M's Report Card

I can finally say we are settled into the homeschooling groove. We've yet to have a "perfect" day, but M and I are feeling pretty comfortable with our routine and the curriculum and I've learned (with a few minor hiccups now and then) how to fit the little ones into the routine. Overall, we really like homeschooling with COVA. It is structured enough to keep me in line but not so rigid that M can't play when she needs to. I love that I can fit in Gospel principles when we talk about the Reformation. I love that we can do science experiments together. I love that I have to drag her away from the computer when she is doing math. M is getting a kick out of learning Spanish. The hardest parts are finding activities to count as P.E. and keeping M motivated when she'd rather just watch TV. I am doing better with keeping my temper, though. I think I only nearly lose it once a week, now. :)
I haven't been too impressed with the social aspect of the COVA community. When we signed up, they said there would be a lot of activities we could participate in to meet other kids, but so far all of the activities have been downtown or even further north. I just can't see driving 40+ minutes to meet kids that live in our neighborhood. I tried to create a club for the kids M's age that live nearby, but so far only 2 have shown up. She's had fun with those 2 girls, so I shouldn't complain. I guess I just expected more from the homeschool community. I'm just being lazy and expecting to not have to do any leg work to get M some friends. We are feeling kind of isolated and REALLY missing those CA friends that lived within 5 minutes.
M is doing fantastic academically. She mastered multiplication facts (1-5 and 10 and 11) and is now close to having division facts (1-5 and 10) mastered as well. We're hoping to be able to start 4th grade math by early spring. She's clipping along at a nice rate in language arts. Our teacher administered a state reading test in September and informed us that M reads twice as fast as the average 3rd grader (144 wpm vs 70 wpm). She still drags her feet when it comes to writing, but I can't blame her too much because I have that same hangup. I remember loving creative writing (like she does) in elementary school but anytime I had to write something specific ("to a prompt" it's called) I go totally blank. We're working on that: her blog is an attempt at motivation.
Now, for some numbers. Because we are doing homeschool through the school district, she still has to take the state tests. Some homeschoolers don't like that, I guess, but personally I'm excited about tests. They help me see what areas I need to help her in and they also give me more excuses for praising her. She took a reading test and a math test about a month ago and we got the results. It's totally bragging, I know, but I want to show you how great she is doing:
Math: 84th percentile for 3rd graders nationwide
Reading: 98th percentile for 3rd graders nationwide. The report says that she can read and understand a 9th grade fiction book.
Obviously, she got her brains from her father.