Homeschooling for fourteen years shattered my previous preconceived ideas of what school should be.
In those many years of teaching my curriculum, reasons and style also changed.
We considered each child, prayed fervently, and did what we felt was the best for them.

Thus Katie went off to parochial school in the fall.

We have all be extremely pleased with her away from home school experience.

However, I do spot some gaps in her coursework.
And her scores from the standardized tests that were taken in Oct point out some weak areas in math.

So I am now officially an After-schooler.

And so is Katie :o)

I pulled out Emma's copy of Saxon 3, ordered the fresh new workbooks, and we have been working our way thru
the book over the last week or so.


You know every math curriculum is different.

Different in approach, jargon and speed.

Saxon is known for lots of review. Every lesson contains review questions going back ten or more lessons.

And what I failed to do with Katie last year is give her timed tests.

I am not sure she is doing these at school this year either.

BUT, she sure needs to do them.

Saxon gives the student 45 sec. to do a page of facts.

Yikes. That's fast.

Last night as we were working our way thru a few lessons (which are very easy for Katie)
I timed her three times on a variety of facts. (plus two, plus one, doubles plus one)

Katie found the facts easy but she was very slow and did not complete all of the questions in the required time.
In fact, with the doubles plus one, she only completed eight out of twenty-five.

And to be honest, I used to think it didn't really matter how fast a child did their work....
but with math, the speed tests are about recall. The speed tests show that your child understands and has learned those facts so well, they are instantly recalled.

Now, That's important.

Instant recall.


So in my 15th year of homeschooling I have figured out the WHY behind the timed test.

I'm not much for the WHY's.

I'm more a Tell Me What to Do and I will DO it, kind of gal.

But, sincerely, I like knowing the WHY behind the timed tests.

I think Katie will be better off because of it too!

I'll let you know how she progresses and if my attempt to afterschool math improves her scores next fall.




We have something else to look forward to today.

Katie tried out for the community theater production of The Princess and the Pea yesterday afternoon.
She sang and danced and read lines. She made two call backs.

We were both surprised and delighted by this turn of events.

Almost 130 children tried out so we are not promised a part but we have our fingers crossed that she will at least be in the chorus.

I do know, that she did her best and read very well.

So we shall see.

I am especially delighted that this production is in our own little town! Hooray!

Thank you, Stephanie T. for the heads up!


That's all the newsy news from here....


Our friend Steph S. is having her second wrist surgery today.
Left hand.

Please pray.


Thanks!


Encourage one another,
Donna