On Friday we got together with other homeschoolers for a class at a Nature Preserve. We talked about how pollution is created and how it affected neaby waterways. We also talked about the falcon and plover they rescued. It was pretty cool and geared toward ges 9-15, but a few 5 y/os snuck in, lol. I'd love to find more of these fun homeschooler classes. Friday afternoon was dance for J and work for me. Saturday I worked all day. J had dance at 2:30, learning the new choreography for her group numbers. In the evening I went home, got in my PJs and relaxed. I love Saturday evenings. We all watched scary Halloween movies together.

On Sunday, J and W had private dance lessons for their solos. P (J's coach) said J was better than ever and she was so impressed at how well it went. F (W's coach) has so much faith in him and tells me how quickly he learns. I'm still not so sure about him having the nerve to perform in front of a huge audience and several judges. But, we'll see. He enjoys it so much and is so proud when he "gets it", and besides he is as hammy as the rest of us in this family, lol, so it might work out. I mean if I don't feel he's ready by the time the first comp comes around in February, then of course he can wait til another one. I think we're doing 4 or 5 and then Nationals in July.

In the evening, I asked J if she'd like to take the Texas TAKS 5th grade standardized test. J enjoys these and came to the computer to see what she knew. I was curious myself, since we don't use a math curriculum or do formal lessons. And I knew she'll be taking the CAT in the spring, so it was good practice. Out of 40 questions, she missed 5. But I noticed that all the missed answers were toward the end when she was getting tired and bored with it. So, still, not bad at all. After the kids were in bed I went over all the paperwork I have saved in my hard drive and updates J's learning log. I break the log into subjects and quarters (mainly for easy reference in case I ever need to prove what she's learning. With NY regs, you never know!). Even with a narrow font set to "9" it fills up a whole page. At least I'm getting good practice with transcript writing. And I just feel better knowing I have that. I didn't start one yet for K and since W needs no paperwork this year, I'm not doing too much with his. Maybe I'll post it here one day.