Who I am...

Just more rambling from yet another homeschooling mom. I hope that I can honestly share my struggles and triumphs in this journey. I would love to inspire and encourage others, because if I can do it - so can you!!

WHAT TO EXPECT . . .

schooling, cooking, baking, studying, working, photographing, eating, writing, playing, learning, praying, loving, imagining, creating, crying, hugging, laughing, giggling, mess-making, sleeping

Another awesome giveaway, that you just better not enter!



This one is humongous!! I promise a real blog entry soon, just as soon as I stop finding all these awesome contests to enter :)

Look at this awesome fabric giveaway!

The Fabric Shoppe isgiving away a huge stack of fat quarters! Aren't they gorgeous?!

But don't enter, okay, so that I will win? Please?! Pretty Please?!!

http://the-fabric-shopper.blogspot.com/2009/06/giveaway-30-fat-quarters-katie-jump.html

Spring is here

Somehow, time has gotten away from me, and all the things I have been meaning to do keep getting pushed to the back burner. (And in our house, there is only one working back burner, so things back there take a long time to get sorted out!) I've been meaning to post on my blog more frequently, meaning to talk about our first year with COVA, meaning to talk about the end of the year at co-op, meaning to talk about the dismal behavior my children have been exhibiting as of late, etc. The list really could go on and on and on.

As of this week, we have nearly completely finished our required schoolwork for the year, and in the push to get that all finished, I have had little time to think and reflect. One of the last big things we had to finish was the Scantron exams. Ainsley took hers in Reading and Math, Liberty took hers in Math only. I was concerned because at the beginning of the year, both girls were behind in Math according to the test. I really wanted to see improvement from the beginning of the year. And I don't hang my hat on standardized testing to show us how we are doing, but I do think they can be a useful tool to help guide our focus in the year to come. Well, both girls did great and had HUGE improvements in their scores. Ainsley is reading at probably a tenth grade level. She got nearly 100% on the test. And the way the test works, it scales itself based on their answers, easing up when they answer incorrectly, advancing as they continue to answer correctly. We thought the test would never end because she kept answering correctly :) Ainsley was also below target in Math at the beginning of the year and had improved to nearly advanced in Math on this test! I know she really had an exposion of understanding in Math this year, which made her feel good, and me feel really proud! Liberty also did great in Math, only a couple of points away from advanced. Now, if only she would believe in her own ability, I think she would do even better!

So, I am glad to have seen real progress in my girls this year, not only on these test, but in their daily work. Liberty is reading so much better, and is actually beginning to enjoy reading for pleasure and outloud to her younger sister. And Melody can read almost as well as Liberty now, sounding out almost everything I put in front of her! This summer, we are going to continue to work on math and reading, though it won't be everyday. They've worked hard and deserve to play and have lots of fun. We will probably take several field trips and work on bookwork 3x a week.

In other news, my BABY has a loose tooth! I can't believe it. She is only five and a half! We were eating corn on th ecob the other night and she was having trouble, which is strange because she is usually the first to devour her corn! She was saying it was too hard to eat. Then she felt in her mouth and said, "My tooth is wiggly!" I couldn't believe it, but sure enough those two bottom teeth are wiggly, one is just about to fall out! I am not ready for this!