One of the reasons I love Disney World is that kids learn while they are having fun, without even realizing that there might just be an educational component.

Spaceship Earth at Epcot in Disney World

The Spaceship Earth attraction at Epcot is a 16-minute omnimover ride through history that “depicts the stirring story of human connection and collaboration over 40,000 years—from the dawn of recorded time to the 21st century’s Internet age.” All hype aside, I found myself seeing the connection between communication and the development of civilization in a fresh way.

For the young ones in our party, the ride provided a multi-sensory experience from the acrid smell of burning at the ancient Library of Alexandria to hearing the TV coverage of the first landing on the moon. I’m not sure how much of the history the 4-year-old absorbed, but it was obvious that she loved the ride from the smile on her face.

Even my teen wasn’t too cool to enjoy the ride, and she certainly picked up on the history lessons.  Currently, she is reading Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel for her AP World History summer assignment, and she just finished Ray Bradbury’s Farenheit 451 for Honors English.  (Methinks that it’s no coincidence that her teachers chose these books given related themes.) Well, it turns out that Ray Bradbury “helped design the geodesic sphere and pen the original story of the attraction.” At a minimum, this ride gave her food for thought regarding the role of written history and communication, and perhaps some fodder for the written assignment.

Behind the Seeds at Epcot

Although billed as being appropriate for all ages, I wasn’t sure if my kids would enjoy the Behind the Seeds at Epcot walking tour of the greenhouses at the Living with the Land attraction. There was no denying that this was an educational program. However, the agricultural facilities are so incredibly high tech, that even my hard-to-impress children were amazed. Even so, I think that the reason this program was so appealing was that there were multiple stops with hands on activities.

The tour guide, a recent graduate of a UVA botanical science program, first took us to the Biological Control Lab where she introduced the small group to beneficial pests. Some of the participants received bottles filled with lady bugs that they would later release among the crops. Along the way, we goggled at the hydroponics fields where they’re growing a wide variety of vegetables, much of which is served at resort restaurants.

The tour guide handed out instructions for The Land Hydroponic Gro-Tank so that we could try this at home.  I think we may add this project to our Homeschool Biology curriculum this year. My son will learn a little about plant biology, and we can reap the benefits with homegrown herbs in the winter.

We didn’t just see the produce, we tasted it as well as each participant received a slice of burpless cucumber.  They were sweet, but my daughter preferred to use hers for an on-the-spot facial.

Those Disney folks like to exceed expectations.  It wasn’t enough to just grow incredibly delicious cucumbers.  No, they had to do something truly unusual.  Get a load of the Mickey Mouse-shaped cucumbers:

I didn’t see one, but apparently, they also have Mickey Mouse-shaped pumpkins! Go figure.

There was more to the tour.  We saw the tanks where they “farm” alligators and many different kinds of fish, and we even fed the Tilapia. That was interesting, but not as cool as the hydroponics.

The whole tour only took an hour. We discovered a new (to us) way to grow tasty produce, and we still had plenty of time to play in the park. Definitely, a win/win!

More Disney World Education Programs in Florida:

• Tours and Experiences at Disney World
• Disney Youth Education Series
• Disney Homeschool Days (September 8-9, 2010 and January 24-25, 2011)
• Disney Land Youth Education Series (California)

Here we go again.  This year, I’m bulk mailing this form along with my Letter of Intent to Homeschool, the final 4th Grade Quarterly Report, the 4th Grade Annual Assessment, and the California Achievement Test Results.

Name: Alex

Age: 11

Grade Level: Fifth Grade

Dates for submittal of Quarterly Reports:

• September 30, 2010
• December 30, 2010
• March 31, 2011
• June 30, 2011

Individual providing instruction: Sandra Foyt

Introduction: We are creating an integrated, interest-based curriculum that evolves to reflect Alex’s interests and academic needs. This IHIP is just a snapshot of the material that we are using currently, as we are constantly adding to and revising the curriculum.

General Resources:

• New York State Education Department Curriculum and Instructional Support
• The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home. (Wise Bauer, Susan and Jessie Wise. W.W. Norton & Co., NY, 2004)

Arithmetic: We are using Singapore Math Primary Mathematics 5A & 5B to cover the math standards. Concurrently, Alex is developing speed and mastery of math facts with daily math drills. He will also participate in a weekly Math Counts program.

Reading: Alex will continue to read a wide variety of material for recreation, information, and discussion. Moreover, he reviews books on his blog, and with friends in a book club. We will also use the Great Source Daybook of Critical Reading and Writing (6^th Grade Level) to further develop reading skills.

Writing: Alex is developing writing skills through a wide variety of interdisciplinary writing projects. In November, he will take on the NaNoWriMo Young Author’s Challenge for the fourth time. Additionally, he will enroll in Creative Writing Classes. He will also complete assignments in Write Source: A Book for Writing, Thinking, and Learning, and he will learn to write Document Based Question essays.

Spelling: We are using Spelling Power, 4^th Edition.

Social Studies: We’re continuing studies of the Middle Ages with The Story of the World, Volume 2: The Middle Ages. (Wise Bauer, Susan. Peace Hill Press, 2003) We also plan to move on to Vol. 3: Early Modern Times, and we will introduce Document Based Question essays. We also hope to attend the National History Day Competition, and Alex plans to participate in the New York State Archives Student Research Competition. Additionally, we include daily viewing of CNN Student News, and occasional use of the New York Times Lesson Plans.

Science: Our focus this year is on Biology. This subject will be covered with a variety of resources, and will include a research project on medical robotics. One primary resource will be the Khan Academy Biology Videos. Additionally, we’ll cover other subjects in Science as student interest will drive much of this instruction.

Music & Art: We are exploring music history and a variety of musical genres, and plan to introduce instrument lessons. We’ll also continue to explore art history and a variety of art mediums.

Foreign Language: Introduction to Spanish.

Health Education: Mostly, we will cover these through day-to-day activities and discussion. Also, health education occurs through participation in Cub Scouts and the Tamakoce Wilderness Program.

Physical Education: Daily outdoor play, dog walks, seasonal activities (Tennis, Swimming, Hiking, Biking, Skiing, Ice Skating, Snow shoeing), and weekly Fencing lessons. This year, we will also introduce competitive sports through seasonal teams.

Technology: The National Educational Technology Standards for Students in Grades 3-5, suggests a list of activities that relate to the following indicators: Creativity and Innovation; Communication and Collaboration; Research and Information Fluency; Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making; Digital Citizenship; and Technology Operations and Concepts. We will continue to explore and use technology through instruction and production of multimedia projects.

Name: Alex

Blog Website: http://leperdy.com

Grade: 4th

Hours of instruction this quarter: 225

Arithmetic: Alex completed Singapore 4B. This quarter he covered: Congruent and Symmetric Figures; Coordinate Graphs and Changes in Quantities; Data Analysis and Probability; and Measures and Volume. He is making excellent progress in Math.

English Language Arts: Alex read several books that he discussed with his book club this quarter, including: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, Edith Pattou’s East, Rosemary Sutcliff’s The Eagle of the Ninth, Anne Ursu’s The Shadow Thieves, and Alton Brown’s I’m Just Here For The Food. He also read various history and science non-fiction books and articles in his studies, and several fiction books for fun.

Alex continues to write in his journal, and has recently initiated a personal diary blog. This quarter he completed a short fantasy novel as an assignment for a creative writing class, and is currently working on another story on his own. Additionally, he has been working on turning some of his journal entries into longer essays, with the focus being on developing editing skills.

Alex enjoys reading, and continues to develop comprehension by selecting books that push the boundaries of his abilities. Recently, he discovered that he likes to write, and I expect that his language expression will continue to blossom as he pursues this interest.

Social Studies: Moving forward chronologically in his study of the Middle Ages, Alex completed short research projects on the Saxons and the Battle of Hastings. He also viewed the interdisciplinary Silk Road exhibit at the Museum of Natural History that traces the history of science, technology, music, writing, etc. between major cities of the ancient world. These subjects are the fodder for current blog posts.

Science: Alex is curious about all kinds of science topics, and initiates learning opportunities on his own. He also enjoys watching Mythbusters, as well as the Teaching Company’s college-level Introduction to Geology that we are watching as a family. This quarter, Alex completed a unit study on Sound, the Webelo Geologist Badge, and the Herkimer Diamond Homeschool Day program on fossils, rocks and minerals, and environmental science.

Music & Art: Alex researched and wrote about the life and music of Ludwig Van Beethoven. He also attended a couple of folk music concerts, Tom Chapin at Proctor’s and Traditional Strings at the Schoharie Strawberry Festival. Additionally, he was introduced to various art mediums through museum visits and projects that were mentioned in other subjects.

Health Education: Alex completed the Cub Scout Webelo Readyman Badge which required him to learn about First Aid and home, car, and bike safety. He also developed team building skills while acquiring survival skills in the Tamakoce Wilderness Program that culminated in an overnight stay in a long house that he helped build.

Physical Education: Alex is getting daily exercise through hiking, rock climbing, biking, skateboarding, swimming, dog walks, and outdoor play. He also made excellent progress in his weekly fencing lessons

Technology: Alex is learning how to use Adobe to edit digital photos. He continues to develop technical skills on Blogger and Roblox, and Lego Mindstorm programming.

Home Instruction Annual Assessment 2010

Alex has made admirable academic progress this year. Some highlights of the year include: developing a new interest in writing that propels him to produce fiction and journal entries on his own; producing interesting and impressive novels as part of a Creative Writing Class; developing ability to participate appropriately in a young adult book club; emerging ability to shape research projects into full-fledged multimedia blog post essays; being introduced to the Math Counts program; strengthening teamwork skills through Cub Scouts, Lego League, and Wilderness Groups; and interest-led learning in a wide variety of interdisciplinary subjects.

California Achievement Test Results

Test Level: CAT Level 14 Spring 04 Norms

Composite Percentile: 91

I just created a blog box  (see the sidebar) of the most popular posts on this blog in the past year.  Some of the posts were written as far back as 2007, but they continue to garner the most attention.

Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprising, the articles about testing seem to draw in the most readers, and the greatest number of comments.

Here are the posts, in order of their popularity:

1. Taking The SCAT Test
2. Testing For Talent
3. You’ve Been Booed!
4. Assessments and the Homeschooled Student
5. Before Blogs, There Was Graffiti

What do you think?  Is it time for a follow up post on testing for gifted programs?  I haven’t even begun to describe Teen Daughter’s SAT saga!  Not to mention what she is doing with the Regents right now.

Parenting a teenager is a rocky road, but with Facebook in the mix, we’re traversing boulders.

This weekend, a classmate informed her Facebook friends that my daughter is a “fake ass hoe.” Of course, I was upset to discover this about my child and I’d thank the classmate for her advice, but I’m afraid that she might misconstrue the response. Instead, I pulled out my investigative journalism techniques (interviews, covert operations, wire tapping) to get to the bottom of these allegations.

So far, I’ve avoided writing about my daughter’s dating history. First, because I prefer to imagine that she doesn’t have a dating history.  And, well, it’s personal to her and embarrassing to me.  I never thought I’d be parenting one of those girls, you know, the kind who start dating early.

I have rules, strongly stated and enforced rules.  1. No makeup in school.  2. No camisoles without a top layer at school. 3. No dating until at least 16 years of age.

My daughter has broken all those rules.

She broke the make up rule in 7th Grade, when she tried to get away with wearing clear mascara.  I noticed, there were consequences, and there was no repeat.

The camisole rule was tested this spring when the weather turned warm, and I let it slide thinking that so near the end of middle school it wasn’t worth fighting.  In retrospect, I should’ve put a stop to it right away.  I suspect her attire may have had a lot to do with boys thinking she is a “kissing girl.”  I’m sure her behavior didn’t help.

I’m not sure when the dating started.  I’m not even sure that you can call it dating when she never spent any time with these boys outside of school. 

Sometime in late winter or early spring, I noticed that she changed her Facebook status to “In a Relationship” but I figured it was an inside joke, much like listing her friends as family members.  The boy she selected is shorter and younger, so I just didn’t think she meant it.

Well, she did.  Later on, I discovered that on a school field trip, she French Kissed that boy while sitting on a bus seat directly in front of her Social Studies teacher.  Also, she found opportunities to kiss this boy while in school. As you can imagine, I was just thrilled to hear this from my daughter.

Of course, I threw a fit.  She didn’t think there was anything wrong with this behavior, and I couldn’t convince her otherwise.  She was also under the impression that other moms would think this was perfectly acceptable behavior. I was able to recruit other moms to tell her what they really thought, but apparently she wasn’t convinced.

A few weeks later, that young man broke up with her, and I breathed a sigh of relief that we were done with this saga.

She was just getting started.  Again, she posted on Facebook that she was in a relationship with another boy, a fun-loving kid who is even younger and shorter than the previous boyfriend.  This is a boy that she had jokingly listed as her husband earlier in the year, so I thought she was joking again.

It was no joke, and at a graduation party last weekend, she kissed this boy.  Not only that, another boy kissed her as well, AT THE SAME PARTY! Oy!

I’m still trying to process this whole situation.  How could she be so casual about kissing?  Why is she dating boys who are younger than she?  And what is this tempest in a teapot on Facebook?

I attribute the casual attitude to her immaturity and media messages.  There doesn’t seem to be a single teen movie that doesn’t feature a very cavalier attitude toward teen sex.  In her unformed mind, kissing seems like no big deal by comparison. Also, I shudder to think that this kissing phase is more fashion statement, than it is a real and true emotional development as described in Playing at Sexy:

Sexual entitlement, according to Deborah Tolman, a professor at Hunter College and author of “Dilemmas of Desire: Teenage Girls Talk About Sexuality,” has instead become the latest performance, something girls act out rather than experience. “By the time they are teenagers,” she said, “the girls I talk to respond to questions about how their bodies feel — questions about sexuality or desire — by talking about how their bodies look. They will say something like, ‘I felt like I looked good.’ Looking good is not a feeling.”

Maybe she is trying to go through the motions of what she thinks teens are supposed to be doing.  And dating younger boys is probably easier than her peers since her maturity level is on par with these kids.  Although I don’t get why such young, immature kids would even want to kiss.  They’re still trading Silly Bandz and silly jokes, so why do they have to trade saliva too?

Total Drama Action On Facebook

When I read her classmate’s Facebook post, I asked my daughter about the accusation.  Teen Daughter replied that the classmate was just being mean for no reason, and that she and her friends had blocked and reported her on Facebook.

I didn’t buy the “no reason” excuse, especially after reading the FB conversations alluding to an incident at the party (but no details.)  Teen Daughter tried to get me to believe that the incident was just her hugging a friend who was not her boyfriend, and I was gullible enough to believe her.

I sent her to bed with a hug, fully intending to drop the whole thing.  I even posted a FB reply to one of her friends who demanded to know why Teen Daughter wasn’t responding, letting her know that she had gone to bed and would be busy the next day studying for Regents exams. After that, I didn’t see anything new posted on her FB wall.  End of story, right?

A little while later, I went in to check on Teen Daughter, thinking to stroke her hair and give her a kiss.  Just a little late night reassurance that I love her, no matter what.  Instead, I found her texting her friend and her boyfriend via Facebook Chat.  That’s when I got the full scoop, and way more detail than I wanted, on all the kissing that took place at the graduation party.

What have we learned from this experience?

I’m glad that I befriended some of my daughter’s friends on Facebook, otherwise I wouldn’t have known about these brewing issues. It’s prompted my husband and I to have another frank conversation with my daughter and to raise the stakes.

Previously, when we had discussed dating and kissing, Teen Daughter sugar coated her accounts. Seeing the chat threads on Facebook, in all their unvarnished glory, was a different animal altogether.

As a result, my husband initiated phone calls to the parents of the two boys who participated in the kissing, not to accuse them, but to apologize for our daughter’s behavior.  Partly, this was so that the parents would know what’s going on with their children.  However, this also sends a clear message to our daughter that we do not condone these actions.  (Teen Selective Hearing – We had told her that she shouldn’t be kissing boys or dating yet after the first incident, but she actually told us that we never said so.)

We also told her to call her “boyfriend” to tell him that she can’t be in a relationship as she is too young to date.

Additionally, we’re giving Teen Daughter a break from social media.  We told her that she is welcome to call her friends on the phone, but she needs a little time to reflect. What I didn’t tell her is that I’m concerned about the feedback that is getting from friends.  At least one of her friends is urging her to pursue being in a relationship, to the extent that they are encouraging her to lie about breaking up.

It’s as if they are living vicariously through Teen Daughter’s experiences, creating a drama for their amusement and entertainment.

Meanwhile, the “boyfriend” has changed his Facebook relationship status to: “It’s complicated.”  I’d say that pretty much sums up our teen parenting relationship too.

Homeschooling is all about being open to possibilities.  Never setting boundaries to the imagination or to expectations.  This young lady embodies the limitless potential that is the homeschool experience. Kudos to her, and her family.

I’ve been trying to figure out the rules regarding homeschool assessments for the three years that we’ve been homeschooling.  Last year, I thought I had it figured out when I wrote Assessments and the Homeschooled Student.  And I did, but I left a couple of items unclear.

Although I stated:

However, on alternate years, homeschooled students in Grades 4-8 can submit a narrative instead of an assessment test.  Thus, a homeschooled student can postpone taking a standardized test until 5th Grade.

It would have been more clear to say, as described in a post on the Families Unschooling In NY Yahoo group forum:

1.) Testing is required every other year in grades 5-8 (so you can choose
either grades 5 and 7 OR grades 4, 6 and and every year from 9th grade
until your child “ages out.”

Here is the rest of that entry as I think she does an excellent job of elucidating a very murky topic:

2.) These testing requirements were established in 1988, when the NYS
Regulations on Home Instruction went into effect. There has been no change.
(What sometimes confuses people is that they think that since kids in public
school now have to be tested starting in 3rd grade, because of the federal
No Child Left Behind Act, our kids do, too – this is not true, because NCLB
doesn’t apply to homeschoolers. Also, people tend to think that the “every
other year” thing means that testing has to start in 4th grade, but it’s
really 5th.)
3.) There are more tests to choose from than the two you mentioned.
Acceptable tests are listed both in the Regulations and in a list of
“Additional Approved Tests” (that is, tests that the NYSED approved after
the Regs went into effect). Also, recently the NYSED confirmed to my group,
PAHSI (Partnership for Accurate Homeschooling Information) that the NYSED no
longer reviews tests to consider approving them, but leaves that up to the
local authorities, so there might be other tests to choose from depending on
where you live.
For example, the NYC Central Office of Homeschooling will now accept scores
from the (college-admissions) SAT (I say “college-admissions” because
there’s another SAT, too – the Stanford Achievement Test), the PSAT and the
ACT. (But there are nuances on the scoring, so if anyone wants to use one of
these, please say so and I’ll post details.)
4.) The tests that seem to be the most popular among parents (the PASS and
the short version of the CAT) only cover Math, Reading and Language, so you
don’t have to worry about “content” in areas like science and history.
5.) If your child doesn’t meet the cutoff score, the 33rd percentile (that
is, better than the bottom third of kids in his/her grade nationwide,
however schooled), you can use what many of us call the “growth option”
instead (that is, show “one academic year of growth” since a test taken the
previous year or earlier in the same year) – as long as you have an earlier
score to compare the most recent one to. (The “growth option” is why some of
us choose to test in 4th grade even though we don’t have to – to get a
baseline score to keep in our back pockets in case we need it later.)
6.) What matters is the composite score (the average of the scores on the
various sections), so a high score on one section (for example, Reading) can
buoy a low score/s on the other section/s. (For example, this year my son
took the PASS and scored at the 97th percentile in Reading, the 42nd in
Language and the 12th in Math – making him theoretically a perfectly and
precisely “average child” with a composite score at the 50th percentile -
well above the 33rd percentile cutoff.)
7.) The PASS test is untimed. (On the other hand, one version of the CAT is
shorter than the PASS – you get to choose whether untimed or short is likely
to work better for your child.)
8.) Most unschooled kids do fine without any test prep. If you think your
kid might not, you can always test early in the year in order to have time
to think about your options after you get the score.
9.) You can re-test as many times as the testing companies allow you to
order the test/s (sometimes you have to wait a certain number of months
before reordering the same test from the same company).
10.) The rest of the paperwork is also not as daunting as you might think.
Not sure I covered everything I meant to. Ask for more details if you want,
or check the archives. You still have years before you have to worry about
it – wait, I mean before you DON’T have to worry about it! Testing in the
end is really no big deal for most families. (For those rare families in
which it is, rethinking the grade level you put on the IHIP and seeking
testing accommodations for professionally-identified “special needs” may be
options.)

Got it?  It really isn’t that hard to figure out, but the bottom line is that you have many options for homeschool assessments and the challenge is to discover which works best for you and your child. 

This year, my son took the CAT because it’s short (less than two hours) and it was so easy that he was done with the whole thing in about half of the time allotted.  Since he is in 4th Grade, we could’ve waited another year to start the testing sequence, but I was curious. Other than satisfying my curiosity, the test isn’t doing much for us. I found that administering free, downloadable New York State tests was much more helpful for determining how he is doing in various content areas. By the way, If you want a good laugh, you should take a look at the 4th Grade Science Test.  I think any Kindergartner who watches the Magic School Bus can pass that test with flying colors.

So, this is what is working for us right now, we’ll worry about next year when we get there.

“Today, even the idiots have college degrees. And the idiots have seniority.” Joe Queenan, Wall Street Journal

America’s youth is digging itself deep into debt funding college educations, but is it worth it? 

In the Wall Street Journal, Joe Queenan paints a gloomy portrait:

Over the next few weeks, hundreds of thousands of Millennials will graduate from institutions of higher learning. They will celebrate for several days, perhaps several weeks. Then they will enter a labor force that neither wants nor needs them. They will enter an economy where roughly 17% of people aged 20 through 24 do not have a job, and where two million college graduates are unemployed. They will enter a world where they will compete tooth and nail for jobs as waitresses, pizza delivery men, file clerks, bouncers, trainee busboys, assistant baristas, interns at bodegas.

As they struggle to dig out of this morass, today’s graduates may never catch up with their parent’s generation. Queenan adds:

There are three formidable obstacles confronting college graduates today. One, the economy, though improving at a glacial pace, is still a wreck. There are no jobs, and the jobs that do exist aren’t the kinds anyone in his right mind would have spent $100,000 to $200,000 to land. Two, nothing in most middle-class kids’ lives has prepared them emotionally for the world they are about to enter. Three, the legacy costs that society has imposed on young people will be a millstone around their necks for decades. Who’s going to pay for the health care bill? Gen Y. Who’s going to pay off the federal deficit? Gen Y. Who’s going to fund all those cops’ and teachers’ and firemen’s pensions? Gen Y. Who’s going to support Baby Boomers as they suck the Social Security System dry while wheezing around Tuscany? Gen Y.

The prescription: save $200,000 and skip college. Jacques Steinberg argues that many students spend a six or more years on college tuition, with nothing to show for that expense.

The idea that four years of higher education will translate into a better job, higher earnings and a happier life — a refrain sure to be repeated this month at graduation ceremonies across the country — has been pounded into the heads of schoolchildren, parents and educators. But there’s an underside to that conventional wisdom. Perhaps no more than half of those who began a four-year bachelor’s degree program in the fall of 2006 will get that degree within six years, according to the latest projections from the Department of Education. (The figures don’t include transfer students, who aren’t tracked.)

For college students who ranked among the bottom quarter of their high school classes, the numbers are even more stark: 80 percent will probably never get a bachelor’s degree or even a two-year associate’s degree.

That can be a lot of tuition to pay, without a degree to show for it.

And, demand is rising for many jobs that don’t even require a 4-year college degree:

But this growth is expected to be dwarfed by the need for registered nurses, home health aides, customer service representatives and store clerks. None of those jobs require a bachelor’s degree.

Given the rise of college courses online, isn’t it time to question the value of a brick and mortar 4-year college education?

This is our third Home Instruction Quarterly Report for the 2009-2010 academic year that I just emailed to my school district today, just a tad late.  On the accompanying email, I advised the school district that I would administer the California Achievement Test later this month.

I could have waited until 5th Grade to start the assessment tests that are required thereafter on alternating years, but I like to use these tests to see how Alex is doing in Math and English.  As part of the process, I have him take past year New York State assessments that are found online.  Last year, I discovered that Alex needed to review a couple of math subjects.  This year, I noticed that he needs to practice writing reviews that include supporting details drawn from the reading sample.  Not a big deal, but it is helpful feedback as we move forward with his education.

Home Instruction Quarterly Report, III – March 31, 2010

Alex, 4th Grade, Blog Website: http://leperdy.com

Hours of instruction this quarter: 225

Arithmetic: Alex completed the Singapore 4B Units on Decimals and The Four Operations of Decimals, and he continues to practice math facts. He is making good progress in Math.

English Language Arts:

Alex read several books that he discussed with his book club this quarter, including: Terry Pratchett’s Nation and The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, Allegra Goodman’s The Other Side of the Island, East by Edith Pattou, and Nancy Farmer’s Sea of Trolls trilogy. Additionally, he read various history and science non-fiction sources as part of research projects. Alex’s reading comprehension is progressing nicely, and he reads well above grade level.

Alex continues to write often in his journal, and he completes weekly exercises in Grammar and Spelling. During this quarter, he completed a long-term research project about medieval castles.

Alex is making excellent progress in developing English Language skills.

Social Studies: Much of this quarter was spent on a long-term research project on medieval castles that Alex presented at the Bell Top School Education Fair. Additionally, Alex researched and wrote about Viking history.

Science: Alex attended a few science programs: The Art of Science at CMOST, Engineering Day at RPI, and an introduction to physics lecture by Union College professor, Chad Orzel, who recently published Physics For Dogs. He also read about Charles Darwin, and attended a couple of presentations at the NY State Museum exploring food and evolution.

Music: Alex is reading and listening to A Young Person’s Guide to Music by Neil Ardley with Music by Poul Ruders.

The Arts: After learning about castle architecture and basic engineering use of scale and measurements, Alex built a sugar cube castle. He also continued investigations of interdisciplinary connections between science and art. Alex also attended a couple of theatrical programs: NYSTI’s production of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, and a simulcast musical production of Nation.

Health Education: Alex completed the Cub Scouts Webelo Fitness badge which required him to learn about healthy eating and avoiding risky behavior such as alcohol, tobacco, and drug use.

Physical Education: Alex is getting daily exercise through hiking, dog walks, and outdoor play. He also made good progress in his weekly riding and fencing lessons

Technology: Alex participated in a video game market research survey where he was able to observe video game production. He continues to develop technical skills on Blogger and Roblox, and Lego Mindstorm programming.

A few years back, I admiringly told a friend that I would never be able to match her texting speed, and that I didn’t even want to try.  She said, “Just wait and see what happens when your kids enter high school.”

My kids aren’t in high school just yet, and I’ve been able to avoid the texting craze up to now.  When my daughter was into IMing, I looked over her shoulder, but didn’t try it myself.  Later, I turned off text chat on Facebook and simply ignored the texting feature on my phone.

Why bother learning to text, I thought, since I’ll never be fast enough to keep up with my kids?  No one else was into texting.

Well, I’m eating my words now as my oldest is away for a week in Philadelphia with her 8th Grade class.  Turns out, the only way to get a fast reply without interrupting what she is doing with her friends is to send a text.

My wise friend was right, I’m not too old to learn how to text.  Watch out world, my fingers are doing the talking.