Assessment Season Is Here — And You've Got This
There's a particular kind of low-grade anxiety that settles in for many homeschool families around this time of year. Not panic, exactly. More like that nagging feeling in the back of your mind that whispers: Is my child where they need to be? Did we do enough this year?
If you're nodding along right now, take a breath. You are not alone, and that feeling doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong. It means you care deeply about your child's education, which is exactly why you chose to homeschool in the first place.
Let's talk about Washington state assessment season: what it actually requires, how to approach it without stress, and what your options are right here in the Walla Walla Valley.
First, a Reality Check
Washington state does not require your child to perform at a certain level or pass any test. The law simply requires that you demonstrate your child is making progress appropriate to their age and ability. That's it.
There is no passing or failing. There is no score your child must reach. There is no comparison to public school standards.
This is worth repeating because the anxiety many of us feel around testing season is often rooted in a misunderstanding of what's actually required. You are not submitting your child for judgment. You are documenting that learning is happening, and if you've been homeschooling, it absolutely is.
What Washington State Actually Requires
Under RCW 28A.200.010, homeschool families in Washington must have their child assessed annually starting in the school year the child turns 8. You have two options for meeting this requirement:
Option 1: Standardized Testing
Standardized tests measure your child's knowledge and skills and provide a score compared to national norms. Washington state has a list of approved tests you can choose from through the State Board of Education.
What to know:
Tests are typically done in a single sitting or over a few sessions
You choose which approved test works best for your family
Results are for your records and you do not submit scores to the school district
Some families find the structure helpful for seeing where their child stands
Local tip: Check with your Walla Walla area library about borrowing a Discover Pass for any in-person testing locations you might visit nearby.
Option 2: Annual Assessment by a Certified Educator
This option is more flexible and often less stressful for families whose children don't test well in traditional formats.
A certificated educator reviews your child's work and progress and writes an assessment. This does not have to be a formal test at all. It can be a portfolio review or conversation-based evaluation.
What to know:
The evaluator must be a Washington state certificated teacher
The assessment should reflect a full year of learning
You keep the assessment on file, and it does not go to the school district
This option works especially well for children with learning differences or those who work significantly above or below grade level
One organization many Walla Walla families use is the Family Learning Organization (FLO), a nonprofit that has been serving Washington homeschool families for over 30 years. They offer both standardized testing and non-testing assessments, and their team is known for being warm and genuinely helpful.
Practical Tips for a Smooth Assessment Season
Start gathering work samples now. If you're doing a portfolio-style assessment, pull together your best examples from the year: writing samples, math work, art projects, nature journals, anything that shows learning happened.
Don't cram. Your child's assessment should reflect a year of real learning, not a week of panicked review. Trust the work you've done together.
Talk to your child about what to expect. A calm, matter-of-fact explanation goes a long way. "We're going to show a teacher some of the things you've learned this year" is very different from "you have to take a test."
Keep your records organized going forward. A simple folder, digital or paper, where you collect work samples throughout the year makes assessment season much easier next time around.
Connect with other local families. If this is your first assessment season, reach out to our Homeschooling Walla Walla community or browse our Co-ops directory to find families who've navigated this before and can share what worked for them.
You Have Done the Work
Here is what I want you to hold onto as assessment season arrives: the fact that you are thinking about this, preparing for it, and caring about it means you are already doing the most important part of your job.
Your child has been learning. Maybe not always in the ways a traditional school would measure, but learning nonetheless, through conversations at the dinner table, books read aloud, nature walks, co-op classes, field trips, and the thousand quiet moments of curiosity that happen in a home where education is lived rather than scheduled.
An assessment doesn't define your homeschool year. It's just a snapshot, one small piece of documentation for a much larger, richer story.
You've got this, Walla Walla.
Looking for more support as you navigate Washington state homeschooling requirements? Visit our Getting Started guide for a full overview of the law, or explore what The Homeschool Insiders offers for families who want a closer community to walk through every season with.