Standardized Testing and Toddlers

Quiet, uninterrupted time + toddler = <does not compute>

In our state, standardized testing is required even though you are not required to turn in the scores. There are a number of options for completing this from finding a location and proctor to administer the test, an administrator coming to your home, or becoming an administrator and conducting the test for your child in your own home. For ease of scheduling, we’ve chosen to just conduct the testing at home and I got approved as an administrator. If you have a Bachelor’s Degree, you are pretty much automatically approved to administer the Iowa Tests. Now, how do we manage with Little Miss running around? Good question.

You may be noticing a theme with my posts… we give ourselves extra time to complete almost everything. Here are some things we did to make it work, and we had very few interruptions for Care Bear:

• I had Little Miss come in the bathroom with me while I took a shower and Care Bear was doing a 30 minute test. With a book and some toys, Little Miss didn’t mind (I was actually pretty surprised!).
• I took Little Miss to our downstairs family room while Care Bear did any one of her tests. If you don’t have a far enough away room, going outside to play is another option.
• We did as many tests as possible during Little Miss’s name time.
• I put in a movie for Little Miss and Care Bear did her tests in her room.

There were just a couple times Little Miss broke free from our plan, but I do think overall we did quite well at keeping our home in a decent testing environment. Insha’Allah Care Bear gets great test scores!

Any other tips for keeping the little ones busy while you’re supposed to have a completely quiet and peaceful environment?