Against testing the Kids?

Here is why I dislike the Academic testing of our kids.

Have you ever stopped and thought of how many times a year a child gets tested in school? Exams, pop quiz, standardized tests, spelling tests, math tests, its endless. Public schools now teach entirely to what is on the standardized tests instead of what the student needs.

What does that test really tell you? For my youngest son, Not a thing other than, he hates them. He fails every test and I do mean every test. However if you do the math test as flashcards or make it a game he Aces the test. He just hates book work of any kind.

We test kids and find out what they excel at and what they do worst at? Once the results come in, what is done about it? We give them tons more work on the subject they are worst at?

How does this inspire them to want to learn? Why don't we give them more work in what they excel at? Encourage their strong suits instead of focusing solely on their weaknesses.

We need to let the kids show us what excites them. What gets them so jazzed up they can't wait to do it, think about it all the time?

Music, art, inventing, science, reading, game design, computers. There IS something that the child enjoys. You might have to try many things to find it but it is there.

If we only focus are on what the child is bad at so will they. It destroys their self esteem and self worth. Focus on what they are good at and so will they. Increasing their self worth and self esteem.

Now I am not saying ignore math, reading, writing, and other subjects. But as long as they pass it, if its their weaker subject, don't make a big fuss.

Instead of testing our kids I go through their workbooks and if they passed more of their pages then failed then they can go on to the next harder book. We review everything before the next school year so that we keep it fresh in their minds.

I will be honest I had to reread the material in the language art class. I had forgotten a lot. Noun, verb, adverb, pronoun, adjective, preposition, prepositional phrases, homophone, synonym,antonym. I honestly do not think about these things as an adult. I also use spell checker and my computer automatically checks for the grammar that I inevitably mess up on.

If my kids can write a letter or persuasive argument concisely and meaningfully, I will be happy. I just don't want my kids ,to be one of the ones I see as adults, writing C U L8er.

Don't let test scores or grade level Define your childs worth, accomplishment, or future. Who knows how far they can go if we let them. After all it is their ability and not school grades that they will use to build their futures.

What do you think about what I have written? Agree, Disagree? Write it in the comments.