I was thinking today that maybe I should change this to a rant blog..... Not that it is my intention to always rant about the little things that annoy me and cause me dismay, but it seems that is what I have been doing lately. Reminder to self....come here to blog about the wonderful things also.....
With that said there was an event that happened on the fourth just fifteen minutes from us. You can find the story here, http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_071207_news_amber_alert_death.6d4192ee.html. Seems that a 12 year old girl's father asked her to go get her siblings from the house while the family was enjoying fireworks and she was snatched while in the ally that runs to her home. Her body was found less than a week later. Scary stuff and my heart goes out to her parents. At times I wonder if I keep my children too close to me, if it is good for them or if I am being overzealous about protecting them. Then something likes this reminds me that it is my obligation to protect my children and at all times do what is best for them. I count my blessings every day and that includes my children being safely at home with me.
Secondly, in my endeavor to be learned about the choices I am making on behalf of my children I have found this article. Some anti- immunizers can come off as radical or somewhat of a crackpot. Here is one who knows his stuff and presents it in an educated manner. At the same time he recognizes the benefits of some immunizations and has offered an immunization schedule that even I can almost live with. It calls for no immunizations under the age of 2, no immunizations that contain live viruses or mercury, and Pertussis (acellular, not whole), Diptheria, Tetanus and Polio be given starting at age two, every six months, one at a time. Hmm......that may be acceptable :) Find the whole article here http://www.lewrockwell.com/miller/miller15.html
I have decided that I hold a greater and deeper respect for individuals whose choices run counter to communities dictates. For instance with both homeschooling and deciding to not immunize our children I have found that those people who have made the same choices I have are really quite learned on the subjects and have investigated in depth. In contrast, those that I get objection and flak from have often not researched or studied their opinion very well. Seems they just follow the crowd without asking questions because in our society you are not encouraged to ever think for yourself and much less research a topic to find your own opinion. Nope, much easier to just pick the popular thought and jump on the bandwagon. Then if something happens you are not to blame, the school is, or the Dr. is. but you have succesfully absolved your responsibilitie by following along.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
The results are in................
According to Washington state law regarding Homeschooling, all children must either be tested or assessed by a licensed teacher each school year. Well, my views on testing have already been expressed, so as you can guesse we choose to have Seri assessed. A certified teacher came over to the house and in a seperate room evaluated and tested Seri using materials I had no knowledge of.
I was once told that one should not debate over issues or points of view with others who are just as passionate about opposing views, instead they told me to "Lt the excellence of your work be your protest".
Seri is definetly the "excellence of my work". Since I have nothing to hide from either those who oppose or support my views here is her assessment in it's complete form.
Serenitie Olson, Grade 5
students become proficient using non-negative rational numbers to solve problems. Fifth graders demonstrate an understanding of the concepts of divisibility including prime and composite numbers, fractions, and multiples. They apply procedures to measure a variety of geometric figures and collect, display, and interpret data. Students develop understanding of the likelihood of simple events and possible outcomes of simple experiments. They solve problems involving area and perimeter and further develop algebraic sense by using variables to write expressions and equations that represent familiar situations. They continue to check for reasonableness of answers. Students define problems by identifying questions to be answered when information is missing or extraneous and what is known and unknown in familiar situations.
EALR 1: The student understands and applies the concepts and procedures of mathematics.
1. Number sense – Serenity has mastered the concepts in number sense. These include understanding of decimal representation and their relative values, adding and subtracting like-denominator fractions, multiplying and dividing whole numbers, and estimation strategies. She has developed a strong foundation in number sense. She was directly tested on the skills she learned from the Epsilon level of Math-U-See. She completed 41 out of 49 questions correct, giving her an 84%. This information combined concludes that Serenity is definitely working at an independent level in number sense.
2. Serenity is still working to complete her fourth grade math curriculum. Measurement, probability & statistics, geometric sense, and algebraic sense will be covered later in the summer.
3. Algebraic Sense – Serenity shows strong pre-algebra skills. Again, she is still working to complete her fifth grade math curriculum and algebraic sense will be covered in depth later in the summer. She already shows the ability to apply algebraic properties to solve equations involving multiplication, division, addition, or subtraction of whole numbers.
I believe that Serenity functions at an instructional/independent[1] level in 5th grade math and is on track to finish her 5th grade year with an independent level of proficiency. Since she began the internet program in January she has completed her learning activities, quizzes and chapter tests with an average 86% accuracy, with the majority of the skills mastered.
EALR 2: The student uses mathematics to define and solve problems.
This section involves defining problems and constructing solutions. Seri is working at an independent level through the Internet Academy math program, as well as the Epsilon level of Math-U-See. These programs offer opportunities for students to work with problems in a familiar setting.
She must identify questions to be answered, determine missing information and identify the known and unknown. The programs challenge her to construct solutions for problems using concepts and procedures from number sense. This will continue to happen for measurement, geometric sense, and statistics and algebraic sense.
Both programs make use of pictures, charts, calculators as well as internet technology (drop down menus, internet games and animation). The programs Serenity uses allow for her to check her work, rework problems, and ask for additional help when necessary. The skills to define and solve problems were also observed during her math assessment.
EALR 3: The student uses mathematical reasoning.
This section involves analyzing information, making conclusions and verifying results. These components are all found in both of Serenity’s math programs and her instructional/independent abilities in mathematical reasoning were observed during her assessment.
EALR 4: The student communicates knowledge and understanding in both everyday and mathematical language.
This section deals with using mathematical language to explain or describe procedures and strategies. Serenity has a lot of experience with mathematics and in discussing her assessment she is clearly able to communicate using a mathematical language.
EALR 5: The student understands how mathematical ideas connect within mathematics, to other subject areas, and to real-world situations.
This section includes relating mathematical concepts and procedures to other disciplines and relating mathematical concepts and procedures to real-world situations. This year Serenity has participated in several cross-curricular math explorations. She attended the UW Engineering Day Expo, which included lots of hands on experiments combining both math and science. She also took a business class at her home school co-op, which included learning how to run a cooperative business. She presently has a family assignment of meal planning. She plans the meals and doubles recipes in order to accommodate the entire family. Her math skills are very important in order to help her keep the meals within a prescribed budget. This is a wonderful, real-world math situation for Serenity.
Reading—Grade 5
In fifth grade, students broaden and deepen their understanding of informational and literary text.
Students reflect on their skills and adjust their comprehension and vocabulary strategies to become
better readers. Students discuss, reflect, and respond, using evidence from text, to a wide variety of
literary genres and informational text. Students read for pleasure, choosing books based on personal
preference, topic, genre, theme, or author.
EALR 1: The student understands and uses different skills and strategies to read.
1. Use vocabulary strategies to comprehend text.
Serenity completed units on synonyms, antonyms, prefixes, suffixes, homophones, idioms and Greek and Latin roots this year with an average 100% accuracy.
She is independent in this level.
2. Apply word recognition skills and strategies to read fluently
Serenity read three selections with a word recognition accuracy (decoding) percentage of 99%. Independent reading level is normally marked by an accuracy rate of 99-100 percent.
Serenity read at a reading fluency-automaticity rate[2] of 123 words correct per minute. The target norm for 5th grade readers in the spring is 110 – 150 wcpm. Readers who perform at or near these target norms should be considered as progressing adequately in automaticity.
Lastly, she earned a score of 14 out of 16 on the multidimensional fluency scale[3]. This scale rates the reader on the dimensions of expression and volume, phrasing, smoothness and pace.
EALR 2: The student understands the meaning of what is read.
1. Demonstrate evidence of reading comprehension.
Serenity excelled in this area. She earned a score of 5 out of 6 on the comprehension rubric. Her recall was a comprehensive summary of the passages, presented in a logical order. She included a strong set of details along with a statement of main idea.
In assessing Serenity, I reviewed her Internet Academy work for 5th grade Language Arts. She completed guided instruction assignments at an independent level of instruction, including the following topics; theme, main idea, predict and infer, summarizing, fact and opinion, author’s purpose and compare and contrast. All of these topics are critical to reading comprehension and understanding and Serenity’s independent level is determined by her average 94% accuracy on her assignments.
EALR 3: The student reads different materials for a variety of purposes.
Read to learn new information
Serenity continuously has more than 50 books checked out at once. She is an independent reader with varied interests. She chose to study such varied topics as Hubbell Telescope and George Washington this year.
Read to perform a task
Serenity uses reading to perform such tasks as cooking, playing board games, participating in PC enrichment programs (Gettysburg, Where in the World is Carmen San Diego) and social studies workbooks.
Read for literary experience in a variety of genres
Serenity visits the library twice weekly. She enjoys survival stories and mysteries (such a Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys). She picks her own reading selections and has a rotating set of interests.
Writing―Grade 5
In fifth grade, students have developed a strong personal voice in their writing. This is demonstrated by the way they sometimes inject humor into their narratives and how they add emphasis or opinion into informational and persuasive writing. Students use precise, specialized vocabulary appropriately in content-area writing. They experiment with sentence length and complex sentence structures and vary leads and endings. Collaborative writing efforts are taken seriously, often with assigned responsibilities and checklists. Scoring guides, often student-initiated, provide criteria for critiquing their own work and that of others. These guides are often detailed, addressing content, organization, style, and conventions.
After reviewing Serenity’s work and assessing her writing skills on a one-on-one basis, I find her to be an instructional level writer in all areas of her writing. She is currently working her way through the Internet Academy Language Arts program for 5th grade. She completed, not mastered, the language arts units she began. She still has several units that deal with writing, specifically the Elements of Writing extension, to complete. Serenity has an expansive imagination, but finds it hard to apply conventional rules to her writing. This is an area that is still developing for her.
EALR 1: The student understands and uses a writing process.
All of these elements (1-6) will be addressed in the Elements of Writing unit which Serenity has yet to complete for Internet Academy. She completed a prewriting (graphic organizer) activity during her assessment. She showed that she understands and uses a writing process and is relying on skills learned from previous years. Her rough draft, My Favorite Pet, was enjoyable and written with a lively voice in which she used a varied vocabulary to describe her fish.
1. Pre writes to generate ideas and plan writing
2. Produces drafts
3. Revises to improve text
4. Edits text
5. Publishes text to share with audience
6. Adjusting writing process as necessary
EALR 2: The student writes in a variety of forms for different audiences and purposes.
In reviewing her Internet Academy work, Serenity has completed writing assignments in persuasive, descriptive, informative and narrative writing as well as character sketches, creative writing and book reports.
1. Adapts writing for a variety of audiences
2. Writes for different purposes
3. Writes in a variety of forms/genres
EALR 3: The student writes clearly and effectively.
Again, I find Serenity to be instructional in this area. She has great ideas for her writing and her style is generally appropriate for the genre in which she is writing. Her handwriting is legible and she spells with relatively good accuracy. Any unconventional words were spelled phonetically (e.g., algey, adventuress) and were understandable. She needs to continue to work on capitalization, punctuation and usage rules. She was not consistent during the assessment in sticking with previously learned usage rules such as writing in complete sentences. This is especially true for her use of paragraph conventions. Her mother stated that this is an on-going problem for Seri and will continue to be an educational focus for her 6th grade year.
1. Develops ideas and organizes writing
2. Uses appropriate style
3. Knows and applies appropriate grade level writing conventions
- legible handwriting
- spells words accurately
- applies capitalization rules
- applies punctuation rules
- applies usage rules
- uses complete sentences
- applies paragraph conventions
[1] Emerging – this skill has not been taught at all this year
Instructional – the student has yet to master the skill and it may be carried over as a goal into the next school year
Independent – they have shown an ability to work by themselves in this area and are considered proficient or
above-average in their skills
[2] Reading Fluency-Automaticity. Reading rate provides a measure of the extent to which a reader can automatically decode words, thus leaving cognitive resources free for the more important task of comprehending a passage. To determine rate, simply count the number of words the student has read correctly during the 60-second oral read.
[3] Scores range from 4 to 16. Generally, scores below 8 indicate that fluency may be a concern. Scores of 8 or above indicate that the student is making good progress in fluency.
So there it is, in all it's technical, scholarly language, put our life in little boxes glory. But don't let it be said that I have not complied with the law. Did it tell me anything I did not know, of course not. Did it really say anything at all? That's debatable. The thing that gets me is we are also required by law to teach eleven different subjects, however the assessment only covered two! Secondly, I had to pay $45.00 for this assessment that was required when we pay taxes and had my children been in public school the money used to educate them would have been a heck of a lot more than $45.00. Don't you think that since we pay taxes they should be have the courtesy to at least foot the bill for something they require?
And, for the last of my rant. The children also recieved their report cards from IA. What a joke!!! Ser recieved two A's and two B+'s and Michael recieved all A's. On the surface this is all good news, but for those of us that know better it just proves that the system is a crock!! First of all I wasn't very diligent about them doing their work so they did not complete the years work, not even close....but this was not reflected in their grades at all. Secondly they were required to do no projects, book reports, writing assignments, essays or anything of the such.... Bet their PS peers would be a little irate to know that my children pulled off better grades with a lot less time and effort in the same Federal Way School District!! And yes folks, these grades are real and will be accepted as valid by any PS school in the states! Scary huh?
Back to those "required eleven subjects"that homeschooling parents agree to teach. IA,while a Public School prgoram carrying all the benefits and validity of said program, only teaches four!! Why then am I required to teach my children more than they are required to teach? Hmmmmm. Double Standard Anyone?
I was once told that one should not debate over issues or points of view with others who are just as passionate about opposing views, instead they told me to "Lt the excellence of your work be your protest".
Seri is definetly the "excellence of my work". Since I have nothing to hide from either those who oppose or support my views here is her assessment in it's complete form.
Serenitie Olson, Grade 5
students become proficient using non-negative rational numbers to solve problems. Fifth graders demonstrate an understanding of the concepts of divisibility including prime and composite numbers, fractions, and multiples. They apply procedures to measure a variety of geometric figures and collect, display, and interpret data. Students develop understanding of the likelihood of simple events and possible outcomes of simple experiments. They solve problems involving area and perimeter and further develop algebraic sense by using variables to write expressions and equations that represent familiar situations. They continue to check for reasonableness of answers. Students define problems by identifying questions to be answered when information is missing or extraneous and what is known and unknown in familiar situations.
EALR 1: The student understands and applies the concepts and procedures of mathematics.
1. Number sense – Serenity has mastered the concepts in number sense. These include understanding of decimal representation and their relative values, adding and subtracting like-denominator fractions, multiplying and dividing whole numbers, and estimation strategies. She has developed a strong foundation in number sense. She was directly tested on the skills she learned from the Epsilon level of Math-U-See. She completed 41 out of 49 questions correct, giving her an 84%. This information combined concludes that Serenity is definitely working at an independent level in number sense.
2. Serenity is still working to complete her fourth grade math curriculum. Measurement, probability & statistics, geometric sense, and algebraic sense will be covered later in the summer.
3. Algebraic Sense – Serenity shows strong pre-algebra skills. Again, she is still working to complete her fifth grade math curriculum and algebraic sense will be covered in depth later in the summer. She already shows the ability to apply algebraic properties to solve equations involving multiplication, division, addition, or subtraction of whole numbers.
I believe that Serenity functions at an instructional/independent[1] level in 5th grade math and is on track to finish her 5th grade year with an independent level of proficiency. Since she began the internet program in January she has completed her learning activities, quizzes and chapter tests with an average 86% accuracy, with the majority of the skills mastered.
EALR 2: The student uses mathematics to define and solve problems.
This section involves defining problems and constructing solutions. Seri is working at an independent level through the Internet Academy math program, as well as the Epsilon level of Math-U-See. These programs offer opportunities for students to work with problems in a familiar setting.
She must identify questions to be answered, determine missing information and identify the known and unknown. The programs challenge her to construct solutions for problems using concepts and procedures from number sense. This will continue to happen for measurement, geometric sense, and statistics and algebraic sense.
Both programs make use of pictures, charts, calculators as well as internet technology (drop down menus, internet games and animation). The programs Serenity uses allow for her to check her work, rework problems, and ask for additional help when necessary. The skills to define and solve problems were also observed during her math assessment.
EALR 3: The student uses mathematical reasoning.
This section involves analyzing information, making conclusions and verifying results. These components are all found in both of Serenity’s math programs and her instructional/independent abilities in mathematical reasoning were observed during her assessment.
EALR 4: The student communicates knowledge and understanding in both everyday and mathematical language.
This section deals with using mathematical language to explain or describe procedures and strategies. Serenity has a lot of experience with mathematics and in discussing her assessment she is clearly able to communicate using a mathematical language.
EALR 5: The student understands how mathematical ideas connect within mathematics, to other subject areas, and to real-world situations.
This section includes relating mathematical concepts and procedures to other disciplines and relating mathematical concepts and procedures to real-world situations. This year Serenity has participated in several cross-curricular math explorations. She attended the UW Engineering Day Expo, which included lots of hands on experiments combining both math and science. She also took a business class at her home school co-op, which included learning how to run a cooperative business. She presently has a family assignment of meal planning. She plans the meals and doubles recipes in order to accommodate the entire family. Her math skills are very important in order to help her keep the meals within a prescribed budget. This is a wonderful, real-world math situation for Serenity.
Reading—Grade 5
In fifth grade, students broaden and deepen their understanding of informational and literary text.
Students reflect on their skills and adjust their comprehension and vocabulary strategies to become
better readers. Students discuss, reflect, and respond, using evidence from text, to a wide variety of
literary genres and informational text. Students read for pleasure, choosing books based on personal
preference, topic, genre, theme, or author.
EALR 1: The student understands and uses different skills and strategies to read.
1. Use vocabulary strategies to comprehend text.
Serenity completed units on synonyms, antonyms, prefixes, suffixes, homophones, idioms and Greek and Latin roots this year with an average 100% accuracy.
She is independent in this level.
2. Apply word recognition skills and strategies to read fluently
Serenity read three selections with a word recognition accuracy (decoding) percentage of 99%. Independent reading level is normally marked by an accuracy rate of 99-100 percent.
Serenity read at a reading fluency-automaticity rate[2] of 123 words correct per minute. The target norm for 5th grade readers in the spring is 110 – 150 wcpm. Readers who perform at or near these target norms should be considered as progressing adequately in automaticity.
Lastly, she earned a score of 14 out of 16 on the multidimensional fluency scale[3]. This scale rates the reader on the dimensions of expression and volume, phrasing, smoothness and pace.
EALR 2: The student understands the meaning of what is read.
1. Demonstrate evidence of reading comprehension.
Serenity excelled in this area. She earned a score of 5 out of 6 on the comprehension rubric. Her recall was a comprehensive summary of the passages, presented in a logical order. She included a strong set of details along with a statement of main idea.
In assessing Serenity, I reviewed her Internet Academy work for 5th grade Language Arts. She completed guided instruction assignments at an independent level of instruction, including the following topics; theme, main idea, predict and infer, summarizing, fact and opinion, author’s purpose and compare and contrast. All of these topics are critical to reading comprehension and understanding and Serenity’s independent level is determined by her average 94% accuracy on her assignments.
EALR 3: The student reads different materials for a variety of purposes.
Read to learn new information
Serenity continuously has more than 50 books checked out at once. She is an independent reader with varied interests. She chose to study such varied topics as Hubbell Telescope and George Washington this year.
Read to perform a task
Serenity uses reading to perform such tasks as cooking, playing board games, participating in PC enrichment programs (Gettysburg, Where in the World is Carmen San Diego) and social studies workbooks.
Read for literary experience in a variety of genres
Serenity visits the library twice weekly. She enjoys survival stories and mysteries (such a Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys). She picks her own reading selections and has a rotating set of interests.
Writing―Grade 5
In fifth grade, students have developed a strong personal voice in their writing. This is demonstrated by the way they sometimes inject humor into their narratives and how they add emphasis or opinion into informational and persuasive writing. Students use precise, specialized vocabulary appropriately in content-area writing. They experiment with sentence length and complex sentence structures and vary leads and endings. Collaborative writing efforts are taken seriously, often with assigned responsibilities and checklists. Scoring guides, often student-initiated, provide criteria for critiquing their own work and that of others. These guides are often detailed, addressing content, organization, style, and conventions.
After reviewing Serenity’s work and assessing her writing skills on a one-on-one basis, I find her to be an instructional level writer in all areas of her writing. She is currently working her way through the Internet Academy Language Arts program for 5th grade. She completed, not mastered, the language arts units she began. She still has several units that deal with writing, specifically the Elements of Writing extension, to complete. Serenity has an expansive imagination, but finds it hard to apply conventional rules to her writing. This is an area that is still developing for her.
EALR 1: The student understands and uses a writing process.
All of these elements (1-6) will be addressed in the Elements of Writing unit which Serenity has yet to complete for Internet Academy. She completed a prewriting (graphic organizer) activity during her assessment. She showed that she understands and uses a writing process and is relying on skills learned from previous years. Her rough draft, My Favorite Pet, was enjoyable and written with a lively voice in which she used a varied vocabulary to describe her fish.
1. Pre writes to generate ideas and plan writing
2. Produces drafts
3. Revises to improve text
4. Edits text
5. Publishes text to share with audience
6. Adjusting writing process as necessary
EALR 2: The student writes in a variety of forms for different audiences and purposes.
In reviewing her Internet Academy work, Serenity has completed writing assignments in persuasive, descriptive, informative and narrative writing as well as character sketches, creative writing and book reports.
1. Adapts writing for a variety of audiences
2. Writes for different purposes
3. Writes in a variety of forms/genres
EALR 3: The student writes clearly and effectively.
Again, I find Serenity to be instructional in this area. She has great ideas for her writing and her style is generally appropriate for the genre in which she is writing. Her handwriting is legible and she spells with relatively good accuracy. Any unconventional words were spelled phonetically (e.g., algey, adventuress) and were understandable. She needs to continue to work on capitalization, punctuation and usage rules. She was not consistent during the assessment in sticking with previously learned usage rules such as writing in complete sentences. This is especially true for her use of paragraph conventions. Her mother stated that this is an on-going problem for Seri and will continue to be an educational focus for her 6th grade year.
1. Develops ideas and organizes writing
2. Uses appropriate style
3. Knows and applies appropriate grade level writing conventions
- legible handwriting
- spells words accurately
- applies capitalization rules
- applies punctuation rules
- applies usage rules
- uses complete sentences
- applies paragraph conventions
[1] Emerging – this skill has not been taught at all this year
Instructional – the student has yet to master the skill and it may be carried over as a goal into the next school year
Independent – they have shown an ability to work by themselves in this area and are considered proficient or
above-average in their skills
[2] Reading Fluency-Automaticity. Reading rate provides a measure of the extent to which a reader can automatically decode words, thus leaving cognitive resources free for the more important task of comprehending a passage. To determine rate, simply count the number of words the student has read correctly during the 60-second oral read.
[3] Scores range from 4 to 16. Generally, scores below 8 indicate that fluency may be a concern. Scores of 8 or above indicate that the student is making good progress in fluency.
So there it is, in all it's technical, scholarly language, put our life in little boxes glory. But don't let it be said that I have not complied with the law. Did it tell me anything I did not know, of course not. Did it really say anything at all? That's debatable. The thing that gets me is we are also required by law to teach eleven different subjects, however the assessment only covered two! Secondly, I had to pay $45.00 for this assessment that was required when we pay taxes and had my children been in public school the money used to educate them would have been a heck of a lot more than $45.00. Don't you think that since we pay taxes they should be have the courtesy to at least foot the bill for something they require?
And, for the last of my rant. The children also recieved their report cards from IA. What a joke!!! Ser recieved two A's and two B+'s and Michael recieved all A's. On the surface this is all good news, but for those of us that know better it just proves that the system is a crock!! First of all I wasn't very diligent about them doing their work so they did not complete the years work, not even close....but this was not reflected in their grades at all. Secondly they were required to do no projects, book reports, writing assignments, essays or anything of the such.... Bet their PS peers would be a little irate to know that my children pulled off better grades with a lot less time and effort in the same Federal Way School District!! And yes folks, these grades are real and will be accepted as valid by any PS school in the states! Scary huh?
Back to those "required eleven subjects"that homeschooling parents agree to teach. IA,while a Public School prgoram carrying all the benefits and validity of said program, only teaches four!! Why then am I required to teach my children more than they are required to teach? Hmmmmm. Double Standard Anyone?
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