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End the School Year Right

Standardized Achievement Tests (End of Year Exams)

The Iowa Test of Basic Skills is a standardized test commonly used in Public Schools in the US. This test is available for grades K-8, testing the basic skills taught in school, including Math, Science, Logical Thinking Skills, Reading, Spelling, and more.

Since the test is fairly long, it is recommended that it be given over at least 2 or 3 days, with breaks in between sessions. Parents can give the tests to their children at home. You can order the tests online, then the completed tests are returned for grading, and within 1-3 weeks you should receive the test scores. Test results include the percentage of questions your child answered correctly, how their score compares to the national average, as well as identifying the child’s specific areas of strength and weakness.

The Iowa Test can be purchased at any of the following sites:

* http://www.brewertesting.com/ITBS.html

* http://www.triangleeducationassessments.com

* http://www.bjupress.com/testing

Celebrate the Passage

A great way to end the school year is to celebrate your child’s accomplishments, acknowledge their passing one grade and moving on to the next and rewarding your family (and yourself) for all the hard work that was done during the school-year. A few ideas include:

* Ice cream sundae party.

* Picking out bathing suits, flip-flops, beach towels, and summer fun items.

* Buy a watermelon and have a seed spitting contest.

You may also consider giving your kids certificat awards for accomplishments they have achieved during the school year.

Welcome Summer!

* Summer buckets can be a fun way to welcome summer. You can compile summer fun items for your kids, and either give them their buckets at the end of their last day of school, or set them out on your dinning table the next morning to surprise your kids with a “first day of summer” gift.

* Summer journaling. Have your kids start a journal that they write in throughout the summer. Have them fill out their first journal entry with a list (or illustrations) of what they want to do during the summer holidays.

Summer Reading

See if your local library has a summer reading program that your kids can be signed up for. Take advantage of the summer holidays to encourage your kids to read and earn rewards for their reading hours.

 

Graduations

Has your student passed a “milestone” grade? Then it’s time for a graduation ceremony. If you are apart of a homeschool group, it can be meaningful to have a joint graduation ceremony with other families who also have students graduating. If not, you can still have a family celebration and private ceremony.