CAT5 Scores....

Here is the break down of this scores... The first I'll list is the general subject scores. I'll list the stanine that he scored in as well as his grade equivalent....
(Stanine is the 'standard nine' which is a listing of 9 groups compared to the average). This was the 1st grade test.

Reading vocabulary- 5th stanine- 2.2 grade equivalent
reading comprehension-5th-2.4 ge
total reading- 5th-2.3
language mechanics- 5th-2.4
language expression- 5th-2.2
total language-5th-2.3
math computation-4th-2.0
math concepts and app.-5th-2.3
total mathematics-5th-2.2
total battery-5th-2.3
word analysis-5th-n/a
science-6th-2.5
social studies-5th-2.2

Let me just say that science shouldn't come as a shock because my husband and I are SCIENCE JUNKIES! We spend a lot of t.v. watching time watching science channels. ;) Also, it's funny that he scored so high in social studies because we don't use the regular history that jumps around...we do classic history that follows history in it's actual time line (that means that we started with the cavemen, then on to ancients...etc...not that then jumping to Washington and U.S. History.)

If I haven't bored you enough already...here is the full break down of the scores and what grade he made on each. I'll put an asterisk next to those it says he has mastered (not mastered is 0-50; partially mastered is 51-75; mastered is 76-100):

Reading Vocabulary:
word meaning- 76 *
words in context-85*

Reading Comprehension:
listening and understanding-50 (the lowest score)
link picture, print-99*
recall information-99*
construct meaning-99*

Language Mechanics:
Sentence, phrase, clause- 83*
writing conventions-74

Language Expressions:
usage-79*
sentence formation-94*

Math Computation:
add whole numbers-92*
subtract whole numbers-62 not all items attempted- (he ran out of time)

Math Concepts and Application:
numeration-81*
data interpretation-81*
measurement-77*
geometry-92*

Word Analysis:
single conson/word-97*
cons. blends, digraphs-99*
sight words-98*
short vowels-74
long vowels-60

Science:
life science-90*
physical science-84*
earth and space science-85*
science process-70

Social Studies:
geographical concepts-90*
economic dimensions-89*
historical perspectives-85*
government, citizenship-97*
sociological patterns-96*

Answer to a question...

I had a comment posted on one of my posts and replied but I thought I would post it here on the main page. This is the end of the comment and my reply....

~~~...I want my own children to get a good education and be prepared for life's challenges and college. I've read some of your comments and I'm interested to know about the curriculum you use and how well you think it prepares students for the future.

July 24, 2008 9:03 PM

~~~Hello there,
The local Christian school here was a consideration for a moment but we thought the same as you. I am sure there are those that push the students and challenge them but our local one doesn't. My husband even knows first hand because he attended it once upon a time. And I remember from my high school experience that students who went there said it was 'so much easier' than public school.
Now, last year I admit that I tried to make things easier for my son. I even switched curriculum mid-year because he didn't like it. We were using Abeka for English and it was great. I loved it and it seemed fairly challenging but he didn't like it. So I changed to Switched-on Schoolhouse (SOS) by Alpha Omega publishing. It's a computer program and of course he liked it better but it was 3rd grade (that's what level they start at) so it was a little bit more advanced for him.
I decided to do the Classic curriculum style for my daughter and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I shouldn't just give my son 'the easy way out' because he wants it. So this year they are BOTH going to be doing Classic English. For this I bought the book (you can probably find it at your library) called the well trained mind which gives you a detailed explanation and guidance for the classical program. There is also a book for English called "First Language Lessons for the Well trained Mind". It goes k-2 and we're using that this coming year. I want a challenging program that will give them a good thorough basis for education.
For math I switched too late because Math-U-See wasn't for us. A lot of people love it but I don't like that it only focuses on one thing for a long time. We were working on addition for so long without even getting into subtraction and he had FORGOTTEN how to subtract just from last year. I didn't like that personally so this year we're going to give Saxon math a try, it's one of the best math programs.
I believe that if you challenge your kids, they will often be able to match your challenges. Sometimes it'll be too much but you (as the parent) know your child better than anything and know how to adjust for them.
I am hoping that as the children get older that by high school they will be able to dual enroll in some college courses to get the feel of it and help be more prepared for full time college work.
Plus, a side-note...homeschooling does provide real life experience. You can add a class of teaching your children how to balance a check book, work the family budget, manage a household, etc. This provides a foundation for learning how to deal with real life. I'm saving that for a few years down the road when they're more stable in their math skills.
They also learn how to manage their schedule by getting their household chores done, their school work (which students do become more independent with as they age) their hobbies and extra curricular classes, etc. It teaches them to realize that if they don't get those things done that it leaves less time for play time. Just like in real life 'work before play'.
I hope I answered your questions. If not, or you have more, feel free to post. :)

HE PASSED!

We got the CAT5 results and my son passed! He made in and above the 4th stanine in everything. He made between a 2.0 and a 2.5 grade level equivalent in all of his subjects. His lowest was math and that was what he tested at 2.0 in. I figured that much so I am just so happy!
I may post his exact scores soon, I'm not sure yet. But wanted to let everyone know.
:D

Last day of school pics...

I know it's a bit late, a month and a half so but I found these and wanted to post. For our last day of school we did this cute little cat keychain project. I found them at Walmart for $2 for a kit that makes 4. The kids loved it though we did have some problems getting the parts to stay together at one time so we had to glue one part then wait an hour then glue the next and so on. They loved it though.