For homeschool families
You teach from books and paper. We check the math and reading.
Test My Kid assesses. It doesn't teach. In about eight minutes on a screen, you'll know whether your child is approaching, meeting or exceeding grade level in grades 1 to 8. Then the practice happens on paper. Your first assessment is free.
Three tools, three jobs
A placement test picks the book. A skills check tells you how it's going.
Homeschool families meet three kinds of test. They answer different questions, and Test My Kid is only one of them.
Placement test
Which book do we start?
Saxon, Singapore Math, Math Mammoth and many other curricula publish their own. It tells you where to begin that curriculum, and it only speaks for that one.
Achievement test
How does my child compare nationally?
The Iowa, Stanford 10, TerraNova and the CAT are nationally normed, and some states require one. Usually once a year, and who may give it varies by test.
Grade-level skills check
Are they on track right now, and what's next?
This is Test My Kid. Math and reading against the grade, whatever curriculum you use, as often as every two weeks.
The screen, said plainly
About eight minutes on a screen. Everything else on paper.
Your child answers questions on a screen for about eight minutes. Nothing is taught there. With an account, the result becomes a printable worksheet, with an answer key, for the skills to practice next.
- Practice prints on paper, at the kitchen table.
- Your books and your plan do the teaching.
- Check as often as every two weeks, or once a month.
What you get back
Where your child stands in the grade, and what to practice next.
The lower part of the grade, which is not the same as behind.
The middle of the grade.
The top of the grade.
Each subject comes with the topics to practice next. There are no percentiles or national rankings: that is the job of an achievement test.
Why I built it
I homeschool my two oldest daughters, 9 and 7, in Orange County. I have friends whose kids are in school and do Russian math, and I wonder all the time: are my girls ahead of their peers, or behind?
Before Test My Kid, I had no way to judge. I could only hope the plan I built and their Kumon workbooks were working. The first result showed both girls at grade level, and exactly what to work on next.
FAQ
Questions homeschool parents ask
Does Test My Kid satisfy my state's homeschool testing requirement?
No. Test My Kid is not a nationally normed standardized test, so it does not satisfy any state's homeschool testing or evaluation requirement. In states that allow a portfolio or an evaluator's review, printed results and dated worksheets can be one item in that portfolio, at the evaluator's discretion. Your state's department of education has the rules that apply to you.
How much screen time is it?
About eight minutes on a screen for each check, math or reading. Nothing is taught on screen, and the practice that follows prints on paper.
Does it work with my curriculum?
Yes. It checks grade-level math and reading skills, whatever curriculum you use: Saxon, Singapore Math, Kumon workbooks, a plan you built yourself, or living books. It is not a placement test, so it will not tell you which book of a series to start.
What grades does it cover?
Grades 1 to 8, in math and reading. A kindergartner can take it, but is measured against the Grade 1 starting point.
How often should we check?
As often as every two weeks per child and subject. Our founder checks his daughters once a month.
What does it cost?
Your first assessment is free, and the first math check needs no account. After that comes a 30-day free trial, then $99 a year per family.