Home-school Testing
When we met to set up the testing for Tessa, the authorities said, she would need to be tested in each of the required eleven subjects for Austrian sixth grade. However, they agreed not to require testing for Art & crafts, home-ed and physical education for this year! They left it up to the local school principal to work out with us the details of each test.
Essentially, Tessa has to go for the final exam in each of these subjects. She has already completed English and German comprehension. Math, Biology, Physics, History and Geography are still to come. Tomorrow, she takes Math and German grammar.
For each of the tests so far, in order to prepare, we have only been able to speak with the teacher a few minutes in between their classes. We have felt a little in the dark, I am sure as they have as well. It seems that the only thing that matters for them is that Tessa learn the content for that subject --just as they have taught it. In good institutional fashion, they have had a high view of themselves! We have thought, "the only way to do this is for Tessa to go to their class! " --which sort of defeats the purpose of home-schooling.
Sure enough, the first test was in German, and as Tessa turned it in, she spoke to the teacher and asked, "How do you think I did?" The teacher responded in a normal pedagogical style for here, "You probably won't pass!"
While Reinhild and I are gritting our teeth to get through this, Tessa has had a real positive attituded. She hasn't been put off at all so far by this stuff that she has to learn and prove. And, to everyone's surprise, she did really well on the German test. She got a B!
Essentially, Tessa has to go for the final exam in each of these subjects. She has already completed English and German comprehension. Math, Biology, Physics, History and Geography are still to come. Tomorrow, she takes Math and German grammar.
For each of the tests so far, in order to prepare, we have only been able to speak with the teacher a few minutes in between their classes. We have felt a little in the dark, I am sure as they have as well. It seems that the only thing that matters for them is that Tessa learn the content for that subject --just as they have taught it. In good institutional fashion, they have had a high view of themselves! We have thought, "the only way to do this is for Tessa to go to their class! " --which sort of defeats the purpose of home-schooling.
Sure enough, the first test was in German, and as Tessa turned it in, she spoke to the teacher and asked, "How do you think I did?" The teacher responded in a normal pedagogical style for here, "You probably won't pass!"
While Reinhild and I are gritting our teeth to get through this, Tessa has had a real positive attituded. She hasn't been put off at all so far by this stuff that she has to learn and prove. And, to everyone's surprise, she did really well on the German test. She got a B!
posted by Paul at
7:52 AM
2 Comments:
Yes, I must say, I did better than I thought I'd do.
By
Anonymous, at 7:24 AM
Well done. They probably have such a low opinion of homeschoolers, that they think a child can't learn without being in their classrooms.
We are a homeschooling family in Germany (pretty much on the unschooling side of the continuum, but we have lots of homeschooling friends of all persuasions). I have heard that the Clonlara school registration is now accepted in Austria in lieu of the required testing. How well that works in each individual case, I don't know, but I hope it will diminish the power and fear of the school authorities over homeschooling families.
By
Rina, at 12:13 AM
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