Online Math Assessments for Homeschool Children

Parents new to homeschooling often don't know where to start when it comes to teaching math. There are important math concepts that children need to learn, but when a child has recently switched from traditional schooling to homeschooling, it's hard to know which skills they've mastered and which still need work. It's important to find out. One of the best ways to determine your child's math proficiency is a math skills assessment test.

Measuring Your Child's Skills

Assessment tests have become more popular over the last few years due to the adoption and implementation of stricter state educational standards. Many states now administer assessment tests to their students at the end of the year to measure the success of school districts in teaching students the fundamental skills outlined in their state educational standards. These tests are successful in measuring a student's mastery of specific math skills; however, many states do not allow children outside the public education system to participate in the state-wide assessment tests. This means homeschool parents and students must turn elsewhere in order to find a credible math assessment.

State Math Assessments

Many states now offer their old state-assessment tests online. Students in the school system are able to complete these past tests as practice for the real thing. These practice tests are available to anyone with an Internet connection, homeschoolers included. One shortcoming of these tests is that the results provided only show those problems the child gets wrong. That's important information for assessing your child's skill set, but it doesn't provide a complete picture.

Tutoring Assessments

As an alternative, find an assessment test offered by a non-state sponsored program, such as an online tutoring center. Online tutoring centers specialize in discovering the missing skills in a child's math education and can offer a study program specific to your child once their needs have been clarified. Online centers can be as effective as traditional tutoring centers. Online tutoring programs are more convenient and can be cheaper and often employ state certified teachers. This means they can assess your child with state standards in mind. With the help of an online tutoring program, a parent new to homeschooling can focus on other school subject areas while the student gets professional math instruction suited to his specific needs, all within the context of a homeschool environment.