Quarterly Report 4th Grade IV and Annual Assessment

Name: Alex

Blog Website: http://leperdy.com

Grade: 4th

Hours of instruction this quarter: 225

Arithmetic: Alex completed Singapore 4B. This quarter he covered: Congruent and Symmetric Figures; Coordinate Graphs and Changes in Quantities; Data Analysis and Probability; and Measures and Volume. He is making excellent progress in Math.

English Language Arts: Alex read several books that he discussed with his book club this quarter, including: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, Edith Pattou’s East, Rosemary Sutcliff’s The Eagle of the Ninth, Anne Ursu’s The Shadow Thieves, and Alton Brown’s I’m Just Here For The Food. He also read various history and science non-fiction books and articles in his studies, and several fiction books for fun.

Alex continues to write in his journal, and has recently initiated a personal diary blog. This quarter he completed a short fantasy novel as an assignment for a creative writing class, and is currently working on another story on his own. Additionally, he has been working on turning some of his journal entries into longer essays, with the focus being on developing editing skills.

Alex enjoys reading, and continues to develop comprehension by selecting books that push the boundaries of his abilities. Recently, he discovered that he likes to write, and I expect that his language expression will continue to blossom as he pursues this interest.

Social Studies: Moving forward chronologically in his study of the Middle Ages, Alex completed short research projects on the Saxons and the Battle of Hastings. He also viewed the interdisciplinary Silk Road exhibit at the Museum of Natural History that traces the history of science, technology, music, writing, etc. between major cities of the ancient world. These subjects are the fodder for current blog posts.

Science: Alex is curious about all kinds of science topics, and initiates learning opportunities on his own. He also enjoys watching Mythbusters, as well as the Teaching Company’s college-level Introduction to Geology that we are watching as a family. This quarter, Alex completed a unit study on Sound, the Webelo Geologist Badge, and the Herkimer Diamond Homeschool Day program on fossils, rocks and minerals, and environmental science.

Music & Art: Alex researched and wrote about the life and music of Ludwig Van Beethoven. He also attended a couple of folk music concerts, Tom Chapin at Proctor’s and Traditional Strings at the Schoharie Strawberry Festival. Additionally, he was introduced to various art mediums through museum visits and projects that were mentioned in other subjects.

Health Education: Alex completed the Cub Scout Webelo Readyman Badge which required him to learn about First Aid and home, car, and bike safety. He also developed team building skills while acquiring survival skills in the Tamakoce Wilderness Program that culminated in an overnight stay in a long house that he helped build.

Physical Education: Alex is getting daily exercise through hiking, rock climbing, biking, skateboarding, swimming, dog walks, and outdoor play. He also made excellent progress in his weekly fencing lessons

Technology: Alex is learning how to use Adobe to edit digital photos. He continues to develop technical skills on Blogger and Roblox, and Lego Mindstorm programming.

Home Instruction Annual Assessment 2010

Alex has made admirable academic progress this year. Some highlights of the year include: developing a new interest in writing that propels him to produce fiction and journal entries on his own; producing interesting and impressive novels as part of a Creative Writing Class; developing ability to participate appropriately in a young adult book club; emerging ability to shape research projects into full-fledged multimedia blog post essays; being introduced to the Math Counts program; strengthening teamwork skills through Cub Scouts, Lego League, and Wilderness Groups; and interest-led learning in a wide variety of interdisciplinary subjects.

California Achievement Test Results

Test Level: CAT Level 14 Spring 04 Norms

Composite Percentile: 91