Plugging Along

BAREFOOT BALLERINA: Annabelle had yet another special dance camp today. It was a morning session. She showered, dressed, and I handed her her backpack with her ballet shoes in it. We were good to go. Except ...

For whatever reason, as we were about three blocks away from the studio I asked, "Do you have your bag?"

Yeah, well I knew the answer before I finished asking the question. Aaaaaaargh! We turn around, head back over and down the hill to our place. The kids waited in the car in the alley while I ran in the house to fetch the bag. I fully expected to find it - on the couch, on one of our tables, on a desk, on the floor, in the kitchen, or even the bathroom. But no. It was nowhere to be seen.

So I tear back out to the alley and hop into the car hopping mad. Super - now we're headed to ballet without shoes AND we're late. That's awesome.

Fortunately, the teacher keeps a box of "borrow" shoes (we always contribute to it when Annabelle outgrows her current pair). So, we crammed Annabelle's feet into a little-too-small pair of used shoes and off she went.

(For those wondering, the ballet shoes bag was finally located 3 hours later. It was behind the TV in the kids' room, where Annabelle tucked it when she was putting pennies in their piggy bank.)

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH: While Annabelle was getting her Nutcracker on, I was administering an online reading/language arts test to CJ. Such fun!! :)

We were doing it as part of our recent enrollment in the Accelerated Reader program. (Administered by Renaissance Learning, it's supposed to "make essential reading practice more effective for every student, personalize reading practice to each student’s current level" and "provide frequent progress monitoring and produce the greatest reading improvement." Hmm. We'll see. But back to the test. ...

CJ was put off by it IMMEDIATELY - I mean from the very first glimpse of the welcome screen. "Why does she have three fingers?" he asked of the cartoon "host." Ah, leave it to CJ to sweat the small stuff. :)

And CJ was horrified when the three-fingered host informed him this would be a timed test. You see, CLOCKS ARE THE DEVIL. Believe me, I said everything I could think of to assuage his fears, but I could tell he was freaked out for the duration of the event. (Note to self: I need to start putting a timer/hour glass on him even during mundane household tasks to desensitize him to the EVIL CLOCK.)

Somehow, he soldiered through the STAR Early Literacy Assessment (dunno what the STAR is an acronym for), and he scored an 884 out of 900, which earned him the title of "probable reader," which was their highest category (anyone in the 775-900 range is a 'probable reader'). I found that a bit odd since he scored a 98.2 in accuracy and wouldn't have been able to take the test at ALL if he couldn't read. (An aside - this experience reminds me a) how I don't really like labels and b) how wonky standardized tests can be.)

Next up was a reading test. Frankly, I thought it was super hard for a second grader. There were lots of Big Words that I know for a fact Mr. CJ hasn't used before. I didn't give him answers, I swear!, but as he started I reminded him that on tests with unfamiliar material, often a process of elimination is your best friend. I think that advice helped. The STAR Reading computer-adaptive reading test he took shows him as having a GE (grade equivalent) of 6.3. "With a PR (percentile rank) of 99, Christian reads at a level greater than 99% of other students nationally in the same grade." Go CJ. :)

Later in the afternoon, Annabelle took her test. For whatever reason, it was waaaaay easier than the one CJ took. (I'll have to ask the folks at the Home Education Exchange if each of their tests was set up assuming them to be a certain grade level.) Bee was practically rolling her eyes at some points. On one question she was to select the picture that looked the most like cheese. "Well that's obvious. This one IS cheese," she said, picking the wedge of Swiss.

On the STAR Early Literacy test Annabelle scored 887 out of 900, which earns her the silly "probable reader" label. Gee, ya think? She's been reading since she was 3. ... The STAR Reading test labels her at the GE (grade equivalent) of 4.4. I wonder what the test's max GE was.

Now that we've done our pre-testing, I'm not quite sure what exactly happens next in the Accelerated Reader program. I believe they have to read a book and then when they're done they have to take a quiz and pass it to earn points. And I do know the kids want to get cracking on it, because at HEE they have a case of prizes for kids who have earned a certain amount of AR points.

GIVE A HOOT: As she was pulling on a t-shirt with his image, Annabelle asked, "Why did they make Woodsy Owl?" I told her because I figured they created the character because they thought kids would like it and they were trying to encourage kids to think about the environment and not polluting. Then I started wondering who "they" was. I thought it was the US Forestry Service. I was right. Woodsy even has his own Web page these days. It's a nice site - there's a great educator's toolbox I'll be using in the future, without a doubt. ARMY AMASSING: After dance class today, Annabelle presented CJ with the Nutcracker that was the take away gift from the class. He was Quite Pleased to have a new soldier in his Nutcracker army. He spends time every day creating storylines using his Nutcrackers, lining them up and giving them marching orders (so to speak). OH MY STARS!: A few days ago I discovered this super cool YouTube video about mathematical doodlings. I knew I wanted to show it with the kids and today finally made the time.

Ahead of time, we talked about what doodling is, and I told them the video was made by a girl who loves math and it shows how fun math can be. I had them sit at a desk with pencils and blank paper and we played along with the video, pausing it as we needed to.

I love this video for so many reasons (math = art, girls can be great at math, it gets the kids used to the idea of using letters [in this case Ps and Qs] while doing math, etc.).


It wasn't super easy for the kids to draw all the circles and points and lines, but they got better at it as we did more.

OH AND: Annabelle had soccer today. While she did her thing, we ran 'round Magnolia.
Near the end of class the teacher/coach announced they'd be playing a game called "Pong."

"Ah, a CLASSIC," responded Annabelle, who, by osmosis, knows all about vintage arcade games.

In the soccer class version, the kids were the paddles and they tried to kick the ball back and forth.