Park Day in Pictures

It was park day today with one of our favorite homeschool groups.

And what a beautiful day God blessed us with!

We all had a great day with even greater friends!

Caleb (green shirt) had SO much fun playing football with his buddies!

Jacob had fun with the older boys.

Vera had fun doing everything!

She even learned how to throw a frisbee...sort of. :)

She sure was cute trying!

Vera really loved swinging...especially when Jon pushed her.

He took today off from work to come play with us...

that was perhaps the BEST part of the day!

Vera LOVES playing with the big girls.

And they are so wonderful about including her.

Can you see how happy she is?

Abbi has the best friends a girl could have!

LOVE these precious girls!

Valentine Party

Well, for some reason, Blogger won't let me rearrange my photos...so I'll tell you about them as they come up. Yesterday we had Valentine parties at co-op. During PE time, the kids got to have snacks and then they exchanged Valentines. I even got some too! Did you know I'm teaching a scrapbooking class this semester? I have 15 very sweet and fun 4th and 5th grade girls in my 2nd period class. This is a little card one of them gave me today...isn't it sweet?

I took this photo of all the Valentines I received. The one on the top left (with the monkey) says, "You're better than a banana." Yep. I laughed when I read it. Jacob almost fell over when I showed it to him and said, "Hey Jacob, I'm better than a banana!" There's even a sucker taped to the other side! Fun Dip must be a new Valentine candy item. I don't remember getting Fun Dip when I was kid. And I LOVE Fun Dip. Really. I always get some when we go to Skate Day. Those little candy sticks to scoop out the powder are so yummy!

Here's Abbi passing out her Valentines.

And Caleb giving his out.

Here's all the boys chowing down on their snacks.

And Abbi with some of her sweet friends.

I'm with the 4th & 5th grade group for PE, so I didn't get to take any photos of Jacob's class. I sure hope someone else did though!

Every week so far this semester I have forgotten my camera and haven't been able to take pictures of my class making their pages. But today I remembered it since I wanted to take the Valentine pictures! This is a 12 week semester, so each week the girls are making a two-page layout (6 x 6) for a certain month of the year. When the semester is over, they'll have a complete little album ready to put pictures in for every month of the year!

I'm really enjoying the class and getting to know the girls better.

I should've taken a picture of my adult helpers. If not for Mitzi, Molly and Anita, I'd be one crazy lady every Tuesday! Thank you, ladies!!

The Pediatrician Review

It finally happened. All these years my homeschool friends have cautioned me to make sure I find a homeschool-friendly pediatrician. Well, I've never encountered an unhomeschool-friendly doctor and I really wondered what my friends were talking about. What's the big deal?

I get it now.

Part of our homestudy to adopt Leanna includes getting a letter for each of us from our doctors that basically says we're healthy, sane people. I was able to get appointments for all 3 kids last week. Of course, I had to find a new pediatrician since our former one got married and either moved out of the state or is no longer practicing medicine. I found a pediatrician in our insurance network who is located very close to us. Great! I usually have to drive about 30 minutes so I was very happy to find one within 10 minutes of our house.

Caleb was the first one to get checked out. His height and weight were good. Ears and hearing test were good. Blood pressure and pulse rate were good. Then the nurse asked where Caleb goes to school. "We homeschool." "Oh-h." You homeschoolers know the 'oh-h' I'm talking about. The disapproving 'sure you do' look says it all. The look we get when we're at the grocery store with our kids during school hours. The look we get when we take the kids for haircuts before school gets out to avoid the rush and they ask if it was an early release day. The look we get at the swimming pool on the first day of public school (one of our favorite pool days) and most moms are there celebrating that their kids are finally gone. Well, I think the nurse must've written HOMESCHOOLERS in big, black letters on Caleb's file. She left and we waited for the doctor. After a few minutes, the doctor came in, shook our hands, introduced herself and said, "So, you homeschool." It was not a question. It was a statement. A statement with no accompanying smile. A statement dripping with obvious disapproval. That's okay. I don't need everyone to agree with our decision to homeschool. I do, however, need this doctor to sign my piece of paper that says Caleb is healthy and lives in a home where a healthy lifestyle is promoted. Right off the bat I became a little nervous with this doctor, and I sat up a little straighter. Then came the questions. She asked Caleb question after question (which is fine...I have no problem with questions) which he answered slowly and quietly in typical Caleb fashion. The questions were very general...what do you eat for breakfast/lunch/dinner? Do you eat alot of sugary foods/drinks? How often do you eat fruits and vegetables? How much time per day do you spend watching TV/playing video games? How often do you get physical exercise? Etc. etc. If you're not familiar with APD (Auditory Processing Dysfunction), one of the aspects of it is that it takes a few seconds (sometimes minutes) longer to answer questions. Your brain takes a bit longer than normal to process the question, form an answer and speak it. What frustrated me is that she eventually quit waiting for his answers and would just move on to another question. Her conclusion was that since he 'wouldn't' answer her questions he must've thought the answers weren't what she wanted to hear. So she turned to me and let me know (with that 'so-what-are-you-teaching-him-at-home' overtone) that the American Pediatric Association is now recommending 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day, no more than 2 hours of screen time (TV, video games, computer) per day, 1 hour of physical activity each day and zero sugary drinks like soda and fruit juice. So, I politely told her that we do eat lots of fruit (although we can improve in the veggie area...we've never eaten 5 servings a day...more like 1 or 2), he rarely gets more than 2 hours of screen time a day and we don't even have video games, he does get more than 1 hour of physical activity most days (if it's not raining, the kids are usually outside all afternoon...even when it's 20 degrees out) and we don't buy soda or juice unless someone is sick. Even when we eat out, water is the drink of choice for all of us. And then I mentioned the APD and asked her if she was familiar with it. She said she's no expert but she did know about it. So I told her about Caleb and that although he hasn't yet been screened for it (because I need a referral), I believe that's what he has and that's why he was slow to answer her questions. So she told me that an APD screening would just test his hearing and they already did that and his hearing is fine. She then gave me her recommendation that I won't go into now because just thinking about it angers me. I know, I need to let it go. She spent all of 15 minutes with Caleb. I've been with him for over 10 years. I told her (still politely) that screening for APD is actually a 3 hour long battery of tests that does not include a hearing test...before you can get screened for it, your hearing must have already been checked and okayed. I've done much reading about this and although I'm no expert either, at least I knew that much. She eased up a bit and told me that she'd give me the referral if I really wanted it but she didn't think it was necessary.

So then we moved on to Abbi. Same drill. Height, weight, blood pressure, pulse rate, hearing and vision all good. Questioning went well. Abbi answered everything the way Caleb would have had he been given a chance. She was able to tell the doctor everything I mentioned above. While I sat silently wanting to scream "WE LIVE A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE! Sure, we can improve in some areas, but who can't?!" Then the doctor (same one for all 3 kids) asked Abbi if she knew about puberty. Abbi looked at her blankly which prompted the doctor to ask if she'd heard that word before. I told the doctor we hadn't discussed any of that yet, thinking that was code for, "and I'd rather you didn't discuss it with her right now." To my amazement, the doctor proceeded to begin to tell Abbi some things she could expect soon. I interrupted and told the doctor that *I* would have that discussion when I felt Abbi was ready for it. I'm watching for signs. I'm not stupid. I know she's 1o and things will be starting in the next couple of years. Then the doctor began to recommend a book for me to use with Abbi. I interrupted her and said, "You mean The Care and Keeping of You? Yes, that's what I plan to read with her. When. She's. Ready." I wanted to chuckle when the look of surprise crossed the doctor's face because I was familiar with and plan to use that book. Maybe I'm not such an idiot after all!

Honestly, after this, it was running through my mind that I should just grab my kids and leave. But we were already there and I still needed the doctor to sign my papers for our homestudy. So...then it was Jacob's turn. Height, blood pressure, pulse rate, hearing and vision were good. Weight...not so much. He's officially in the 'overweight' category. Which was no surprise to me. He's a big kid. He enjoys food. I wouldn't say he overeats though. Well, maybe a little. But he doesn't eat junk food. And he does get lots of physical exercise, so I've never been worried. Jon and I are just waiting for him to shoot up, which I imagine will happen very soon. Jon was a bit overweight too during puberty and then he shot up and thinned out. I imagine Jacob will do the same. So, the doctor comes in and goes right to Jacob. She says, "Before I begin, Jacob, would you like your mom to leave the room?" I'm sorry? I must be hallucinating. Did you just ask what I think you just asked? Stunned, I said, "I'll be staying in the room with Jacob." The doctor looked me straight in the eye and said, "That is Jacob's decision." To which I replied, "Jacob is 12. I am his mother and I'm staying in the room." To which she replied, "Not if he doesn't want you to." With an almost evil little smile she looked back at Jacob and asked him again if he wanted me to leave the room while I (figuratively) rolled up my sleeves and prepared to go toe to toe with this woman. If you know Jacob, you know that he is one of the most laid back, easy going kids ever. He looked at the doctor, smiled, shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's okay if she stays." I sat back in my chair. She asked him all the same questions and he happily answered them. She checked him all out and recommended he get lab work done to check his blood sugar and also for diabetes. I already knew that was coming and we scheduled that visit, which was yesterday. Then, the moment of truth came. I handed her my papers and asked if she would fill them out for me. She took them and left the room while Jacob got dressed. I sat their worrying about what she was going to write. Leanna's future with us was in the hands of this one doctor. If she wrote negative things, we'd have to start all over with another pediatrician. I was quite relieved when the nurse returned with all 3 letters. Each one gave favorable opinions and said that the kids were healthy and that a 'healthy lifestyle is promoted in the home.' Thank goodness! It wasn't all for nothing!

When we got home that day, I was checking email and couldn't believe the first thing I read. In an update from Parental Rights, it said, "In Minnesota, “Jaime” was shocked to learn she needed her 11-year-old daughter’s permission to access the daughter’s medical records or contact a physician about the girl’s health. The doctor hides behind a federal law as the justification for his action. “Lisa” in Colorado learned that “to protect the privacy” of a 9-year-old’s library records, government librarians refused to tell her what books her child had checked out (even though Lisa was being asked to pay the over-due book fine) – an experience shared by “Nicole” in Maryland.

Parents of 5-year-olds shouldn’t have to fight a doctor or dentist, because of federal privacy law, for the right to remain present while their child undergoes an examination or receives care. Yet we have received letters from “Megan” in California and from several others in different states who have faced just such a challenge.

These examples demonstrate the urgent need for the Parental Rights Amendment (PRA). Governments have an ever-increasing view of their power to deal directly with children in exclusion of the parent."

Friends, I urge you to visit www.parentalrights.org today and educate yourselves about what's going on in our nation. There is no time to waste!

As for me, I am now on the hunt for a homeschool friendly pediatrician. Any recommendations?

Band Winter Concert 2009

On the evening of November 23rd, we all dressed up and headed to the kids' Winter Concert for band. We are part of Grace Notes Homeschool Conservatory this year. Every Monday there are classes for Chorus, Recorder, Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced Band, Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced Strings along with Jazz Band and Marching Band classes. This is our first year to participate in band, and the kids and I are LOVING it! For those of you who don't know, Jacob plays the alto saxophone, Caleb plays the snare drum and Abbi is playing the flute. They have come quite a long way since band started in September. The kids are very diligent about practicing every day and I am pleased to report that the 'noise' is beginning to sound much more like music.

The kids got to wear these darling tuxedo shirts for the concert. The band certainly looked ready for a great performance!

The kids waiting their turn to warm up.

I took these shots while the Beginner Band warmed up. I'm very glad I took this photo opportunity. I wouldn't have been able to get very good pictures while they performed. Just FYI, there are 26 students in Beginner Band.

The kids' band director is fondly referred to as Papa George. He was a tuba player in the Navy and is just wonderful with the kids! We are so blessed to have him as our band director!

The concert began with the Chorus group.

Then we heard from the Beginner Strings class. I don't know if you can tell, but there is a mom smack-dab in the middle of the photo. You will see parents (moms & dads both) in several of the photos. I think that is so cool!

Above - the Beginner Band playing Good King Wenceslas

Below - the Beginner Band playing Jolly Old St. Nicholas

Next we heard from the Intermediate Strings class. After their first song, Jon and I both said "WOW!" so I figured I better record at least one of their songs.

After that, the Advanced Strings class played for us (above) followed by the Intermediate Band class (below). If I remember right, there are two dads in this class.

We also got to hear the Advanced Band play. There are 3 moms in this class.

I'm putting this video here for Caleb (below). He loved hearing the drummers in this class! It does sound like they're having fun, doesn't it?

We got home pretty late and still had packing to do since we left early the next morning for Illinois. But I wouldn't let the kids get their jammies on until I took photos of them in front of the Christmas tree. It's not often they are this dressed up!

Jacob's Story Starter

You must be wondering why I haven't yet posted Jacob's Story Starter. We had Justin & Tonya with us for a week and Jacob just now finished his final draft. Since it's been awhile, let me remind you how the story started...a father and child go fishing. The father catches a trout. As he's reeling it in, a fish hawk comes out of nowhere, grabs the trout and flies off taking the father's fishing rod with it. The next Saturday, the two head fishing again but this time they take their dog, Chipper, along.

Here's Jacob ending...

When we arrived at my dad’s favorite fishing spot, Chipper (unfortunately) saw a goose. He leaped into the water and tried to grab the goose, but the goose was too quick for him and flew away before Chipper was even in the water. When Chipper got out of the water, he shook it off and right onto us and our supplies. We both laughed, but also realized we would have to pick a new fishing spot since Chipper scared all of the fish away. So we got our supplies together again and set off for a new fishing spot. After about twenty minutes of walking, we found a good fishing spot. We got our fishing poles ready and threw our lines in the water. “I think I caught something,” I yelled. “Great! Reel it in,” Dad said. “I can’t, it’s stuck,” I shouted. Just then we heard a splash. When we looked to see what made the splash, we saw Chipper in the water. At first we didn’t know why he jumped in, but then we saw it. A remote controlled boat was skimming along the surface of the water. Chipper loved to chase anything that moved by itself and was small enough to fit in his mouth. He chased after the boat, but right when he was about to grab it in his mouth, the boat put on a burst of speed, leaving Chipper behind. This, of course, scared all the fish away. By now it was lunch time and we were starving, so I went to get the lunch we packed, but I couldn’t find it. So I asked Dad where he put the lunch. “It should be in bag,” Dad said. So I double checked. I still couldn’t find it. Then, for some reason, I looked where Chipper had been lying while we were fishing, and I saw what remained of our lunch. A half eaten sandwich, a torn bag of chips, and two broken cans of Sprite. “Dad, Chipper ate our lunch,” I exclaimed. “Well, I guess it’s time to go,” said dad, disappointed that we didn’t catch anything. We packed everything up and left. On the way to the car we passed some woods. We saw a rabbit, and so did Chipper. Before we could stop him, Chipper dashed into the woods. By the time we caught up to him, we had gone a long way. Then, to our horror, we realized that we were lost! “Well, at least I have a compass,” Dad said.

Yes, Jacob meant to leave us on a cliff-hanger. I hope you enjoyed the kids' stories!

Caleb's Story Starter

I know you've all been waiting for Caleb's Story Starter after reading Abbi's yesterday. Remember that all their stories started the same way...to refresh your memory, a father and child go fishing. The father catches a trout. As he's reeling it in, a fish hawk comes out of nowhere, grabs the trout and flies off taking the father's fishing rod with it. The next Saturday, the two head fishing again but this time they take their dog, Chipper, along...so the kids have to finish the story. What will happen this time?

And here is Caleb's take on the rest of the story...

Just then, Chipper saw a fish and jumped in after it. Of course he caught it. “Look’s like we’re going to catch a lot of fish today,” dad said. Just then a bear came out of the woods. He smelled fish. Chipper came to the rescue and fought off the bear. D ad said, “Let’s fish.” I said, “Okay.” A few minutes later I caught something! As Dad walked over, he said “Let me help you, Son.” Just then I pulled out a huge trout. Dad smiled as he said, “Well, I guess you don’t need my help anymore.” Just then Chipper saw a sea turtle. He got ready to pounce. When the turtle got close, Chipper turned, jumped in and caught it. Just then another dog came up and tried to grab the turtle and did. Chipper and the other dog played tug-of-war with the turtle for a few seconds. Then they both dropped it and it landed back in the water unhurt. “I don’t think we are going to catch any more fish. Let’s go home,” Dad suggested. I agreed. “Where’s Chipper?” I asked. “Let’s go look for him.” Just then we heard a splash. We turned around and saw Chipper in the water with a fish in his mouth. ”Come on, Chipper,” I said. Then we marched off to the van with two fish. They would make a delicious dinner that night.

I was very proud of Caleb for this story. Writing is one of those things that his APD tends to hinder. Caleb was the last one finished and didn't really complain until it was time for the final draft. He's still learning grammar, punctuation, and capitalization and really struggled with that part. I could tell that he was getting frustrated when we did the 'fixing.' I just kept telling him that it was okay and these are all things he's still learning. I'm currently reading "When the Brain Can't Hear" by Teri James Bellis and am learning so much about Caleb's brain and how it works. It's fascinating to me.

Anyway, next time I'll share Jacob's story with you. Don't miss it!

Abbi's Story Starter

Last week I assigned the kids their first Story Starters writing assignment. Story Starters is an AWESOME book filled with...well, story starters! The point is to "stoke the fires of your child's imagination and awaken the creative writer within!" From the back of the book - "A story starter suspends a student in the middle of a predicament. He is then faced with the question, 'What happens next?' This is his cue to expand and embellish the story however he wants. He learns to write freely, with imagination and zest - and with far more boldness than he may be accustomed to." Last year, most writing assignments I gave the kids were met with anxiety, tears, procrastination and the inevitable, 'I don't know what to write about.' It got to be so draining and frustrating for me that I quit with the writing and said to myself, "we'll work on it next year." Lucky for me, one of the keynote speakers at our homeschool conference in May was Andrew Pudewa...and several of his talks were about writing. He was just the inspiration I needed! My notes from the conference are here somewhere on this blog. Anyway, my goal was to assign one writing assignment per week this school year. So far, we've done one poem and one 'source text' story. Both went over better than I expected without one single tear from any of us. To learn more about source text writing see this post.

So, last week was our first experience with Story Starters. I decided to give the kids 2 weeks for this assigment. We started last Tuesday and I told them they had until Friday to turn in their rough drafts. And this week would be spent fixing errors, polishing, and writing/typing the final draft. On Wednesday night over dinner I asked the kids if they had started on their stories and when all eyes looked down at their plates, I knew the answer. So I announced that instead of turning their rough drafts in to me, they would hand them in to the principal...Daddy! Jon was very happy to take this on for me and I went about my week not thinking again about the stories that were due. Friday came, we had dinner and then Jon announced we would be reading the stories out loud. Oh, what fun! I was filled with excitement as I saw the kids scramble to get their notebooks. Much to my amazement, they had each completed a story! They each took turns reading their stories to us and I must confess, I got teary-eyed listening to them. They did it! They actually wrote stories without tears, without frustration, without anxiety and best of all, not one of them complained about having nothing to write about. I think Karen Andreola (author of Story Starters) is on to something.

So, would you like to read their stories? I thought you would! Let me start by summarizing the Story Starter. The one I chose was about a father and child who go fishing. The father catches a trout. As he's reeling it in, a fish hawk comes out of nowhere, grabs the trout and flies off taking the father's fishing rod with it. The next Saturday, the two head fishing again but this time they take their dog, Chipper, along...so the kids have to finish the story. What will happen this time?

Here's what Abbi came up with. Her final draft was typed, so I just copied and pasted her work.

Just then Chipper saw a trout and jumped in after it! Of course, the trout got away. “Dad, look at Chipper!” “Well it looks like we're not going to catch any fish today, son.” All of a sudden, Chipper ran off into the woods chasing a squirrel! “Chipper, come back!” I said. “Just let him be, son,” my dad was laughing now. “He’s enjoying this.” Just then Chipper came back, looking defeated. “Lookey there, Dad. First the trout got away, then the squirrel got away.” Then Chipper saw a flock of swans swimming a few feet away. He started swimming quietly, slowly, and sneakily toward them. But, as you can imagine, the swans saw Chipper coming and flew off. “What’s Chipper going to see next?” I said laughingly. “I don’t know, but it might be that beaver coming this way,” my dad said. Just as he was finishing this sentence, we heard a series of barks coming from the river. As I turned around, I saw Chipper coming out of the water with the beaver in his mouth. He looked so proud of himself that my dad and I had to laugh. “Well lookey there, it looks like Chipper finally caught something,” I said. Just then the beaver slapped Chipper in the face with his huge tail! Chipper was so startled he let go of the beaver. Then a sad, dejected look came on Chipper's face. Then Chipper gave a yelp of pain, for he had stepped on a thorn bush. “Chipper, what happened?” I cried as Chipper came limping over to were I was standing. With a sigh he plopped down on a bed of moss. I went over to him and checked his paws. I finally found a thorn and pulled it out. “There you go, boy.” I said. Chipper jumped up and plunged into the water. When I looked into the water, I saw a turtle having a nice time swimming alongside the shore. Chipper was cocking his head at it when I got there, wagging his tail too. I picked up the turtle, which was in its shell, and inspected it to make sure it wasn’t hurt, and set it back down in the water. Then I held Chipper's collar until we couldn’t see the turtle anymore, and then I let go of him. Then I walked back to were my dad was sitting, finally with his fishing pole out. Then I got out my fishing pole and put some bait on it. I had just put my line out when I felt a tug on the other end of the line! I started reeling my line in. But, to my dismay the fish was too small and we had to throw it back into the water. Then my dad pulled one in, but it was too small also. Then I heard Chipper bark. It sounded far off. When I went to find Chipper, my dad stayed behind to fish. When I found Chipper he was looking at some berries, still barking. I picked one and put it in my mouth. It was juicy and sweet. It tasted so good that I called my dad and asked him to bring the fish bucket. (We hadn’t caught any fish yet), when he came, we started filling the bucket with berries. We filled it to the brim, but it was only half full by the time we got home. Then we realized that Chipper wasn’t with us, so we went back to the berries, and by that time the bucket was empty so we refilled it calling Chipper all the while. We finally heard a bark coming from the river. So we tramped back to the river and found all our fishing supplies, with Chipper guarding it. So we got all our stuff together and stopped one last time at the berry bushes, and then the three of us and the fishing supplies, went home.

Wasn't that fabulous?! Tomorrow I'll share Caleb's story with you.

Name Poems

This week the kids' writing assignment was to write a name poem. Since we're getting ready for our vacation, I gave them a relatively easy writing assignment. They did a fabulous job and I wanted to share what they came up with...

A - amazingly fast reader
B - beautiful inside and out
I - incredibly smart (I think we have some pride issues)
G - genuine article
A - adventureous and brave
I - imaginative and curious
L - loves her dad

C - climbs like a monkey
A - acrobatic
L - loves Legos
E - energy all the time
B - believer in Jesus

J - joyful all the time
A - always hungry
C - calm and quiet
O - obedient to mom and dad
B - big and strong

Kids test results

Well, the kids test results came back today. I was surprised by my reaction when I saw the envelope. My stomach flip-flopped and my heart dropped. I felt nauseous. I went against Andrew Pudewa's advice to leave the envelope sealed up for 16 years because the results don't matter anyway. I had to know. Maybe I care more than I'd like to what these results say. I know some of you are curious, so I'll share the overall scores.

Jacob - just completed 6th grade
There are several different scores here, so I'll give you the Grade Equivalents because that's easiest for me. :)
Reading on a 10th grade level (I was so pleased to see this! Reading comprehension is one of those things I have no idea how to judge, so this was encouraging!)
Language Arts - 10.8 (That means 10th grade, 8th month)
Math - 8.6 (Yay! He scored off the charts in Geometry, Algebra and Measurement!)
Social Studies - 11.1 (Wowie!)
Science - 8.9 (Really? I always feel so inadequate with science, but I guess I'm doing okay)
Reference Materials (includes maps, diagrams, dictionary & encyclopedia skills, etc.) - 10.5
Total Composite Score - 9.7

Caleb - just completed 3rd grade
Reading on a 6th grade level (Awesome! Caleb was a 'late' reader (by public school standards) but I wanted him to LOVE reading, so I didn't push him. And now he loves to read!)
Language Arts - 3.6 (remember the portions on Listening Skills that had both the twins in tears? This was included in LA...I was not surprised at all to see the low score here. Now that we know about Caleb's APD, we can help him.)
Math - 4.4
Social Studies - 4.9 (I wonder what kinds of questions these were)
Science - 5.0 (Very high scores in Physical and Life Science - low in Earth Science and Space)
Reference Materials - 5.1
Total Composite Score - 4.6

Abbi - also just completed 3rd grade
Reading on a 7th grade level (I was surprised (not disappointed) that this score wasn't higher)
Language Arts - 5.5
Math - 6.5
Social Studies - 5.2
Science - 6.3 (same results as Caleb)
Reference Materials - 6.5
Total Composite Score - 6.0

The twins both scored off the charts (literally) for Word Analysis, Vocabulary, and Reading Comprehension. They both struggled with the punctuation part that included apostrophes, quotations, colons and semicolons...probably because I haven't taught that yet! The boys both need help with capitalization. No surprise there.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the results. I think the kids did an OUTSTANDING job, and I know they did their very best. I'm also a bit discouraged though, looking at the National scores. Of the 65 categories the kids were tested in, Abbi scored 100% in 24 of them, Caleb scored 100% in 9 of them, and Jacob scored 100% in 14 of them. Most of their other scores were in the 80's and 90's, some were in the 70's and just a few were below that (like Listening, Capitalization, and Punctuation). The National scores are mostly in the 50's (19) and 60's (36), with a few in the 40's (or lower) and a few in the 70's (7). The highest National score is 79...on the 3rd grade test that's in Spelling, and on the 6th grade test it's in Comparing Quantities.

When the kids were taking these tests, I couldn't help but think about the episode of Little House on the Prairie when Laura Ingall's took her graduation test (at the age of what, 14?). There were no fill in the dot, multiple choice tests back then. She had to KNOW dates of history and what happened on those dates, and how to solve math equations, and how to spell. I know that my Caleb is a very poor speller (he spells phonetically), but he was able to do very well on the spelling portion of this test. Why? Well, when you read as much as we do, it's probably pretty easy given a list of 4 words to pick out the one that is spelled incorrectly. That doesn't mean if you told him to spell that word he could do it correctly. Which is just one reason I believe standardized tests don't really tell us anything. As I've said before, it's just a comparison game.

I guess this whole thing makes me very thankful for homeschooling and the assurance that I can give my children a good education at home (and seemingly a better one than the government is doing). I don't have to 'teach to the test' as I hear so many parents and teachers talk about in the school system. I can go slowly when needed and pick up the pace when the kids have mastered something quickly. I can take my time with Caleb and not push him. I can let Abbi fly through her books. I can plug along with Jacob, not getting behind, but also not doing more than needed in one school day. I'm so blessed to be a homeschooler. And I'm so thankful for families like the Berreth's, Booth's and Cobbs', who led the way for us to begin this adventure. If not for their commitment, faith and example I'm pretty positive I would not be homeschooling. And of course, I am so thankful to God for leading us here, and for supplying my every need in teaching my kids at home.

A Tribute to Homeschooling Moms

It’s May – the month that we honor mothers. As I coach homeschooling moms all over the world, I’ve come to the conclusion that you are a breed apart. For Mother’s Day, I wanted to write an article honoring the homeschooling mom; but how do I do that without sounding trite or using all the common clichés? As I pondered this, what came to mind is the following. Here is why I respect and honor you, the homeschool mom, so very much:

You slug it out, year by year, in spite of the fact that there are many days you want to give up.

You live with big messes in your home (which drives some of you nuts!) because kids and books and papers and pencils just don’t want to fall neatly into place by themselves. But you put up with it because it’s worth it to have the children learning at home.

You spend countless hours in research and study, asking questions and going to conferences to find the best curriculum for your darlings.

You give up the peace and quiet that could be yours if you sent the kiddos off on the bus every morning.

You agonize over your choices; sometimes you know you must choose to send one or all back to school, at least for the time being. But homeschooling is still your heart.

You give of yourself to your homeschooling community and help new homeschoolers get started.

You cook, clean, do laundry, answer the phone, care for your husband, walk the dog, make a meal for a neighbor, drive the kids everywhere, nurse the sick, practice hospitality, watch other people’s kids, change diapers - all while wearing the hat of primary teacher as well.

You struggle with uncertainty, high expectations, exhaustion, fear and self doubt yet you press on toward the goal and the high calling.

You lose your temper, yet you apologize. You get discouraged, yet you go on. You are disorganized, yet you make constant attempts at organization. You threaten to send them all to school, yet you love them too much to really do it.

You do so much more than the ‘average mom’ yet you don’t even realize it because it’s all part of your lifestyle and normal routine.

You love your children more than you love yourself; that’s why you do all the things you do for them - day in and day out.

You do all this (and much more) in spite of the fact that the world tells you you’re crazy and that what you really need to do is serve yourself.

And as I talk with many of you in our coaching sessions, you inspire me. You inspire me to press on and to quit complaining. You inspire me to be grateful for the wonderful blessings that God has given me in these children and in this choice to homeschool them. As you struggle to meet the challenges of your homeschool lifestyle, you encourage me to face - head on - my own challenges.

You are my heroes - every single one of you - and in this month that we honor mothers, I truly honor, respect and love all of you.

Written by Charmaine Wistad from http://www.homeschool-articles.com/.