As we are approaching the end of the school year, I thought it would be nice to have a thread in which people recap how their year went. What they changed this year. What surprised them. What worked. What did not work.

I can empathise with you on this. The truly vertigo inducing aspect of my DD's LOG is how quickly she joins the dots - any dots.

I have started to look back a my old 'A' level pure and applied Maths books which I haven't looked at in almost 35 years because I know that my DD9 will soon (2 years or so) ready for it at this rate. Things that seemed clear then are cloudy now and I will need time to dust off and blow the cobwebs out.

Sometimes I feel like Grommet in the finale of the Wrong Trousers leaning out in front of the train engine laying out track nineteen to the dozen as it speeds towards the last section of it.

I think it has been pretty much a waste of a year for DD. She maybe learned some new spelling words? And she has picked up some really bad habits, like fighting us on homework or lying about it. She hates the work that the teacher makes her do. We jumped thru the hoops needed for her to go to the gifted magnet in the fall for 4th grade so there will be a lot of (hopefully) good changes.

DS (first grade) had a very rocky first half of the year. He was "happy", at least in terms of demeanor, because he had his very best friend in his class with him. But he regressed very badly in terms of his writing and other skills because the teacher had no expectations and did not work with him. She had no interest in giving him work at the right level and actively fought us. It didn't matter how nice or reasonable we tried to be, she viewed me as a tiger mom and was going to do her best to make sure DS was not pushed in any way at all. That meant that he decided he was "done" and wasn't even going to bother with first grade work, much less harder work. What I have learned is that sometimes advocating is simply not going to work. If there is a teacher with an "attitude" they are not going to do what is right no matter what approach you might take. Rather than keep banging your head on a wall, figure out if there is an "out" sooner rather than later.

I pulled him out of school and transferred him to a different district school, and the new teacher was appalled by his journals from the other school. She said that it would need to be dealt with immediately. The very next day he brought home writing that looked "normal" and it has gotten even better with time. He went from scribbles to writing on the lines with periods and spaces in just a couple days. Amazing! She did thorough testing on him and gave him work the right level, some of it 4 grade levels ahead. DS had to fill out a worksheet stating what kinds of things he is proud of, and he is clearly proud of his improvement in writing, and how advanced he is with math and the "hard books" he reads now. So what "worked" was moving DS, and asking our allies in administration for help who made sure he had a good IEP manager and teacher. But a lot of it was luck. We didn't know if we would be walking from a bad situation into a worse one. Luckily DS is laid back and the school change didn't bother him at all. I'm sure his old teacher thought I was a horrible mother for switching schools mid-year, but I know my DS and knew he would be fine.

Should be interesting to see what the next year brings.... I am still waiting to hear about open enrollment and waiting lists.

This is really interesting.

For us, it's been one of the better years. DS13 has gained a lot of free time since he moved to a GT private school. I think he learned less during school, but he is happier. Outside of school, though, he has a lot more time to do projects and self study so overall I would say his academics really advanced this year. Online courses kind of became a routine for him, and there is indeed a large selection at all levels. His social interactions also improved a lot because he now has time to go to community groups and develop projects there. He participated in various academic competitions/talent searches, etc., and did very well. His extracurriculars (music, chess, etc) all improved more than usual this year, I think it's because he feels happier in general which helps everything, really.

DD9 is usually very easy going, and she doesn't mind doing the repetitive work at school even though her level is way above that. She has not had an IQ test. But last year in 2nd grade her math was tested to be at least 5th grade level and she was reading at 7th grade level. (We don't know about this year, haven't seen any report yet.) This year though, is the first year when she started complaining about being bored at school and not learning anything ("why can't they just let me read a book?") She loves school, though, because she has a large number of friends and the teacher is funny. This year's teacher is actually quite understanding and does do in-classroom differentiation, it's simply that the differentiation doesn't go to DD's level. Outside of school things are really good. I started working with her on middle school math this year, and helped her identify projects that she can do (writing a book, etc). Her extracurricular activities (which she doesn't do at school but uses community resources) have been going really well and she is getting a lot of recognition and rare opportunities.

I feel that things have been going well this year more than before partly because we gave up false hope in the school system, and devoted energy on looking for alterntive resources. It's also partly because the kids did incredibly well when they got the right opportunities. Next year, though, I think, will be challenging for DD, because she will feel even more strongly about school being a waste of time (she has already asked me to talk to the school about letting her opt out of some classes, but I'm not optimistic--the school district is very rigid). for DS, the challenge is to settle into high school and truly understand that he will need to do a good job on everything even if some tasks are boring--most of the things that one does in life are pretty routine and not exciting but one needs to do them well nonetheless (he understands it, I believe, but next year will be the real test).

It's been a tough but good year. DS entered first grade and we determined that he needed to be in a different school.

After some angst and talking with several good friends who happen to be teachers, we moved DS mid year. It was a bit bumpy in places, but he's so much happier and engaged at school.

I'm grateful that we went ahead and decided on an IQ test at the end of last year. To anyone, he would have looked like a dreamy kid who didn't want to work very hard. We saw that he was was under challenged and bored. Now that he's in a more suitable environment, his mojo has returned full force:)

We made the decision to keep him a bit busier this summer with camps and swim team. He is definitely a kid who needs a balance between structure and free time.

Big change this year. DS started high school. Interesting how, in grade school, kids are limited to their grade, and even the gifted replacement LA and math are by grade. In high school, there is more flexibility of placement, by grade and level, mainly in the social studies and various arts, but even in honors science and math DS found himself with sophomores and juniors. He felt a little intimidated at first, but had some buddies in there as well, and the teachers had fun with him, letting him run with ideas, and I hear it kept the classes interesting.

He had a new experience with a "flipped" math class, where you watch the teacher-produced lecture at home online, then do work in class. He liked it, because he got to spend class time DOING math, and could ask all the questions he wanted, work collaboratively, and delve into it more.

He participated in school sports for the first time, again, mixed ages, great group of boys. He is motivated in music now, because you get to play with better players only if you advance, and you have to work and show commitment to advance. Funny how that works! Now he practices, and even consented to private lessons instead of sectional play, and he has improved dramatically (except that now we need to find him a "move-up" instrument $$). He continues to participate in theater, great friends boys, girls, all ages.

Still dealing with executive function issues, but in general he has blossomed. In high school they are encouraged to question, explore, and grow. Why can't middle school, or grade school, be like that? There is at least as big a difference between a 14 and 18yr olds as between 7 and 11yr olds.

Forgot about the other great thing in high school: no testing! Sophomores take one, juniors take the ACT, that's IT Every single day is about learning. Oh, when the upperclassmen are taking their tests, the school offers opportunities to the other students to job shadow, volunteer, rehearse, and more.

End of year? We are only 3/4 of the way through the school year, just got 3rd quarter grades. School runs 3/4 the way into June. Yes I know our school district is LATE.

DS is a H.S. freshman. So far it's going so-so. Major problem has turned out in his writing. Looking into summer writing program. He can't write FAST enough, spends way to much time trying to figure out what to write he never gets to finish the writing. Grades NOT where they should be. When we get to finals those tests should help, DS is a very good test taker. Worried about class placement for next year right now.

Socially it's been good. DS loves Marching Band and he joined two social clubs this spring.

What worked overall for DS8: taking this year to focus on identifying issues and remediating, and pouring tons of time into working with the school to figure out what was going on. Working with a strict, demanding, determined teacher - DS might have had an easier year in another class but because of her tireless efforts, we were able to really drill down on what was going on. I think (hope) we are now on the same page, and DS seems really happy with the recent changes.

What didn't work: CBT and (surprisingly) the neuropsych evaluation. DS ran rings around the therapist, and the neuropsych wrote reams about his oppositional behavior without catching the issues (like vision) behind it. As a bonus she barred him from the one private school I thought might be a good fit. If we go back for another eval in a few years, it may be worth traveling to a 2/e specialist.

Successes: OT, mostly vestibular with a bit of social skills coaching thrown in. Vision therapy (in process). Cursive. Keyboarding. And what feels like a very strong IEP for next year, with a case manager who clearly adores him. Also, getting off the beaten path for activities. Now that he is old enough for classes like fencing and robotics, he is starting to find his tribe - the kids in those activities are quirky and divergent in a way that we just didn't see in more mainstream sports/enrichment activities. For the summer, he'll be at a non-sporty outdoor camp with lots of swimming, boating, climbing, and time to choose his own activities like archery and nature exploration, so we are hoping that will be a good match.

DD4 has had an easier year. Well, other than hand surgery; she writes a lot better now that she has opposable thumbs. :-) We did change preschools and it was the right move, I think - the old school favored her to the point that we used to say that if DD hit another child, they would probably reprove the other child for irritating her. While she is still a force of nature in the new school, the change in environment slightly slowed her drive towards world domination, and many more of her new friends will be in K with her in the fall. I have already warned the school that she is very much like DS, except stronger-willed and less sensitive. If they give her the same brittle, high-strung K teacher he had, I will not be sympathetic.

AOPS/Alcumus might expedite your refresher course.

We only have one month left but one month is a long time for DD so we shall see how it'd go. Honeymoon is over between DD and her "former" BFF. They still play together but thankfully, DD is no longer infatuated with her and DD seems to be making more efforts to establish friendship with everyone. The switch in preschool midyear was the right decision for us as we definitely went from a bad fit to a great fit.

She is still young but her main focus seems to be focusing from academics to music. With dance, there was so much she could do but with music, the sky is the limit and unlike with academics, her parents aren't telling her to not worry about it until she is older. She has a wonderful teacher who really believes in her so everything is aligned for her to take off. The interesting thing is, her progress in music seems to be lifting her up in other areas. Her handwriting has gotten very good and not just for her age, she's now a truly fluent reader, and her math fluency is catching up with her conceptual understanding. And to my surprise and joy, she's overcome with her perfectionism with art and is drawing and painting almost every day. She says she knows it's okay to be not as good as she wants to be at first because she remembers really struggling with music but she's getting much better at it because she practices everyday. See, sometimes, you can make kids drink the Kool-Aid.

MAP testing shows DS8 making more than expected growth in math and reading. Which pretty much suggests the program and skip have been a good fit. Scrambling to get a resource in place for math over the summer as he plans to spend much of his summer playing with math.

Recently discovered soccer has become "the thing" at recess which ends up being a bit socially isolating as DS can't follow the ball and field movements well. But socially doing OK in class and clubs even though not connected with a math friend yet.

This may be a misuse of the reference. "Drinking the Kool-Aid" refers to convincing someone to do something to their detriment; following blindly and unquestioning to their own demise; being gullible; "falling for something hook, line, and sinker"; etc. Here is one of many explanatory links available http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=drink+the+kool-aid

Maybe I should have used instead.

I was trying to be witty but I guess my attempt at humor failed.

It's had a split meaning where it also conveys the sense of buying into a philosophy in a more positive sense; typically with an amused wink to an initial skepticism.

First full year at Tiny Private School, 1st grade, 1 year skip. We afterschool in an interest-led way. Some is schooly stuff like Beast Academy, but most of it is what I consider the real business of education -- literature, history, science, How the World Works.

This was the year that DD discovered gymnastics, which threatened to take over our lives for a while. She has also gotten much more engaged with playing with other kids. She's actually spending less time on academic stuff than half a year ago, with my wholehearted approval, because she is spending so much time playing.

Once she masters the mechanics of reading and arithmetic, I see at least one more grade skip in the future. I'm thinking we may homeschool for middle school.

Overall, we're in a good place.

This year was the second year at a private school. My son was homeschooled for grades K-4, skipped 5th and entered the school in 6th. He skipped 7th and was in 8th this year.

We've decided to homeschool again next year, which pretty much sums up how the year went.

1.5 more months to go before school gets out. Very happy with how this year went. Dd4.5 loves her play based school and has learnt so much about plants and birds from their daily nature walks and excursions. At home, she continues to enjoy the homeschool. We have spent a lot of time doing science and have built some really cool setups. She started to read the beginning of this year and has taken off- she reads at least one book a day. It is a pure joy to watch her grow and see the twinkle in her eyes.

DS had a great year at his play based preschool! He mostly helped the cooking teacher prepare for her classes, supervised 2yo's on the play ground and tended the Butterfly garden. We are going to try Public K at the top school
In our district. I give it until Christmas before we need to pull him out and homeschool. I've already become acquainted with some people from the Homeschool group. DS can read almost anything, is several years ahead in math and spells very well. I am also flabbergasted that he has great handwriting. I think he would be very happy just taking care of Pygmy goats
Running through the fields and continuing to test the water quality of the lake.

DD10 is doing...okay. Always top of her class. Friendships are good. I feel like some of the spark has gone out of her. I'm looking ahead to middle school. It feels a little like she's outgrown this placement, though it is not terrible by any means. I know she learns more than other kids in the district.

DS6 kinda blew our minds this year. The school has really tried hard with him. If I send an email asking for an adjustment, it happens the next day. He has two teachers trying their best with what they have, which isn't always much. Despite being nominally in K, he is differentiated such that very little of his work is K level. Sure, it could be more, but on the whole, I'm very impressed with their efforts.

Ds14 is finishing out middle school and moving to high school next year. Starting to think about colleges. School works for him.

Ds9 skipped a grade this year and he surprised everyone with how well it went. He is a natural leader and it was like he had been in that grade all along socially and then academically he still learns very quickly. Writing was the only challenge and it was good to have him work hard in an area giving him problems.

For ds9s future we are hoping that he is happy through 5th grade next year and the plan is to homeschool him through middle school.

DD14 is finishing middle school. I think that her GT LA teacher inspired her to improve her writing which already was excellent. She actually had to think a little in geometry though once again I can count the number of problems that she got wrong this year on one hand. Social Studies and Science were mostly fluff. Band was just a place holder while she waits to go to an appropriate level band in HS. She will be going into an IB program next year. I am rebelling against the IB "slave to school" mentality but she wants to do it so I am gritting my teeth.

DD12 is finishing elementary (6th grade GT). She had one of my favorite teachers at the school. This teacher has done wonderful things trying to get my 2e DD ready for middle school. We have seen tremendous growth in independence and self-confidence.

DS9 is finishing 3rd grade GT. I have to say I have been very hands off. DS loves his teacher. Much to my consternation, I never figured out how to communicate with the teacher - a first in my 9 years at this elementary school. Since this teacher does not communicate ANYTHING or return any work, I've had to guess. I think that DS has grown in LA and has been completely stagnant in Math. DS hates school math because he doesn't see the point. I'm trying to sort out more fun math-based activities to do at home.

My year brought exciting new horizons for me as an advocate for my kids. Whee.

What a great topic!

I think this year was almost more about what DH and I learned.

First, we learned that there's a slippery slope to acceleration... that once you make the stance and say "you have a right to learn new things" that you have to keep up.

For us, that meant a rather unnerving experience mid year where she basically told us that she was STILL bored (and also caused my first post here, whine... er, worrying about it). So we had to break another "rule" (when you start something, you should finish it) and switched up a bunch of her classes for the third term. She's doing much better, learning more, and stepping up.

We also switched up her math curriculum, not because it needed to be harder, but because it needed to be different. She told us herself that she didn't think she was really learning anything and was feeling behind. The new place assessed her and found that she was way behind. "I never learned that" was her response to everything they presented her with (see number three below).

Second, we learned that advocacy never ends. Even at the MOST flexible "school" ever, we still needed to meet with them to make sure they were ready and willing to accommodate a 11 year old 8/9th grader next year. When none of your child's needs are getting met it's easy to advocate, but when you're already getting flexibility and accommodation it's hard to ask for more. They were awesome about it and DD is already excited about next year.

Third, we learned to decode a bit more of DDs language for discussing her education. It turns out that her way of expressing
a) this learning style does not work for me,
b) I was presented with this but haven't mastered it to my satisfaction, and
c) yeah we covered this but didn't go deep enough to make me happy

is "I never learned that!" or "No one ever taught me that!"

Hence her feedback in math. Of course she had learned it, but she wasn't confident or comfortable with it. Anxiety strikes again. But her new math has been a big hit and she's "catching up" (which is really just getting more confident and internalizing/mastering things for the first time).

"I already know that" on the other hand actually means "I already know that" and "I'm bored" (which we used to think meant "I'm lazy and don't want to do this") actually means "I'm bored, challenge me."

Overall a great great year, school-wise. Confirmation that all our rule-breaking, taking the route "less traveled by," and real differentiation (in which I mean choosing to educate differently) are working for her.

Of course at the same time we have all the usual pre-teen issues -- hormones and drama, rule breaking and pushing boundaries, isolating herself from us and clinging tightly at the same time.

Ivy, that's great that you've been able to learn more information about what your dc needs as far as learning topic. I have to admit that I am really looking forward to that. My ds is 7, and I know I am not given all the details.

As far as the school year for ds7, well better than k. He likes his teacher and is getting pull out for math. His teacher however does not challenge him enough.

The school would not accept our WISC scores, so no gt. He is headed to a small private gt school next year. Hoping next will be a big improvement!

Well, DD (1st grd) got a lot of writing practice where she really stretched herself (tg for homeschool Fridays because at school she keeps it short). She jumped back to more advanced chapter books. She seems to be progressing ok in math... But she's dragging her heels on completing the repetitive work at school. Copying out spelling words, or writing sentences (they do a different task each day), etc. She has a hard time focusing with so much going on around her. At least she got to do some fun stuff with her long term sub. More creative stuff, so that was a good balance with her more mathy, very particular regular teacher. She's very excited about all the things we could learn together over the summer, which is great but shows me that school really just drags for her. Next year we're going to hash it all out right from the start... But at least she'll avoid a long term maternity sub for the first time! The sub this year was just really getting her, the first person to really do so, when she left. DD complains about kids not focusing and the poems being silly (vs Dickinson, say), but she still loves it and cries when I mention full time homeschooling (when the easy math was bugging her or as we figure out where we can afford to live, ugh).

With DD10 we are just holding steady at this point - no big ups or downs. We are still hoping that school will see the light and make some more changes and give her some challenges. In the mean time we are enriching at home and she is doing EPGY open enrollment. She has matured quite a bit and that has helped her control some of the classroom behaviors we have had issues with in the past. She has done very well with the differentiated spelling they did allow her to do and is working on some more advanced academics like Greek and algebra with the gifted teacher. We were extremely disappointed in the new fully digital (Pearson) curriculum our school district implemented this year in 3rd-12th grades. We were specifically told the advanced students could move ahead in the curriculum and would not be held back. What they touted did not occur and the enVision math is horrific!

DD8 now has a GIEP and is also working with the gifted teacher. She was given differentiated spelling and some accelerated math. This is working out for her to get her through the remainder of the school year, but she really wants to move to a higher level in reading groups. She is already in the highest reading group for her grade, and school wasn't willing to make any changes with just a few weeks to go. Hopefully next year the school will be willing to try something different - like letting her go to a higher grade for reading. She will start the digital Pearson curriculum, so we will have both girls going nowhere fast next year.

Future plans for next school year - ADVOCATE, ADVOCATE, ADVOCATE!!!!!!!! ...and enrichment at home!

The year has worked pretty well for DS6 (1st grade). Thanks to an amazing, understanding teacher who has been advocating for him. We seem to have the principal on our side now which is nice going in to 2nd grade starting over with a new teacher.

Has has been doing EPGY math instead of the math curriculum and we just got a math teacher at school to sit with him and tutor him while he does it. So far, I have been doing it but it seems it is getting to the point where I am not capable of explaining it to him properly anymore.

He has been getting to do other work in reading/spelling class all through the year. But just recently he was pulled out of those classes completely and goes to a separate room where he works on his writing, worksheets etc. I sit with him 2 days for one period and almost everyday the 5th grade reading instructor comes in for the second period and works with him. He is doing different spelling words but still takes the class spelling test every week, along with the words he is learning.

So overall, very good. We hit some bumps along the way but were able to figure out how to change things to make it pleasant for him. Keeping fingers crossed for a great new year as well...

1111, who paid for EPGY math--you or the school? How did the part where he gets the teachers to come in come about? DS6 could really use something like this next year. Probably a pipe dream. However, we recently were sent the paperwork for the gifted testing process, so he will be evaluated soon (everything he's received this year has been without any test results).

Dd13 is finishing up 8th grade and had a wonderful year. The skip from 5th to 7th was the right choice and she has chosen a great group of friends. She won a Scholastic Writing Award Gold Key which did so much for her confidence with writing and she has a plan to write every day over the summer. After some disappointments with orchestra auditions she buckled down and was placed in the level she audtioned for at the (large, affluent, super-competitive) high school she will attend. And she was accepted to a foreign language academy at the high school which seems like it will be a really great fit for her. Academically I think she would have done fine with another skip, but she had great teachers during middle school and enjoyed herself and was challenged. I think she is set to have a very positive experience high school experience.

Dd7 first grade is a puzzle. She bombed the CogAt. I really do think she is some level of gifted but just does not show it. Considered doing private testing this spring, but she is still a little silly and I think the results will be more accurate next year so we are waiting. She seemed happy at school, and loves her teacher, but has frequent melt-downs at home--who knows if poor academic fit is a factor in that. Getting her to do homework is a nightmare.I need to make much more of an effort to seek out some fun math/science stuff for her, and that is not me so I need to try harder. Chess has been positive, she won a big trophy for winning the most points out all the rookie players, k-5. Hoping for a good teacher next year, and very curious to see what testing eventually shows when we do it.

Ultramarina, I WISH they would pay for it, but no, we do. It is fine though. I figure I would be paying for it if I were homeschooling as well.

The teachers at the school do tutoring in their off time. This particular teacher has taught college math as well so I figure we will be able to use him for a good while...:-) We do pay for his time but it is very reasonable.

They provided a computer for him to use and placed it in a room where they usually do admissions testing. Works out really well. For the reading sessions we actually sit in the conference room.

deacongirl- my 1st grade ds did not score well on CoGat this fall, yet with WISC IV scored hg with some 2e issues. I understand your desire to want to wait for private testing, but I fully believe based on our experience, CoGat is not the best measure. It will be interesting if behavior improves when summer vaca comes. That will lead to school being the issue. Good luck! Keep us posted about your younger dd. Congrats on older dd flourishing!

Yes, I have heard many anecdotes of gifted kids doing poorly on CogAt. Happy for your child that you got some answers! Thank you for sharing your experience.

This year has been a mixed bag for DS11. He skipped 6th and started 7th at the beginning of the year, with 8th math. His nonexistent executive functioning got him some grade problems, with all the missed assignments that he either forgot all about, turned in unfinished, or completed and then forgot to turn in. He managed to pull at least a C in all his classes at semester, due to last-minute cramming to catch up. At semester, I lobbied for, and got him, a switch of two classes to the e-school, and he started in Video Game Design and the second half of Algebra I. He has done very well in those, with nearly 100% in both, but his other classes continue to be plagued with the forgetfulness. He pulled everything back up at the quarter by turning in a bunch of missing stuff, and he's managing to hang on by the fingernails this last quarter.

I'm aiming for 5 e-school classes next year, with two regular classes, the ones at the end of the day. I want him to keep his feet in the door and be able to see people a little bit, but I think he will do much better with a large proportion of online classes.

DD7, in second grade, has had a rough year and it's hard to tell where she's at. She switched from the high reading group to the regular reading group at the last quarter (or semester? time flies) because her comprehension as tested was looking grim. I haven't heard how she's doing in the new group, really. And her grades all dropped at the last quarter, including a U in math facts. I don't know what her hangup is there. But she did just pass subtraction and start on multiplication this week, so I guess there's hope. She had some rough times with getting in trouble over stupid things (touched x's backpack, etc.), and I don't think the match with this teacher is the best. I hear this teacher is moving to third grade next year, so I really hope she doesn't end up in her class again!

The year has been much calmer and less stressful than last year. I doubt much could have been worse than that, in retrospect. So let's say it has been a very happy year for DS7, who has made many new friends after switching schools. My parents visited recently from out-of-state and noted how much calmer he seems. My mom (who is very familiar with what we went through) credits the new school environment. I suspect she is largely correct.

He's not getting as much differentiation/acceleration as we might like, although he is two years advanced in math (and doing great there, though it's probably also not quite enough stretch, it is enough that if he gets lazy and makes mistakes, he wants to and does correct them). He's had some special projects at school (wrote a play, which was performed by some of his classmates, researched several topics and made reports), which have been great, and has had fun.

We are meeting w/the teachers (current and next year's planned) and administrator soon to hear the plan for next year. I am anxious and feeling unprepared for this meeting, despite knowing so much more than I did at this time last year. (Perhaps because I know so much more!) This year's teacher has been so supportive of him, and the next one may not click. One never knows at the start...

We have talked briefly about the IAS with the head of school, who has only used it once but is open. Not so much because we are in a rush to do a full acceleration, but because we think it might be illuminating.

DS has read oodles of books and attended one G&T weekend session this year (and some online sessions), so despite the lack of acceleration, I think he's learned this year. He likes fact-based books (think: encyclopedias of various sorts) as well as fiction. We are blessed to have a fabulous local library.

I was enjoying the break from having other grownups talk to me but after church today, the leader of the children's section (the kids step out of it) approached me to discuss how to improve DS' behavior. Seems he has been bored and thus going back to negative leadership (leading the others astray with his wisecracks). Sigh. The very nice man said several times he knew DS was very intelligent, but could do better. (He handled the conversation beautifully.)

This year I pondered sub-letting a room from DS8's school and relocating my office to that room, the better to make myself available for the endless meetings. The meetings have helped, a bit, but DS8 remains disengaged and dysgraphic. Next year brings a small, specialized, class to work with the dysgraphia, which will provide a delightful opportunity for still more meetings to ensure sufficient challenge to address the disengagement. A new, exciting, hobby of curriculum research awaits.

DD6 has had a fabulous year with a teacher who differentiates as naturally as breathing (they exist!). If I weren't so worried about next year, I'd be enjoying this strange feeling of happiness. I have the IAS on my nightstand for this one.

We've been doing lots of traveling.

I wanted to wait until school was officially out to call it. DD5 had an amazing kindergarten year at her highly regarded, selective private school. They have provided her with so many avenues of challenge. She is so happy. I haven't really had a complaint, which is why I have only been lurking recently. She loved school. We did not have to do any enrichment or after schooling. Instead, we filled that time with playing with new school friends. Her friends from school are really great and like-minded. I mean, did we win the lottery? She still reads a lot (a lot even for this board), and we are really starting to see how educational all this free reading really is. She knows a lot about a lot. I think as she matures with age this is becoming more and more evident.

We began first grade with DS6 convincing everyone in his class, including his teacher, he was 7. No one even questioned it until we saw it on some artwork and made him admit that he just turned 6, not 7!

This was the year we finally did testing to see just how gifted DS6 was. It was eye opening in many ways. After the initial shock, we shared the 99.9% results with a completely unresponsive teacher. I had multiple frustrating conversations that were more about her trying to convince me that my son wasn't really that gifted. He didn't already know all the vocabulary words; he couldn't finish writing the 30 addition problems in a minute; he doesn't actually comprehend what he's reading beyond a 2nd grade level because he didn't understand the tester's questions; he has friends and really gifted kids don't do well socially; and reason after reason. I don't know why she was so combative about it. The principal was a complete flake and against skipping him up a grade, so we decided to change schools for next year.

We've dubbed this year the "Confidence Crushing" year since he was often called on in class to know things that hadn't been taught and ignored the rest of the time. She did support him skipping a grade and eventually let us determine his homework, but we decided to enroll him elsewhere. This year was a real let down academically at school. It is heart-wrenching to listen to a kid complain that school is "wasting his time" and that it "takes up too much of his life every day just being bored". We counted down the weeks to the end of the year because we couldn't really do anything else.

At home, we worked through 3rd grade curriculum for his homework. He read too many books - and all were above 2nd grade level. He became obsessed with the Titanic, Alcatraz, and Greek mythology. We supported his interests with movies, documentaries, books, and worked it into his homework too. He worked differently when he was engaged and supported. I hope his new school, with small class sizes and interest-based learning will help him blossom.

Both dd9 and ds7 had a great year! Some ups and downs, but they both came out happy and having had learned.

DS started at a new charter school this year. Our local public school for his kindy year was a disaster. He spent most of the year trying to sit quietly while the teacher focused on the lowest 25% of the class. That made us decide to move him into a brand new school, the new school was in its first year and had a lot of growing pains. New building, new staff, new families. It seemed that each week there was some change to school processes. We line up here, no, we line up there. Kind of crazy making BUT ds did a years worth of learning in a year. That is what we hope for! The charter school is what I call a "Hippie School." The basis of the school seems to be peace, love and understanding. The kids get time-ins, they talk about peace, about nurturing the whole child. Emotionally, this year was spot on for ds.
The learning style at this school is project based. DS did 5 major projects this year. He did all of his learning based on the topics of Great Danes, Tornadoes, Land Slides, Jacques Cousteau, and Wolves. He was fully engaged all year. He jumped 4 grade levels in reading but only advanced one year in math. He made friends, he had run-ins with frenemies, he got into trouble for being naughty when he deserved it, he got praised for good behavior when he exhibited it. It is what we had hoped for for ds.

DD9 also had a great year. She is at the stand-alone TAG school. I did not gel with her teacher this year. I stepped on the teachers toes at the beginning of the year and we never recovered. DD started the year with a poor report card. She was failing math. The recommendation was that dd go back to grade level math and try it all again. DD did not find this to be acceptable and committed to working harder and with a tutor. We found a high school girl who was willing to tutor dd weekly. DD pulled her grades up to 90% by the end of the year and was promoted to 5th grade math. (I irritated dd's teacher by running to dd's 1/2 teacher after the first report card asking for advice. The last teacher had had dd for 2 years and knew her completely as a learner, this annoyed the current teacher. Oh well!)
More to come.

I suspect that the main reason behind the majority of her bad grades (minus the math) was so that the school could show improvement in her grades. See how well we are teaching? *barf*

They have been out of school for a week now and are both eager to go back in the fall. It was a good year and we are so fortunate to have so many free schooling options available to us. Nothing is perfect but I think that we are meeting the needs of both of our children very well!