by Shari McMinn
There are many outside the homeschool world who would criticize the choices we make to home educate. They question our ability with, “How are you qualified?” or “Why do you think you can do a better job than trained professionals?” I had multiple people — too many times to count — say things like this to me, including relatives, friends, and church members. Their gossip and negative comments were hurtful, but my husband and I knew we had chosen to homeschool for righteous reasons. The Lord helped us prepare our children well and gave them hope for their futures. We were able to justify our ways and their outcomes when authorities questioned us and even requested records of their annual progress.
But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame (1 Peter 3:14-16 ESV).
As we near the end of a homeschool year and begin to think about homeschool testing and assessments, it can be a bit intimidating — especially if you have unique learners who are working at what some might term “below grade level.” I had several of these types of learners: They were advanced in art, history, music, and science, yet they were low-achieving in math and English. I must admit that at first, I avoided assessments and testing like the plague! I eventually realized they were just tools that would help me become a better teacher.
During my childhood, I always excelled at testing. My late husband, who was smarter than me (with a Mensa-level IQ), often talked about his struggles with standardized tests because he learned best with his hands. I was grateful that we could tag team in helping our wide variety of learners gain academic concepts and skill sets through book-based and real-life learning opportunities.
Throughout the years, we developed a solution for assessing our children’s homeschool progress with a multi-pronged approach. These strategies might help you with record-keeping related to your student’s progress over time. As crazy, busy parents, we did not do this as consistently and thoroughly as we would have liked to. However, across a span of nearly three decades, God enabled our homeschooling efforts to succeed, with each child ready for graduation into adulthood. For the most part, my grown children are thriving. A couple of my kids have some struggles, but those are related to their pre-adoption trauma, not their home-based education.
Homeschool Testing & Assessments: Track Weekly Progress
As the parent who directly supervised the day-to-day homeschooling of our children, each week, I would:
- Review what did and did not get done by each student in their assigned work for the previous week.
- Adjust the following week’s schedule to allow for catching up by that student when they did not complete their assigned work.
- Tested for spelling words each Friday (or every other week as our schedule allowed).
- NOT assign any catch-up work in the evenings or weekends; we valued refresh time as a family.
My husband allowed for margins in his schedule to:
- Spend time with our children as a group to work hands-on in our garage with electrical circuitry, hand and power tools, vehicle maintenance and repair, woodworking, etc.
- Work one-on-one with a child who struggled with a certain subject, such as math, in a more hands-on way, i.e.: counting/dividing nails into groups or measuring/marking for wood cuts
- Encourage each child to do their best, and in time, God would help them do the rest
Homeschool Testing & Assessments: Review Monthly
Whether we did this as a couple in casual conversation or I took half a day to go over my children’s workbooks or spiral notebooks, my husband and I recognized that it was worth staying on top of progress (or lack thereof) each month. I accomplished this by:
- Examining the progress each child was making, especially in subjects he or she struggled with
- Adjusting the next month’s assignments accordingly
- Discussing with each child their strengths and weaknesses in a kind and encouraging way
- Keeping abreast of emotional, physical, and spiritual growth, even if it was in very slow or delayed spurts
Homeschool Testing & Assessments: Testing Annually
I firmly believe you should test or assess your student’s progress on an annual basis so you can adjust your teaching accordingly. The every-two-year annual assessments, required by Colorado’s Homeschool Law, are an important indicator of progress or struggle for each homeschooled student. It is not to be avoided, so I suggest you prepare ahead of time so that your child is ready, and you are, too. There are several options you can explore to determine what will be the best indicator of how your student is making progress for their particular abilities by age or grade level.
Depending on how you are homeschooling in Colorado, here’s what you need to know about testing requirements:
- If you are enrolled in an independent school, you will need to check with that school for its testing requirements. If you are a CHEC Independent School member, testing is done on school years ending in an odd number (example: 2026/27, 2028/29, etc.). On a testing year, review the policies for CHEC IS assessments here.
- For families following the Notice of Intent (NOI) option under Colorado Homeschool statutes and testing in the odd grades of 3, 5, 7, 9, or 11, view CHEC’s Homeschool Testing FAQ, which explains the requirements.
- Parents who are certified teachers are exempt from the law (as my husband was while a licensed and employed college professor), but I encourage you to still keep track of each of your student’s annual progress as we did. If you have higher education or military-bound students, you will be well prepared to create their required transcripts, and this HSLDA transcript tool can help.
For ten years after my husband’s sudden death, we belonged to the CHEC Independent School. I utilized its parent assessment for my five youngest children still at home, all adopted with special needs labels. They were always at least one year below the expected grade level but eventually caught up by high school graduation, praise God!
Life Integration Assessment
This type of assessment is important for evaluating the progress of your student’s character development and life skill sets. After all, the end goal of homeschooling is to prepare our graduates to successfully navigate adulthood. This would not be assessed by a “standardized” test per se but by first-person evaluation based on your observations. You can record your assessment(s) anecdotally, perhaps with a baseline at the beginning of the year, with goals for achieving progress by the end of the year. Use that to establish next year’s baseline and envision a path forward for increased progress. This might include your child’s:
- Attitude toward accepting directions and completing assignments
- Daily chores around your home that are assigned and completed in a reasonable manner
- Management of money, including counting, earning, saving, spending, and tithing
- Personal responsibilities for dressing, hygiene, and room care
- Social skills, including eye contact, hand-shaking, polite conversation, and respect for elders
- Tasks performed around the house, such as pet care, laundry, and home and yard maintenance
Dive Deeper With These Additional Resources
- If you have questions about homeschool testing in Colorado, start here.
- Are you interested in becoming a member of the CHEC Independent School? The benefits are described here.
- If you are a member of the CHEC Independent School and have questions on assessments or testing, you can reach out to the CHEC Independent School staff via email at school@CHEC.org.
This is a helpful way to frame testing as a tool rather than a burden. I especially like the emphasis on using assessments to understand progress and prepare records, instead of treating testing as a verdict on the whole homeschool. One practical item I would add to the testing checklist is exam logistics: whether a calculator is permitted, which model is approved, and whether the student has practiced with it before test day. I maintain an exam calculator guide, and that policy detail often prevents last-minute stress.