This is for my Sarah Beth. An account of her daily adventures and discoveries.

My poor child's blog, it's been so neglected and I'm afraid things aren't going to improve much around here, at least not in the immediate future.

 

She does say or do things that literally crack me up everyday, but I'm so bad about remembering them or writing them down.  Sometimes the pace of our conversations or actions are so fast that it just all happens too quickly to register, if that makes sense. 

 

She's really turning into such a little grown up and sometimes I have to stop and remind myself that she's only (almost) 6 and not 26!  The scope of some of the things she asks about and the things we talk about just amaze me, and I'm so glad she likes talking to me and Garrett and she's so open with us.  She doesn't hesistate to say she doesn't understand something and wants to know more, and if neither Garrett or I know the answers the first thing out of her mouth is, "Let's look it up on the computer."

 

She's a great kid and I appreciate that fact every second of every day.

 

I have to admit I did start this entry because I wanted to do some more bragging about her.  And I have, but there's more, lol....

 

As you all know Sarah's teacher informed us recently that Sarah's reading has really taken off and I guess she's been doing so well that Sarah's teacher wanted to start her on a special reading program that is usually started in the First Grade. 

 

I think the name of the program is Star Reading, and essentially the child's reading ability gets tested to find out what "zone" she's in.  All the books in her "zone" are specially selected for optimal growth in reading and comprehension.  Once her zone is known she's encouraged to select books from that zone and then take tests on them utilizing the computers in the computer lab.  This allows for all kinds of measurements and tracking to take place, so you really get a very good sense of just how well your child is reading, and performing.  Plus the program tracks how many words are read by each child and when they reach the million words read mark they get their picture up on a permanent billboard in the school, and it's called the Millionares Club.  It's a big deal and Sarah's noticed that billboard before, now that's she's part of the program she is thrilled.  Sarah's teacher informed me that out of the four kindergarten classes there are about 10 to 12 students who are going to be started on this program and the great thing is that she can work on it during the summer because the school is keeping the library open, yay!

 

So, now I want to share with you the initial results that Sarah received, I was floored.  The grade equivalent she scored was a 2.2.  That means that Sarah reads at a level equal to that of a typical second grader after the second month of the school year.  SECOND GRADE!!!  This is a bit embarrassing but I have to tell you, when I read that I was in the living room and Sarah was suppose to be in her bedroom, so after I read that my immediate reaction was "FUCK!"  LOL, I know, I know, not the nicest or most appropriate response in the world but like I said I was floored.  Sarah heard me, LOL...let's just say explanations and instructions not to repeat the word were given and now I guess not only is Sarah's legitimate vocabulary is improving her colorful one is too.

 

Ok, onto more results...her percentile rank was 59, which means Sarah reads at a level greater than 59% of other students nationally in the same grade.  It's an average score, but average is taking into account scores of children who have taken the test multiple times and of course improve their scores each time.  So, I'm thinking Sarah's score for the first time at it is pretty damn good.  Greater than 60%, of kids her age, over the rest of the nation!  Yay!

 

The final "zone" that she was placed in was 2.1 to 3.1.  So this level should offer her a range of books that are interesting enough and challenging enough to continue improving her reading skills.

 

I can't tell you how exciting all this is.  Laying down a strong foundation for good reading skills is so incredibly important and knowing that my little girl is right there in the middle of it and doing better everyday, AND enjoying it, well it really really just sets my heart and mind on fire.  I love it!  I love her!