State Testing

So, one reason I do not care for our traditional educational system is the state tests. I do not feel that they are an accurate measure of how truly individual our children are. They all learn differently and at different speeds. I have a background in Child development and feel that our system isn't always presenting information at the right time. Also pushing the curriculum down at the lower levels. The kids are the same. We expect so much out of young kindergarteners, that I often see 2nd /3rd graders already hating school or feeling burned out. Well, with that said, I decided to homeschool and follow a Waldorf inspired curriculum. I haven't pushed reading on my son, till this year. We have been playing with letters, sounds, words, reading books since his toddler years. It is amazing how smart he is and well rounded, and his details when he writes stories are fantastic. I do go through a charter and they like to see 95% of their students take the state tests. Today was the first day of the test. He was anxious to get it over with and wanted to know how much they would read to him. I was hoping he would try his best, not leave any blank and feel good about the effort he made. He came out saying it was hard, and like a real school. He liked the math because she read it all. I feel good that I gave him the experience and am curious how well he did. I had set up the experience really positively and the teacher was kind and helpful keeping that going. It is really hard sometimes to know what is the right thing to do. I want his self esteem to stay high, not get damaged by a bad experience. So far, so good!