Let Your Children MAKE Tests

What?! Is that a typing error?  Well, I let my children make some tests for each other – how’s that for a back-to-homeschool tip?

I stumbled on this a few years ago and it has become a great help to me in our homeschooling.  I used to draw informal preschool papers for the children.  Some years later, my oldest daughter began “making tests” for her younger siblings – she would draw colored lines, shapes, letters with dotted outlines to trace, matching exercises – all sorts of things.  Her eager “students” would crowd around her, waiting for her to finish a paper so they could work on it.  I remember one time she even asked if she could make copies of her basic tests, because they were in such demand and she was tired of copying them by hand.  (After momentarily considering all the handwriting practice she would miss, I said yes.)

This tradition is still being carried on.  It is a wonderful way of building sibling relationships.  It also helps keep my “littles” occupied  if I need to spend extra time with an older child.  Above, 7-year-old Beth just beams about the first test (shown below) she made for 4-year-old Miriam.

Of course, the benefits to the test-maker are enormous as well.  You can see in this test there are some little things to be corrected in handwriting.  For the next test, I’ll gently point those out.  I’m even going to have her draw dotted lines and put in the sequence of letter strokes and arrows.  But I know from experience that Beth will now be very motivated to work on little details of her own handwriting, especially when I tell her that she can be my assistant teacher!

I think this became popular because we really don’t give our children many formal tests, except in certain subjects.  This could also be adapted if you do give a lot of tests and the children are getting bored or tired of it.  Change it up a little and let them make tests for each other.  That alone, in my opinion, is testing their knowledge of material!  It definitely works for me!

And, you have to admit, simply getting all 11 names in our family correct, in “birth order”, is an accomplishment! If you think that’s funny, check out some of our humorous moments, and other hilarious things that happen in our family.