The Year in Review

Ah, 4th grade...it's almost over. I didn't much care for it the first time around and liked it even less this go-around. What is it about 4th grade that turns people off? Apparently, it's not just me. There's a phenomenon referred to as the 4th Grade Slump wherein test scores start going down after 4th grade. It's a nationwide occurrence. What causes the drastic drop in test scores? I have a theory - long division kills brain cells. (Yes, I'm being sarcastic.) But, seriously...

I think the first year of homeschooling went better than the second. Strangely, last year, characterized by pell-mell lessons put together at the last minute, was much more fun than the meticulously planned 4th grade year we're just finishing up. I think the missing ingredient was creativity. I became so engrossed in lesson planning that I forgot the importance of throwing in a little creativity. Without even realizing I was doing so I planned it right out of our curriculum (not just once but twice this year.) Lessons focused too much on teaching facts & didn't allow any room for original thought or self expression. School became a chore for everyone at times.

In October of 3rd grade I pulled them out of public school. Homeschooling wasn't something I planned to do; circumstances kind of forced it to happen. So, there I was, saying to myself "O.k., what do I do now?" I fumbled my way along and we came through the year with flying colors. After that first year, I was confident I could do an even better job teaching them if I planned out the year ahead of time. The trouble came when I overdid it. Overplanning was a knee-jerk response to the crazy, mixed up, disorganized year we had just completed. I disliked having to scramble all year long to stay one step ahead.

I'm the kind of person who prefers to have a plan. So... after much introspection I have a new plan for the upcoming 5th grade year...find a balance.

Nifty Stuff That Happened Lately

Last week, before this wretched, hard freeze occured, the kids got the opportunity to watch a ladybug larva devour an aphid. It was primal. The kids were fascinated. Me, too.

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We discovered the little Green Lynx spiderlings that hatched out in the azalea bush next to our front door last Fall are still around. The downside to the discovery lies in the circumstances in which we learned that they're still around: I keep finding them crawling up my arm! Of course, to the kids that's a bonus considering how much they enjoy seeing me scream and jump around like a lunatic.

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K cleaned her room...all by herself...changed her sheets even...within 2 hours...and there was nothing shoved under the bed. Wow! (Now, if I could get T to do the same to his room I'd be a happy woman. Unfortunately, he insists it's an impossibility.)

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Yesterday, I found the time to search around the net & learned how to make this blog look more like I want it to. I even discovered how to make the nifty horizontal reference line above. Wow, I can change it's size and color, too. (I'm not finished with the blog yet. It's not quite looking like I envision it looking. There's more changes to be made, alot more changes, as soon as I figure out how to bring them about. (Yes, I'm incredibly behind the times when it comes to computers. When I graduated high school they were teaching Basic. Since then, I only bothered to learn rudimentary word processing & spread sheets. Better late than never, right?))

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Lastly, tonight, after a long day of CAT testing, my most wonderful husband made dinner for us just so I could have a little "me-time."

CAT Time

The CAT5 came in yesterday. E is off work for Easter break this coming week; so I asked him if he wanted to give the test. Being a teacher, he feels it's necessary to review for a couple of days before giving them the test. I say "What's the point? They either know it or they don't." I'd prefer the test was an accurate measure of what they actually know rather than how well their short term memory works. We're not quite finished with all the subjects anyway. There should be items on the test that we haven't covered yet. What good is reviewing going to do when the scores are adjusted based on the time of year that the test is taken?