Homeschool Assessments: Who Needs Them?

Nov9

There has been some confusion on who exactly needs an assessment here in Ohio. You only need to have a portfolio review assessment if your student is going to continue homeschooling for the next academic year. Let me give you some scenarios so that I can help make it clearer.

Q: I have a kindergarten student, but they weren’t six by the time school began. Is an assessment required?

A: Did you notify the school? If so, yes, you do need to do an assessment. If you did not, you do not need an assessment. The key is whether you notified your school district.

Q: I decided to homeschool once school began.

A:Yes, you need to do an assessment. But, you only need to provide samples of the work they have done since being homeschooled. As an assessor, I am not looking to see what they did in school before you began homeschooling.

Q: My student graduated this year. Do I have to do an exit assessment?

A: No, you are finished! Celebrate your accomplishment in graduating your child. (Can you hear me whistling, clapping, whooping with you?)

Q: We homeschooled this year, but we will not continue next year.

A: No assessment is required. The school may decide that your student needs to be tested in order to place them, but that is totally up to your school district. I have been asked to do an assessment as some school districts require this in order for your student to be enrolled in school.

If you are interested in scheduling an assessment with me, I am scheduling families now for the 2022-23 school year. You can see my homeschool assessments tab for more details. But, here is a quick link to scheduling: www.calendly.com/schoolmarmohio

Questions? Feel free to contact me and I will be glad to help.

Have a great week!
~Lisa~

Fall Science Fun

Oct17

Fall is the the time colorful leaves and fun hands-on experiences science activities. Here are two things to do with your children.

Grab a bag to put goodies in and go on a nature walk to gather leaves of various colors, including green ones too. You would like to have at least 5 of each color of possible. Return with your finds and do the following:

Classify the leaves according to color. You can tape a different color of leaf to a cup or jar and have your student place their leaves in the appropriate cup. Idea and picture from http://www.steamsational.com

Have you heard of leaf chromatography? This is where you take colored leaves and draw out its color through rubbing alcohol. This is a great time to discuss chlorophyll in plants. I have done it with my sons and it is neat to see what colors are in the leaves. Here is the experiment given with terrific instructions. (www.farmanddairy.com)

Materials Needed:

Paper towels or coffee filters, rubbing alcohol, a clothespin, small mason jars or glasses, scissors, pencils for each jar/ glass, leaves of different colors and something to grind or crush the leaves, a small tray

Directions:

Cut your paper towels or coffee filters into 1 1/2″-2″ strips that will fit into your mason jar. Next, cut the leaves into small pieces, make sure to keep them separated by color. 

Take a rock or smooth, rounded object and grind up the leaf pieces. Place the cut-up leaves into mason jars or small glasses, putting the different colored leaves each in their own jar or glass.

Next, pour just enough rubbing alcohol to cover the leaves in each jar. (1-2 tablespoons)

Place your strips of paper towels/coffee filters far enough into the jar that they are barely immersed into the rubbing alcohol and secure them with your clothespin to attach them to a pencil that you lay across the top of the jar. This is to keep the strip from falling down into the container. 

Place the jars on a small tray and put in a secure dark place (a closet) overnight and allow the rubbing alcohol to absorb into the paper strips. Remove the strips and allow them to dry.

I was reading various sources that said the color will become more apparent when the strips dry. Look closely to see the various colors. I am thinking that a magnifying glass may be beneficial.

Take the experiment farther: As you are waiting to see the results of the experiment, create a prediction of what colors you think will appear on each of the paper strips. Check your predictions. What color were you the most surprised with the results?

Have a great week! ~ Lisa ~

Homeschooling Round Two

Sep19

If you haven’t noticed, I love homeschooling and believe in the right of the parent to choose the education you want for your child. I am blessed to live close to my grandchildren and I have the privilege to be homeschooling again! It’s just one day a week, but I am looking forward to all the things we will be doing and what the children will be learning.

Last week we worked on the letter B and did all things bat related. The children made bats out of toilet paper rolls from this book and here is the link: I am Not a Toilet Paper Roll

We also counted bats and matched the numeral to the number counted, identified shapes within the bats worksheet, played an echolocation game (the children loved it!), and watched a video of the reading of Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats.

Have you heard about Dot Markers? They are washable, not toxic markers that have sponges on the end of them and are perfect for young students, those who have difficulty with small motor activities, or someone who doesn’t like to color. We used these and they were a huge success!

Have a great week! ~Lisa~

Take Advantage of Opportunities

Aug22

With late summer days and soon to be fall days, we have lots of chances to enjoy the outdoors. So, why not find school-related activities to incorporate into your studies? You can go to a local park, backyard, or neighborhood where you can:

  • collect leaves (science)
  • inspect insects (science)
  • go on hikes (physical education, health)
  • pack nutritious snacks (health)
  • sing songs (fine arts)
  • use a map (social studies)
  • do a GeoCache (social studies, math)
  • make a map of the area (social studies, art)
  • collect nature items, identify and classify them, count them, draw them, make a collage (science, math, art)
  • write about the experience (language arts)

I hope this gets your creative juices flowing and thinking that school can be more than just worksheets and sitting inside.

Have a great week! ~Lisa~

Wrapping Up the 2022 School Year

Aug12

With the new school year just on the horizon, I wanted to remind you not to forget a couple of things.

  1. Have an assessment completed for each of your students if you are a returning homeschool family. At this point, you will need to have a homeschool assessment since you won’t get the results of a standardized test back in time. Contact me if you are in need of an assessor. I will be expedient in completing your assessment.
  2. Turn your notification paperwork in by the first week that your child’s building begins school. Remember, compulsory age in Ohio is six. You do not need to notify of your intent to homeschool if your child is not six when school begins.

I have included a link to the Ohio Home Education Notification Form in case you need it. FORM

Have a great day! ~Lisa~