Worrier Wart

This is not our first year. I swear by it. You'd never know it because of all the worrying I do. Is Candice behind? Is Lana learning enough? Do we need 20 sets of Ten Base? Lately though it has been about our first time with End Of The Year Assessment/Testing. VERY stressful! I know Ill look back next year and say " What the heck was I so worried about? " but right now Im worried! im freaking out!
I thought we would do the portfolio and we are but then I wonder what her "ability" is? I wonder how my teacher looking over it will see things (Thank you catherine!). I wonder if i need a 2nd opinion? Then I thought, maybe I should do the IOWA test so I know WHERE Candice is? Should we move on to 2nd grade? Go back to Kindergarten? The problem is the slow progress. Im not going to lie, we dont do school every day 9-3 BUT we also dont skip days on end and never learn anything. Candice does not know how to skip count, which would be covered on the IOWA.
So what do I do? I have no idea! I have to do something. I am leaning towards doing the portfolio and testing her but testing her to just see where she is and not worry about it. If she flunks it, then she does. If she surpasses my expectations, than great! Im not turning in the results. Of course I want the results to say shes at LEAST on level 1.7 (which is the max level for the test shed take) but in my heart Im not sure. Id honestly say 1.1-1.5 if i had to bet money on it. Only because I think she will actually do better on the reading than math. 1.5 for reading and 1.1 (or lower) for Math. It goes as low as K.7).

Group!

There are a few moms at MOPS that Homeschool and after talking to 2 friends at a Book Study, i thought of starting a small group. Even if moms come and we talk about the weather (or make a lesson, haha) then thats ok with me. Im pretty excited actually! Plus I LOVE to host things at my house. (Even though its an absolute ZOO here!).

In Homeschooling news... We are making slow progress here. Reading is slow but everything else is zooming by. Lana is still at a break. It was just to hectic. She does sit in on lessons and we do little lessons but nothing from her R&S. The Convention is coming up and it would be a waste to go because we cant buy anything. I do want to go though! Just for the fellowship.

Pass the blessing

I had homeschool curriculum up for sale but it didnt sell. It just sat around here collecting dust (perhaps the Supply Monster had a part in it?). I decided to just give it away. I posted it on my local Homeschool Groups website and Jennifer emailed me. We met up today and Im so glad I could bless her! I hope you can use what i gave you!
and in the same thoughts, here are a few resources I know for FREE curriculum help:

RainbowResource.com (they will give you a scholarship- search their site for scholarship). I applied and got $500.

thebooksamaritan.com (you apply for what you need and they will send it to you). I applied and they sent misc curriculum.

Thats all that i know for now but i know CHEAP would be Craigslist, Freecycle and even a local Homeschool Group.

The monster who steals supplies!

I cannot imagine a teacher with 28 students how many supplies they go through! Parents must get so frustrated to buy 20 boxes of crayons, as well as 10 more half way through the year! I can relate. I only homeschool 2 children and yet we are constantly missing supplies! Where did the extra glue stick go or how is the blue marker missing? I have no idea. I think there is a monster and he eats them. Thats the only explanation I can come up with. Perhaps the dust bunnies are friends with him and they have a feast?
It doesnt seem to matter if we only have 1 box of supplies or a china cabinet full (which we have), there is something missing. I do what most parents do though, I buy more in hopes of fixing the problem. Then that stubborn monster pops up again and I have to keep buying more. Its never the same thing either. He never eats 2 blue markers in a row. Sometimes he tricks me and completely eats the container but most times hes very selective. Most recently its 2 blocks of our 10 bases for Math. Now why he'd choose those and not something more appealing I dont know. I think he wants the girls to count to 98 rather than 100. Maybe 98 is a better number?

Until this magic monster is found (who by the way is WANTED) I will just have to keep buying supplies. Who ever said its cheaper when Homeschooling must not have this guy at his house.

What are your gifts?

I was at Chick Fil A recently and while eating my food I overheard 2 mothers talking about their children. They were commenting how their children were "gifted" and one made the comment how schools are cutting those programs but they dont cut the "Special Needs" programs and thats not fair. I wanted to jump in and say something but I didnt.

While they have a point, they also dont see the picture. Special Needs children need more help. They need one on one, smaller classrooms, extra materials, etc. Gifted children excel, they dont need the extra help. They need attention but not help. Cutting Gifted may not be fair but it does not deny the child help as it does with Special Needs. SN would possibly have to go to another school if one cut it out or the school might have to leave the child in a normal setting but with a helper.

What exactly makes someone gifted anyway? These mothers said their preschoolers were doing 1st and 2nd grade work. A friend of mine has a grandchild who is in 2nd grade but reading at 6th grade. Myself, I have a 6yr old doing 2nd grade......are any of our children truly gifted then? Are we just on parr and we feel by society they are gifted? Does it even matter in the end?

There was a man in my graduating class. Jared. He has NEVER missed a day of school. He was in Enrichment classes, even in grade school. Everyone wanted to be on his team when we grouped up and everyone wanted to cheat off his homework. He was valedictorian. He went on to the Military. Now where is this gifted man? He is still in the Military. Nope, not a CEO. Not a famous novelist or scientist.

Being SN or Gifted doesnt make you who you are. 

Write me a letter and read me a word

We started Cursive writing. It was rough, very rough at first. We took a break and started back up. It is much better now but slow. Slower than a snail but moving along. I want Candice to make sure she does each letter correctly before we move on to the next. Right now she seems to get the circle down for A but then misses the tail or vice versa.

I have also noticed Candice is reading better. She can now read words (short) randomly. If only we could get there with counting! We were out at Lances eye appointment and she read LAB. Im very proud of her.

We have been under way with Scouts. Cookie sales just ended and Candice sold just about 50 boxes. She is very excited. We also started Ballet again. We even went to see the Cincinnati Ballet down by Music Hall. Ill have to post the pictures I have. I thought it was informative and nice but Candice wasnt a huge fan, which surprised me.

Testing 1,2,3.

Candice got a 47/48 on her Reading test and 10/12 on her Spelling test. She also got 100% on her Math test. Im very proud of her. The mistakes that she did make were simple ones (IE: forgot an extra L or didnt read the correct word). Seeing that she remembers what we do is whats important and Im glad she is remembering! She has stayed consistent with these scores, which is even better.

On another note yesterday I was fighting what I think was the flu so we skipped lessons. The girls watched TV (i know, i know, NOT educational or good). Candice came out after Dinosaur Train and said " Mommy, Did you know we just watched lessons?" and I asked how (i knew but i wanted to see what shed say). She said that they learn about Dinosaurs and thats lessons. :) Ever my smart girl.
Also, Lance broke his hand so Candice has been full of questions about that. How it fixes itself and what the XRay shows. Yet i was worried about not having a Health Curriculum. ;)