Are tests available for Language of God and My Catholic Speller?

Dear Parent,

It sounds as if both teacher and student are doing well in Language and Spelling!

As a general rule, the primary reason that public schools use formal, written testing is that, with limited time and an abundance of students, it’s simply the easiest means for determining what the student knows.

Now, testing is only one of many methods that may be used to determine if learning has taken place. For example, if someone wanted to prove that they knew how to make a cake, they could certainly study the process and sit down for a written test. E.g., At what temperature should the cake be baked? For what length of time? List the ingredients and their amounts. How are the ingredients assembled? How is “doneness” of the cake determined?

However, the student could also prove that he knew how to make a cake by—revolutionary idea—actually baking a cake. In the end, perhaps the best test of mastery is in the resultant cake!

One of the many differences between homeschool and public school is that the teacher has an intimate knowledge of the child’s understanding of a subject. So, in a home setting, testing is not as necessary as it might be in a public school setting.

Nevertheless, if the student enjoys tests, both My Catholic Speller and Language of God series are easily adaptable to provide tests.

My Catholic Speller, in the Suggested Schedule on page 1, suggests a quiz on the spelling list on Day Four, with a final test on Day Five.

Language of God contains review pages every six or seven lessons; these review pages may be used as tests. In addition, oral testing can be accomplished by simply reading sentences or exercises from selected pages from previous lessons.

Thank you for your thoughtful question.

May Our Lord bless and guide your homeschooling days,
Nancy Nicholson