Testing Panic

We homeschooled Patrick for Kindergarten this past year, and (though it WAS K only) it was very nerve-wracking for me. I worried that I wouldn't do a good job. He is such a smart kid, and reads amazingly well, but I wanted someone else to back me up, and to give me something to show a potential school someday. Seton Home Study has a California Placement Test that they will send you to help with just that. It's one of those "fill in the O's" test, while you are read the questions, in a certain amount of time. I thought it was pretty easy for Patrick, and I made sure not to help him, so he would do it on his own.

The results came today. It took me a few minutes to figure out what the numbers meant, and when I did, I panicked. It showed that there were only 11 out of 20 math problems right. The comprehension section was just average (my child?? AVERAGE!?), but the LOW side of average. There is this number on the bottom that looks TERRIBLE, and my heart is sinking lower and lower as I continue to read. Tommy keeps asking to see it, and I can't even talk I am so upset. "I've failed him. I will never be a good teacher. Time to throw in the towel. Apparently I need to go to Kindergarten again!" My eye continues to scan those numbers, and I go to the top of the page.

There is a girl's name on here. That's not my address. Wait a minute, that's not mine OR Tommy's name up there. They sent us someone else's test scores! There was another piece of paper in there with Patrick's test scores (trust me, I checked the name before I read it), and (thankfully) he did great.

Whew! I was so relieved that I actually got the giggles. Tommy was laughing, I was laughing, and though I felt bad for the other kid and the scores, I was so thankful for that moment to show me that I wasn't a failure.