Why My Kids LOVE Standardized Testing

Standardized testing starts tomorrow at my kids' school, and they couldn't be more excited. Why? Not because standardized testing is all over the news or because Huckle and Sally thrive under pressure (they don't). It's because test days are a welcome change in routine and because their school makes the days extra special.

Top 5 reasons my kids love standardized tests
1. NO HOMEWORK. Normally, homework looms over our evenings like those city-sized spacecraft in the movie Independence Day (which I didn't see because even this picture freaks me out). We're nearing Christmas break before Huckle and Sally have transitioned from regular homework meltdowns to just-get-it-done mode. (And then it alllll starts again after Christmas break...)

Homework has a way of overshadowing family time, dinner time, bedtime, playtime, sanity...

2. Standardized testing days are HALF DAYS. Not only is there no homework but there's a bonus chunk of free time. Right now, Huckle is mucking in a stream behind our house instead of madly finishing homework before his weekly Boy Scouts meeting. Sally is in the kitchen trying to improve cat treats by wetting them and rolling them in cat nip. 

3. EXTRA RECESS Between tests, the kids are given long recesses to do their crazed playground thing. As far as they're concerned, the school wants them to have more fun. Of course, it's no surprise that physical activity has also been shown to help kids concentrate and may even improve their performance. From a NY Times blog last fall:

A representative study, presented in May at the American College of Sports Medicine, found that fourth- and fifth-grade students who ran around and otherwise exercised vigorously for at least 10 minutes before a math test scored higher than children who had sat quietly before the exam.

4. SPECIAL SNACKS. Parents volunteer to make customized snacks, like sandwich wraps or baked potatoes with all the fixings. In a school with no cafeteria, these kids love marking their preferences on an order form and then having their specially designed snack delivered to them partway through the day.

5. NO PRESSURE from the school staff. The teachers tell their students that these tests aren't meant to measure an individual's intelligence or knowledge. Rather, they guide the school in identifying gaps in their material.

Of course, not every school is making the extra effort to make testing special. So what can you as a parent to encourage your test taker? Here are some suggestions:

• Make a special breakfast. We're having waffles tomorrow -- carbohydrate loading for the brain. Alternatively, pack a special snack or lunch (obviously not a sugary treat).
• Morning exercise. Leave ten minutes early for school to stop at a playground. Or shoot hoops on the driveway as you wait for the school bus. If you're not a morning person, use a stopwatch to time the kids as they run around the block or down to the corner and back. Then again, surprise them by joining in -- bounce on that trampoline, take a turn with the jump rope, show off those mad skipping skillz.
• Watch your words. If you call the test pointless or too hard, your kids will start thinking that way too. You influence their opinions--and possibly their friends' opinions when your kids talk at school.
• Extra special bedtime privilege. Good sleep helps, so keep bedtime on time. But consider making it special the day before a test. Maybe allow ten minutes of reading in bed with a flashlight. Or read aloud a favorite picture book from their younger years. Play a game together or watch funny cat videos on YouTube. Chose something that's different from your usual routine to make it special.  
• Maybe nothing. If your kid is the type who will see any change in routine as a sign that the test is BIGand scary, then keep to the comfortable usual. 
• What do you suggest?