Cogat test for 2nd graders (Fairfax: home, middle school, college)

[Momsword]

My second grader has been doing prep activities at home to prepare for the cogat test this month. Will he be allowed to write his working out of the math questions (such as for the math puzzles adding 3+7+5) by the numbers or will he be expected to do everything in his head - and not be allowed to write in the test booklet?
Thanks.

[choff5]

Originally Posted by Momsword

My second grader has been doing prep activities at home to prepare for the cogat test this month. Will he be allowed to write his working out of the math questions (such as for the math puzzles adding 3+7+5) by the numbers or will he be expected to do everything in his head - and not be allowed to write in the test booklet?
Thanks.

Please chill. The only prep he needs for this is a good nights sleep, healthy breakfast and a positive attitude. If he listens to directions and follows the instructions, he will do fine. Now, go, enjoy the weekend please and don't worry about testing!

[deuxcents]

Wow, I can't believe we now have second graders prepping for standardized tests. I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but we have to let children be children. If you unwittingly project your anxiety to him, it may not only hurt his performance, but have a much longer term impact.

I used to fret over things like this, but I had to learn to let go - for everyone's sake. Some kids are good test takers, some aren't. Some kids are good at math and science, some at liberal arts subjects. Kids have to find their own path at their own pace (especially boys). They usually wind up just fine.

[sullyguy]

We didn't do anything special with our kid, mostly because we were clueless about such things since we only have one kid.

She took the test(s) in 2nd grade, we got the results, we said "Oh, uh huh". That was it.

Only later did we find out people inside the school system actually pay attention to these things and make possibly key decisions based off the results. Since our kid had been exposed to an English-speaking environment for a couple years less than most others, I think it's a pretty good bet her English language skills necessarily had not developed as much as others her age (fortunately, they also SAY they norm the results by ill-defined "age" - when you're 7 years old, 6 months can make a LOT of difference - and our daughter barely squeaked into her "class" since she was almost too young).

But that's all water over the dam - she did fine on the test(s) since we didn't pay attention to the results (!), went on to be a straight-A student through middle school, and is now doing just fine in high school. We fully expect her to do just fine in college, she has already mentioned thinking about pursuing a PhD, and we expect her to be a success in life regardless whether she turns into a rocket scientist or an anime artist she also mentioned wanting to be!

Did someone mention a 2nd grade test?

[Momsword]

So that means none of those that have replied know the answer?

[choff5]

Originally Posted by Momsword

So that means none of those that have replied know the answer?

I think it means the real answer to your initial question is it doesn't matter.

Now, please go have fun and stop worrying about this. The sun is shining, it's a great fall weekend, even if the Nationals did lose!

[sullyguy]

Certainly from THIS poster's POV it may or may not matter, however your kid certainly will find out when the time comes.

I had to look up cogat before giving my first reply since I didn't remember anything about it - there're lots of results which DO answer your test-procedure question.

[OrangeFish]

If your child is in 2nd grade in FCPS, the test in October is the Fairfax Ability Test, which has not been given before, so perhaps no one knows the answer since their child(ren) did not take that test.

[Momsword]

The fairfax abilities test is similar, a version of, the regular cogat - so I would like to know if in past years 2nd graders taking the cogat were able to make marks in their testing booklet other than just the bubble of their answer choice- such as to write numbers as they were adding or other strategies to help them get to their answer choice...

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by Momsword

The fairfax abilities test is similar, a version of, the regular cogat - so I would like to know if in past years 2nd graders taking the cogat were able to make marks in their testing booklet other than just the bubble of their answer choice- such as to write numbers as they were adding or other strategies to help them get to their answer choice...

Why don't just you call the schood district office and ask? Im sure they'll tell you the rules.