what if i've been doing it wrong all along?

homeschool group monday night we had 2 homeschool alumni visit with us. the young lady was rather jaded-her experience seemed to consist of a lot of self-study in one area & not much of anything else. the gentleman seemed to have had the homeschool experience of a lifetime. both his parents had degrees in opposing fields which meant that practically everything a person might need to learn was covered and then some. something that he said struck me....

also attending the meeting was a girl who had a million questions about homeschooling as she is contemplating beginning with her son after the new year. so our meeting really ran the gamut-covering it all. something she was very curious about was the fact that many homeschoolers do not test. we do-our curriculum calls for it &, as our children attended brick & mortar school for the 5 & 6 years of their educational careers, we felt it would be best to continue in the same vein. she was concerned about being able to track progress if no testing was being done.

our guests had differing opinions on the subject. i believe they were both in non-testing situations. the young lady stated that she felt it harmed her further schooling experience, starting with the ACT she took during high school and continuing in to college. she also felt that it was harmful to her sister who was following in the homeschool footsteps. and then the man said something that surprised me. and i can't figure out if it is because i've misunderstood all along or if i'm just completely wrong.

he told our newbie that he suggested she be sure to read ahead so as to stay ahead of her student. and also to look ahead in the test booklets to be certain that she was directing him in the proper direction for success on the tests.

and this is where i'm confused. a major complaint that i have heard over & over again regarding schooling outside of the home is regarding "teaching to the test". which i've always understood to mean that teachers are not covering all material-just what is going to be tested. (and, after thinking on this, i'm beginning to wonder if this is in reference to standardized testing rather than regular classroom graded tests...gotta get that government money, you know!)

i make it a point to NOT preview the kids' test booklets ahead of time. i have textbooks & a lesson plan to build my lessons off of & i do my best to be certain that we cover all given material. i try to avoid spoon-feeding it to them as it concerns me that it will be a disservice to them in the future. they are 8th graders this year-big high school next year & hopefully college in 4 years or so. if i coddle them at this point, what would that mean for their future? i try to not take it easy on them as i don't want them to begin to expect it since i won't be their teacher forever. i definitely don't include piddly filler information in our daily lessons but thus far i don't think i've missed any of the important main ideas in any subject.

so...what say you? should i follow the alumnus' advice & look ahead at test questions to be certain i'm covering all pertinent information & not spending any too much time on information that will not be repeated again? or am i on the right track by expecting the kids to take the information i give them, the information they are responsible for learning on their own in their daily reading & "homework" that is completed once class is done for the day, and be able to put this together into a knowledge base that will serve them further in their educational careers? would it be more beneficial to be certain they are grasping by 100% a small number of facts-thus insuring (theoretically...these ARE teenagers i'm dealing with here) a high grade on tests & quizzes covering that material or is it more beneficial for their future to expect them to be able to glean information from the various lessons and independent work once they are asked for it at test time?

i don't feel like i am an easy teacher, by any means. one of my kids has a bad habit of expecting things to be handed to them & not being willing to do any more work than has to be done. we've been fighting a battle against "surface answers" recently-where the most basic of answers is given in response to a question without putting much thought into it & without truly grasping the crux of the lesson. i feel like the lessons that i impart to them in these years will stand them forever & that by being too easy on them, i am not pushing them to expand their knowledge or abilities. and i feel that by only pointing them in specific directions when it comes to schoolwork, they will not have the ability to self-teach once they are in whatever form of higher education they choose.