Last spring, I had a new baby and two toddler’s in tow, and I wasn’t sure how we could participate in our local home school association’s group CAT5 testing. 

I had two children we wanted to test.  In the state of North Carolina, you are required to test once a year and keep the results on file for one year.

So I went online and did some research.    I found several companies who will send out the same test that the group was taking, but you can take it in your home.   I found several other companies also doing testing at public sites and at individuals homes.  The amount of options was incredible, prices varied, and really there seemed to be something for everyone.

On the same dates the group met for testing, we were able to test our Kindergartner and Second Grader at home.  The company we used was Family Learning Organization from Washington.  Their website is www.FamilyLearning.org  

The cost was $35 per child.  

You are essentially renting the materials, as it cost many thousands to own the license to them.  They sent test manuals, instruction manuals, and answer forms.  It only takes a few hours to take the test.  You have 10 days from receiving the materials to return them completed.  We had our test results back within a week of mailing back the completed materials.  We were very pleased with their services. 

There are several other good companies out there who provide a similar service including one here in NC whose fee was $46.  After I called several places including the FLO company, I ended up choosing them because of the $35 price, as they were the least expensive one I found and all the companies seemed to offer basically the same service.   They were friendly and efficient and we were pleased with them and will gladly recommend them.

Hope this helps anyone interested in other testing options.