Teeth and Testing

The tooth fairy visited our house three times last week - each time for Anna. She is now very qualified to sing "All I want for Christmas is my FOUR front teeth!".

So, now Anna is convinced there is no Santa Clause. Here's why. On Tuesday, she lost her first tooth of the week. Tuesday night, she diligently put the tooth under her pillow. Somehow, the tooth fairy must not have heard about her tooth because she forgot to come (this is the second time the tooth fairy has missed poor Anna!). So, Anna has this idea that the tooth fairy would never be so irresponsible as to forget about her (twice!), so the tooth fairy must not be real and it must be her irresponsible parents who forgot about her tooth and they just pretend to be the tooth fairy and therefore, Santa Clause is not real. Very logical.

Here's a picture of my toothless little girl.




This is a picture of Anna with the last tooth just ready to fall out.


This is Ben trying to look like Lizzy with a pink headband. It somehow doesn't make him look quite so pretty as it does Liz.

In other news, today the kids got their results of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS). How many of you took those when you were kids? I remember clearly in grade school taking the ITBS and thinking how important Iowa must be that they got to test the kids in Kansas and I clearly remember each time the scores came home. Now that we live in Iowa, I guess it's no surprise our kids take the ITBS (and yes, Iowa is important).

I don't like to brag much, but when it comes to my kids, and considering this is a blog about my family, I figure it's okay to brag a little (or a lot). My kids are smart. Adam is a little genius (no surprise to anyone that's known him a while). The ITBS has two scores, one is called the Iowa Grade Equivalent which shows what grade level the child is performing at in each of the categories of the test. Here is a sample of Adam's grade equivalent scores (keep in mind he is in the THIRD GRADE!!):

Reading Comprehension - 7th grade, 1st month
Spelling - 7th grade, 8th month
Language usage and expression - 8th grade, 4th month
Problem Solving & Data Interpretation - 7th grade, 9th month
Mathematics total - 7th grade, 3rd month
Core total - 6th grade, 5th month

The other score is the Iowa Percentile Rank which compares him to other 3rd graders. Here are his scores:

Reading Total - 97th percentile
Language Total - 99th percentile
Mathematics Total - 99th percentile
Core Total - 99th percentile
Composite Total - 99th percentile

We always tease Adam that he sometimes acts too much like a teenager (mostly referring to his attitude on those "off" days). Maybe it's because he really is thinking a lot like a teenager. We're hoping that means we'll get through the teenage years with him before he reaches puberty, then he'll be easy when he really is a teenager. Wishful thinking!

Anna did really, really well too. They don't give quite as many tests to first graders, but on the ones she did take, she scored at or above her grade level on all of them. She was very consistent in her scores which shows that she is comfortable in all the different areas of learning that they were testing on. It's been fun to watch her really take off in school this year. She loves learning and does very careful and thoughtful work. She loves her teacher this year and that is a huge help to her.

We really love watching all our kids growing and learning. Lizzy shows a lot of the same kinds of quick thinking that Adam has. She is reading well now and loving preschool. Ben is more like Anna, much more careful and deliberate about things and interested in doing quality work. He loves music right now! Last night he was telling me that he was afraid of the dark. I told him that when he feels afraid, that he should try to think of something that makes him happy. Then I asked, "What makes you happy, Ben?" He thought for a moment, then said, "Music makes me happy!" And he makes us happy!