Last Day of School!

We wrapped up a little early this year {we worked really hard!}, and now we have officially have 2 second graders and a first grader!

Eli did so well this year. He worked hard, improving his language arts skills and making great progress in handwriting and reading. Math is definitely his strength; he grasped the concepts so quickly, and often walked around the house spouting off math equations. He also really loved history and human body science this year!

Maddie also made great progress this year, making huge strides in her reading and is showing great overall fluency. She excelled at spelling and handwriting, often writing little notes for us! Math was not her favorite subject this year, but she persevered, and I am so proud that she didn't give up. She also really loved history and animal science this year!

I am so proud of my Aiden! This kid was technically in Kindergarten, but he had no problem keeping up with his 1st grade siblings! He caused more jealousy because he got to take more breaks than they did, but he also didn't want to be left out of too many things either haha. He hung in there for most of 1st grade math and language arts, and he did history and science right alongside Eli and Maddie. His reading is coming along really well, and he's looking forward to 1st grade {with a little of 2nd grade work sprinkled in!}

This was the first year that I have to show proof of progress for Eli and Maddie. In Virginia, we have the option to test or do an evaluation, and I chose an evaluation. I wasn't quite sure they would be ready for a standardized test yet, based on their current reading levels {thought now that we have made it to the end of the year, I think we might have been ok}. But I also think that spending an entire week on testing is just unnecessary at this age, and we will have plenty of time for it in the future. 

For the evaluation, we had to obtain a letter from a licensed teacher or someone with a Master's degree or higher in an academic discipline. The letter must state the child's educational growth and progress over the academic year. I chose an outside evaluator {someone we didn't know}, a former public school teacher turned homeschool mom/entrepreneur who now offers evaluations, tutoring, educational resources. I submitted a portfolio for each kid ahead of time, that basically showed samples of Eli and Maddie's work throughout the year, our curriculum list, extracurricular activities, etc. And then we had a zoom call to discuss their progress! Eli and Maddie did great; they answered her questions, did a fantastic job reading her a book of their choice, and sharing a few projects with her. 

We got our official letters, finished up our last few days of school, and now we are looking forward to our summer! We actually have some school things planned for the summer {gotta keep up our reading and math skills!}...but we will be taking about a month off, and our summer work will be light. There will still be plenty of time for summer fun! :)