Homeschooling is going well.  Kaitrinn and I have had our power struggles, but we’re definitely off to a good start.  I’ve been happy with our progress so far.  Her favorite subjects are currently History and Science.  Therefore, those are saved for after all the other subjects each day.  *laugh*  I have to give her some motivation to work through the other subjects first.  Here are some pics from her recent work.

We’ve been homeschooling for about two weeks now.  Kaitrinn is definitely enjoying it (as am I of course).  We’ve started off with History, Writing, and Math mainly but I’ll be bringing the other subjects in soon.  She’s really excited about being able to move at a different pace and offering feedback on some of the topics we explore.  I had her do the Woodcock-Johnson assessment last week ( an annual legal requirement to homeschool in NC).  I was quite surprised when the administrator gave me the results.  Kaitrinn is testing at 4th and 5th grade level for reading and writing.  She scored about halfway through 3rd grade for Math.  I knew she was going to be ahead of 2nd grade (what we just pulled her from), but I wasn’t expecting THAT much of a difference.  We’re very proud of her and the results have me scrambling to review some of our curriculum choices.  I’m glad I hadn’t purchased it all already!  *laugh*

Shealyn often joins us at the table for a little while and works on her “school papers”.  I’ll start focusing on Kindergarten curriculum with her later this Fall.  I think they will enjoy this journey together.

Kaitrinn returned home from school yesterday with several stains across her shirt and skort.  Louie asked, “What happened to your shirt?”  Kaitrinn looked down sheepishly and simply replied, “Cheeseburger.”  We then got this detailed explanation of how you can’t just tear open the little packets of mustard.  You have to poke at it with a fork until it opens, but be careful because it might squirt at you instead.  Hmmmm… seems she must have poked at several packets as not only were there splotches across all of her clothes, but there was quarter-sized patch of clearly yellow hair in her bangs as well.  Gee, I hate it when cheeseburger happens!

The girls were at a swim lesson the other day.  It was the last of a session so their coach was handing them certificates documenting the goals they had met.  Kaitrinn’s was covered with a list about how she was starting to swim on her own, was now going into the deep end, and could put her face under water (FINALLY!!!).  Shealyn’s was a bit more ’simple’ to put it tactfully.  It was a list of things like kicking harder and faster, “swimming” at the steps, and having fun.  Well Shealyn was beaming ear to ear and she proudly ran off with her certificate in hand.  Kaitrinn watched her leave, turned to the coach, and stated, “My goals may be harder and there are more of them, but that doesn’t mean they are any better than hers.”  Damn right kid!  I just blinked and asked the coach for confirmation of what I thought I had heard.  Lol… Looks like we’ve taught her well.

Okay.. so today was Kaitrinn’s first day of school. We just spent the past hour talking about her day and calling family to tell them about the new First-Grader. I then got an email from a friend to tell us Kaitrinn is in the news! Excuse me? Lol… Check out the link

Edit on July 11- There is a second picture of her here.  It’s #8 in the slideshow.  Silly Girl!

Okay so I finally convinced Kaitrinn to write in the journal Da made her for Christmas…. She had originally ’saved’ it because she already was writing in a journal daily at school. Why have two? I slipped it into her art supply stash the other day and was happy to see her tackle it. So what did she write? “I’m exsided that I’m going to ferst grade! It’s going to be fun.” Now why am I not surprised that this is what is on her mind? Lol… returning to school is all she talks about right now.

Kaitrinn informed me the other day that she is ‘done with Kindergarten.’ Apparently, she is bored and ready for First Grade. Silly girl! I told her to enjoy the last two weeks and First Grade will be waiting for her when it’s time. She has really done very well all year at school. She performs at above grade level in all areas and is quite the little bookworm! We have a hard time keeping up with her at times… keeping her challenged. A bored Kaitrinn is not a pretty sight! Lol

Kaitrinn and I spent time at Urgent Care yesterday. She started complaining about her ear hurting her again and I about lost it. She has had more ear infections in the last 6 months than in the previous 5+ yrs! The Dr. said her ears were actually clear but he suspected Strep Throat instead. Gee…. I would have rather it been another ear infection!! Argh… the culture test confirmed strep and we headed off to get an antibiotic.

Apparently, Gavin is the safest in the house at the moment as it doesn’t really infect children under 2. I wasn’t aware of that but if the Dr. and the nurse line at my peds agree, who am I to argue I guess. Now we just get to keep a close eye on Shealyn as well because she is likely to get it soon. That will really throw her Diabetes for a loop so I’m hoping we can avoid it!

Kaitrinn had a hard time understanding how ‘throat germs’ could make her ears hurt so that of course led to a science lesson at the pharmacy as to how it’s all connected. Lol

“I noticed at lunch that my tooth was bleeding and wiggly, so I went to mama [after school] and showed her. Mama tried to take it out, but couldn’t grab it, so daddy tried and IT WORKED!!!”

“Here I am! It was bleeding just a little, but it didn’t hurt.”

Louie and I recently went to a parent-teacher conference at Kaitrinn’s school. We knew she was advanced in several areas, but didn’t quite expect the results we were given. Lol! She’s actually reading at a 2nd grade level, but is currently rated at a level that puts her near the end of First Grade. She devours chapter books. She doesn’t like to ‘retell’ the story or explain the author’s message etc, so she will remain at a lower level until she is more comfortable with it. When asked, she explains that she gets nervous because the teacher is taking notes and writing down what she says. Oh Lord… is that all? Get over it and show what you know girl! =) When we explained that the faster she improves on that, the faster she will be given more challenging books, she was on board!

She is performing above grade level in Writing and Math as well. The teacher said she has no concerns- academically, socially, or emotionally. Sounds like a good report card to me! Kaitrinn is excited about heading into First Grade soon and we’re thankful her teacher continues to find ways to challenge her. Kaitrinn would be the type to cause problems as soon as ‘bored’ and we don’t want her to lose her love for learning.