Iowa Test Results

Niles' testing results came back & he did just fine. He came in w/in normal 3rd grade levels. Some areas lower, some areas higher than average. I knew his week point was math, so that wasn't a surprise. He hates doing it, the testing was no different. :)

Glad to know that he's right on track. This year, I hope to move a little further ahead of that, since I've know what to expect & where to focus my attention on.

Official School Start Date?

So I've been asked recently when do my homeschool kids start school? We've not had a formal set up this summer, although we have done educational things. But I have set an official start date of August 10th, simply because for counting purposes, I am required to have 180 instructional days per each year for the boys. You have to start somewhere!

Lesson plans are being drawn up, curriculum prepared & chocolate hidden for Mom's sanity! LOL! Both boys got into the co-operative I wanted them in, so each Thursday afternoon, they will get 2 classes taught by someone other than me. I will take a turn doing a class at some point, so they may have me, depending on what the other options are. The nice thing is that they are also in separate age groups. So they will have some space to be themselves & not rely on each other. Niles got the opportunity to meet one of the other boys already, who was in the Apple Camp w/him. This begins in September. Luca is also in a Kinder Co-op, which is just Kindergarteners, which starts at the end of the month.

The problem isn't so much that home schooled children aren't socialized. I'm finding that the problem is to not overschedule! Park dates, book clubs, co-operatives, oh my!!

Survival Camp Week

This past week at Lee Brothers, the theme was survival camp. The boys LOVED it. The man who designed the Warthog & Apache helicopters came in to talk to them. He brought a part of a propeller blade, other helicopter parts & videos to show. Then, they also had a US Army sergeant come in & talk to them about boot camp, being in the Army, etc. Niles was in heaven! He told us all about it, the types of weapons they use, what he thinks he would use, etc. I am not unconvinced that we don't have a future soldier on our hands. The breaker may be - he'd have to get his hair cut! Hope you enjoy the pictures from Friday's presentation! They were taken w/my Iphone, so they tend to capture things moving in weird ways.