Science Fair

For the first time, the kids wanted to do the science fair at school. (At Cavett, they are eligible to do the science fair every year. The K-2nd graders just get a participation ribbon, and the older kids get judged.) So, we agreed to let them do it and spent several weeks in February and March working on their projects. It meant trips to the library for resources, scouring the internet and doing the experiments. Brian did most of that part with them. I ended up using my creative skills to help make their presentation boards. Grace complicated the matters a little bit by working with a partner. Her name is Natsuki and she and Grace are good friends, they spend a lot of time together playing at school. Natsuki's parents don't speak English very well, so the communication and coordination of times to work together was a little tricky, but it all worked out. They are nice people and we enjoyed getting to know them a little bit. I know Grace and Natsuki had a fun time working together (and playing when they were supposed to be working but weren't!)

 

 

 

 Here's some photos of Will doing his project. In a nutshell, his project was about which paper has the strongest capillary action (absorbs water fastest). By the way, he found out that paper towels have the strongest capillary action. I guess paper towel manufacturers know what they're doing!

  

Grace and Natsuki measured magnet strength. They even created a magnet. 

 

 

Xander's project was on viscosity. He measured how fast a lead weight sunk through different liquids with varying viscosity. His was the funniest because they measure viscosity in centipoise, and it was hilarious to hear an 8 year old saying words like viscosity and centipoise - very grown up!

 

 Here's pictures from the day of the fair. They all did a great job telling the judges about their project. They were able to answer all their questions, no problem. I was proud of them for that, because you know we still sometimes struggle with talking in unfamiliar circumstances. They did practice their presentations to anyone who would listen - Brian and I, grandparents, even the babysitters!

Our other happy school related news is that we finally got a gifted label for Grace. Back in the fall, they took a standardized test called a CogAt. While her high scores (97th percentile) all by themselves wouldn't necessarily qualify her as gifted, all of her other work, her high reading level (late 4th grade) combined with her showing critical/extended thinking skills in class does. So, her teacher took her portfolio of work to the gifted committee and they voted yes to identify her. It doesn't really change anything for her placement now. She's already in a reading group at her level and she (along with the boys) are in the advanced math class. But, in 4th, 5th and especially middle school, it is going to be really important to have that label to get into the advanced classes. The boys also scored well on the CogAt (89th percentile) and will probably get the gifted label sometime in 3rd grade. Xander's challenge is talking in class - he's not really showing any critical/advanced thinking skills out loud and that's one of the criteria. I've been talking with his teacher about it a lot lately -  more on that in a minute. Will's challenge is his slow, slooooooow work. The child takes days to write a story and almost never gets his work done on time. He does quality work and he's not behind but he does his work so slow that he doesn't have time to improve it or change it. We see this behavior at home (where it takes him 45 minutes in the morning to make his bed or 15 minutes to brush his teeth). So, we are working on that.

 

So, I've been in communication with Xander's teacher a lot about his talking. She's concerned that he doesn't talk to her in class, which he doesn't. But, it's just a behavior. He is perfectly capable of talking to her, he just doesn't. We've been talking to him a lot lately about it and we've been thinking of strategies he can use and things to try to get him going on this. She did report last week that things are better. But, it's the main thing holding him back from getting the gifted label. If he would talk in class and demonstrate that he has beyond understanding of the material, it would be a piece of cake to label him. 

 

Our other challenge with Xander is that he still has his lisp which has technically been a speech delay since he turned 7. But now that he is 8 and is still not saying his "r's" correctly, that is also a delay. I've had a meeting and exchanged several emails with the speech therapist and am fighting to get him services to fix that. The challenge is that the speech delay isn't affecting his learning, it is merely an articulation problem. The speech therapist maintains that "by law" she can only get involved if the delay affects his learning. I am, however, informed by other speech therapists that if the child suffers a "social penalty" for their articulation problems, that they can get services. So, I've been trying to make a case for that. They are going to eventually help him one way or another, but whether his classroom teacher does it (which, I don't personally believe is her job) or the speech therapist does it, is still under contention. It's a good thing that his teacher is a huge advocate for him and is trying to get things done that are in Xander's best interest and the Principal and Assistant Principal at Cavett are wonderful also. I think eventually this will get taken care of and I do believe that if he gets someone to help him he can take care of his articulation errors easily and quickly! I'll keep you posted!