large numbers by a single digit. Adding/subtracting large numbers goes without saying).
Can't advise on test performance, though, as our school doesn't have tests.
Dew,
I agree that it very well may be test stress, and if so, then I would expect the teacher to work with him.
_______________________________
What is it like to think in pictures?
I remember first reading characteristics of visual thinkers/learners, and it fit DS to the proverbial tee.
When I asked him, "do you think in pictures or words?", his whole face lit up, like I finally understood.
And yes, the connections he makes are amazing. He wants to be designer of nuclear powered ships when he grows up. (At least, right now....before that he wanted to be a physician with Doctors Without Borders).
He does like to learn. He does not want to learn spelling words, though. He wants to learn about nuclear power and how to harness that into ships and submarines. As he said yesterday, "Mom, why can't they teach me what I really want to learn about?"
Dew,
I agree that it very well may be test stress, and if so, then I would expect the teacher to work with him.
_______________________________
What is it like to think in pictures?
I remember first reading characteristics of visual thinkers/learners, and it fit DS to the proverbial tee.
When I asked him, "do you think in pictures or words?", his whole face lit up, like I finally understood.
And yes, the connections he makes are amazing. He wants to be designer of nuclear powered ships when he grows up. (At least, right now....before that he wanted to be a physician with Doctors Without Borders).
He does like to learn. He does not want to learn spelling words, though. He wants to learn about nuclear power and how to harness that into ships and submarines. As he said yesterday, "Mom, why can't they teach me what I really want to learn about?"
Calgirl, be prepared for the teacher not knowing how to deal with the test stress problem. She'll have to be willing to work outside the box. (How strict is your state on test scores? This may have some bearing on it.) If he has test stress like mine it's like having a panic attack. If he has it she (and you) will have to understand that he has a physical reaction to having to take a test. He might be the smartest kid in the school but no one is ever going to be able to find that out with the standard way kids are tested. Talk to his teacher about it.
The last statement.... There's your challenge. He has to know there are certain things he has to learn because that's the way our school systems work. He'll not be happy about that. Meanwhile, make sure he can learn a lot of things on his own. Expose him to as much as you can. (Which I think you've been doing a lot of already. Good job.)
You might ask about test stress in Education. See what you can learn. Luckily none of my kids had it. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. (You had his IQ tested? How did he do with the situation? (Not the test itself.) Was it fun for him? If it's fun he'll LOVE being tested. If it's not fun he'll have problems.)
Last edited by DewDropInn; 09-20-2011 at 02:28 PM..
Dew,
I agree that it very well may be test stress, and if so, then I would expect the teacher to work with him.
_______________________________
What is it like to think in pictures?
I remember first reading characteristics of visual thinkers/learners, and it fit DS to the proverbial tee.
When I asked him, "do you think in pictures or words?", his whole face lit up, like I finally understood.
And yes, the connections he makes are amazing. He wants to be designer of nuclear powered ships when he grows up. (At least, right now....before that he wanted to be a physician with Doctors Without Borders).
He does like to learn. He does not want to learn spelling words, though. He wants to learn about nuclear power and how to harness that into ships and submarines. As he said yesterday, "Mom, why can't they teach me what I really want to learn about?"
I am a visual thinker also. Everything I think about comes to me in pictures. One good thing about that is usually visual thinkers have fantastic memories for details.
I suggested practicing spelling words in sign language because I am a visual thinker. Forming my hand into the letters helps me remember things and it works really well for DD. That way, if she does get stumped on a test, she can spell it out in another way or she can visualize herself doing it.
btw... Since he is visual, he may enjoy learning sign language just for fun.
I also suffer from test anxiety. I can know a subject so well that I can teach others, but as soon as a test is in front of me, I can barely remember my name. The main way I got over that was finding a way to put myself in a confort zone. I would have to close my eyes and pull up the "pictures" of the answers in my head. After I got good enough at doing it that way, I would just block everything else out visually and could play the answers in my head like a movie.
My advise is to work with the way he learns and it will make him more comfortable while taking tests. Teach him how to use his pictures while under stress. The best way to do that is to copy the teacher's test giving style while practicing the test.
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