Day 180 plus

So here we are at the end of the school year.  It's taken me a while to post this.  I guess I'm almost sad about the end of 4th grade.  Thus do we enter the murky waters of  >shudder<  Middle School.  On the other hand, we can now relax and go through summer playing math games (Timez Attack), swimming for  Phys Ed, trying to learn Spanish, and reading about Medieval Times as the kids wanted to. 

I was pondering what to write about for the last post for One Year of Homeschooling.  In the past week or so we've done things worth posting about. 
We went on a hike to Table Rock on Father's Day and saw a Black snake winding his way on the side of a rock.  We had a truly nice time with perfect weather and even tempers. 
We went on an airport tour that was super fantastic, and I plan on taking them back for another in a few years.  We got a private bus that took us to a hangar for a tour and to the snow removal equipment housed in old Cold War hangars (snow removal equipment for an airstrip is very impressive, by the way).  The bus also took us to the end of the runway where we watched a plane land, then drove down the length of the runway after it!  It was most cool.
I could have written about the end-of-year test, the CAT test from Seton that we do every year.  I fret and I fret, positive that this is the year that they are going to fail math completely, only to be so very pleasantly surprised when they both score in the high 90's for both English and Math.
I could have written about catching crayfish in the creek, or swimming in pools, or going to fireworks, or picnics, or any number of things.

The trouble is that the schooling doesn't just "end".  Officially, the kids think they are off the hook and done for the year.  The truth of the matter is that we are teaching all the time, and they are learning from us, from all the books that they devour like junk food, from all they see and do.  I don't define myself as an unschooler, but it's starting to look like I am one just the same.
Today I prepared my 4th quarterly (ok, late, yes) and put everything in it to complete paperwork for 4th grade.  I also put in it my Letter of Intent.  On to another year of homeschooling!

Giving them a helping hand (before freaking out, look at the horizon).

Day 178, 179

We finished the testing!  It took a couple of days (maybe more), but we finally got it all done.  Out of 100 questions, Luke got 4 wrong, and Emily got 3 wrong.  This is not the end of the story, however.  This was the CAT test from Seton.  The way it's graded is they are compared to all the other kids (including school kids) who take the test, and for each section they are given a rating.  The more kids did well, the lower the overall rating will be.  The scale is 1-10, and when the kids were younger, they got 8s and 9s on sections where I knew they had gotten all the questions right.  The reason is the grade is an average, and most of the kids got a lot of the answers right, so it brings down the score.  If half the kids scored 17 questions right in a 20 question section, that means they would score a 5.
I'm just happy to report to Luke and Emily that they scored 97 and 96%, and have officially passed 4th grade.  I'll be closing with my last of the 180 days next, and then who knows?  We still have a lot to do.  I didn't even mention the tour of the Sewage Treatment plant we took last Friday, or the Zoology picnic we have on Thursday, or the Airport tour coming up, the end-of-year picnic for our own group with crafts and water fun, or...

Day 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177

Somehow life has gotten away from me again, but we have, as usual, been busy busy busy.
We did indeed go to Brooks Dairy Farm, where we stood at the business end of the cows, dodging the *ahem* excrement, and the kids loved climbing all over the hay.  Everyone who wanted to got a chance to milk a cow, and we learned how raw milk is gotten from cow to container.  A very nice farm and really nice people. 

There were a few days taken by test prep, which we are still working on, a little at a time.  We did plant the farm, but I haven't taken pictures yet.  It seems to be going well!  We also had some "house" work going on, so things were slowed down for that.  We had a holiday weekend in there as well! 

We did manage another writing assignment, and I think this one went better than the last.  I'd like to make it a regular weekly thing, and my mom actually is doing it with me to "help" her comprehension as well.  I think she found it an interesting exercise.  We did the Father and His Sons, another Aesop fable, but I think it's time to  move on and maybe try some non-fiction next. 

We also went on a hike to Bonticou Crag in Mohonk Preserve.  It is beautiful, but I'm not fond of the rock scramble part.  The kids like most of it, but a spot or two are sort of tricky.  I think next time DH can take the kids up the front, and I'll meet them around the other way.

Well, ok, this photo might have been rigged...

We had an end-of-year gathering for orchestra this past monday, a playdate tuesday, a playdate wednesday, and a dentist appointment today. 
There were other things accomplished, but it's been an odd couple of weeks. 

At any rate, we have at least decided on some things that will get done in the summer:  math drills, music practice, Spanish and Medieval Times.  Heck, it'll be great!  We'll build a trebuchet and a castle, throw in some swimming, barbecues and a trip, and that's summer!