I mentioned several months ago about Katie's A.R. points. What is this you ask? A.R. is the acronym for Accelerated Reading. It is the progressed monitored by a software assessment that is used by primary and secondary schools. This program assesses the student's reading level, suggests book titles for that particular level for the student to read and monitors to see if the student completes that level and is ready for the next reading level. Last I was told, Katie's reading level is 3.8. She is currently reading at a third grade level, which is where she needs to be.
Accelerated Reading software keeps up with each student's points. The lower the reading level (mostly picture books with less than 69 pages) have .5 points. Chapter books get a full (1) point. How do you get the point? The child has to read the book(s) at least twice and then take a AR test on the computer. If they get every question correct, they are awarded the full point. If they miss a question or more, they are deducted a point or more.
Katie's school makes it a competition "who can make 100 points within a certain amount of time?" I forgot the exact date, but it was before Christmas when the first 100 points was due. Poor Katie missed the deadline by a day or two. She was so upset. I guess it gave her the determination that she needed to make the 200 point deadline. The deadline isn't until May 10th and she already has over 200 points. We are so proud of her and she has worked very hard to accomplish this task. A few days before she met her goal, she was getting all worked up and worried that she wouldn't make it. All I could do was to remind her to just do her best. The day she made her 200 points, I picked her up and she was all smiles. You talk about a huge self-esteem boost. SHE DID IT!!!
For all students that meet the deadline, they get to have pizza with the school principal and a field trip to the water park later in the month. The kids are excited! Katie made the mistake of telling Colton about it. Now, he thinks he is going to the water park as well. Ugh!
We could not let the day go by without rewarding our little bookworm. I gave her a choice between McDonalds for supper or ice cream. She LOVES both places and have been begging to go there a lot the past few days. It was a rough toss up, so Colton did what any brother would do. He decided for her. McDonalds it is! LOL!
I am seeing school winding down. Katie's class has finished both reading books for the year, so no assigned book studying. Of course, it's been Teacher Appreciation this week. No homework other than Word Wall Words (4 or 5 words). Katie just needs to know how to spell, write a complete sentence with the correct punctuation. Plus, she has to read for 20 minutes every night.
With Summer fast approaching, we are scurrying around getting prepared. The kids and I are signed up for VBS. Now, I hope and pray that Colton's swim lessons are not during the same week. Ugh! Our swim instructor has always waited until the month of May to call and tell me what week he/she is scheduled. Every year, I don't like to make any commitments during Summer until I hear from her. She is the best swim instructor and is in great demand. Thank goodness we've had her since Katie was 3 years old and us being friends helped as well.
We have no big vacation plans this year. We did our big vacating during Spring Break. Doug still wants to get a membership to the water park, so I guess we'll be there the majority of the Summer. {smiles} This could be very good. I won't have to worry about cleaning out a pool, making sure the chemicals are balanced, etc. Just load up and spend the day. Thank goodness it's not far from our house.
What are your plans this Summer?
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