Tuesday, November 1, 2011

A Conference

dg8's teacher is Mrs. M.  Yesterday I went for a parent teacher conference where Mrs. M. reviewed a beginning of the year reading and math assessment.  It shakes out like this:
Reading: Accuracy @ 95% which just means he accurately identifies 95% of the words he reads.  Words per minute comes in @ 46.  The theory is that this can impact his comprehension score which is 7 out of 10.  Apparently, the slower you read and the longer it takes to get through a sentence, the more you forget by the time you get to the end of that sentence.   Reading with feeling is 3 out of 3...excellent.  This puts him at a reading level N...3rd grade reading level.  The takeaway?  Focus on words per minute and the payoff is greater comprehension.

I explained that dg8 seems much improved since the beginning of the year.  We expected him to read over the summer, which he did; the Magic Tree house series.  It didn't seem like he'd improved much, but since school started he is reading everything.  Nothing can be spelled in front of him any longer.  He's sharper and more insightful.  The teacher agrees.


Today she performed her own assessment.  The results are that dg8 has more than doubled his words per minute to 101.  He's doing great and his assessments are another data point showing us what we already know, he's bright.  We just have to keep him working.

Oh yeah, he's pretty good at math too.  Watch, he'll end up doing something mathy.

A Child's Prayer

wg6 has begun to give thanks for gravity during prayers.  I mean really, who doesn't appreciate gravity.  Think of what it makes possible.  What a kid.