AR & FCAT

The big news for today is that Libby reached 100 points in AR (Accelerated Reading)!! She's been working hard all year to reach 100 points before May 13 and she accomplished it today - a month early! As a reward, all students who have reached 100 points by May 13th get to go on a special field trip and Libby is very excited that she earned the trip. When Libby took her last test today and reached the 100 points she quietly called her teacher over and whispered in her ear that she just reached the 100 point mark and the teacher made the announcement to the rest of Libby's class so they could all congratulate her. Then the librarian came and did a video interview of Libby to be on tomorrow morning's announcements to let the rest of the school know that she was the newest member of the 100 Point Club! And, she reached 100 points during National Library Week - how fitting!

Also this week is FCAT testing. FCAT is the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test that is given to all students in grades 3-11. So, this is Libby's first year taking the standardized test. FCAT is a huge deal and if that didn't put enough stress on the children, 3rd grade is one of the grades where it is pass or fail. If they don't pass the FCAT then they don't pass 3rd grade! That's a lot of pressure for first timers! Yesterday and today she took the reading portion and felt like she did a really good job. Tomorrow and Thursday are the math portions of the test. Since she's been working so hard in school this week with the testing we've been having party nights at home to totally get her mind off of school. Last night she and Ryan swam in the pool and I stopped and picked her up cupcakes on the way home as a special treat for this week and tonight they played video games. She really likes the no homework and the party nights at home but she isn't thrilled about having to go to bed an hour earlier!

Also this week I made an Easter countdown for her. I started doing countdowns this past Christmas and she really enjoyed getting a little surprise each morning leading up to Christmas. I did another countdown for Valentine's that she really enjoyed, as well. I had every intention of doing a St. Patrick's Day countdown but time got away from me so when it hit me that we are getting close to Easter I quickly put together a little Easter countdown over the weekend. Each morning she gets to open an egg that has stickers, or candy, or a small toy. It makes it a little easier to get her up in the mornings and that's been even more helpful this week when I'm getting her up 15 minutes early so that she's not rushing around before going to school for the FCAT!