Home schooling is GO

I can't see the point in sending Kirk to school this year because he's just too young to cope with 5 days a week. So we will spend this year participating in the School of Life :-)   I understand the government has changed prep. in order to bring Qld into line with the other states' 13 years of schooling but 30% of boys are failing to reach the grade 2 benchmarks so why set him up for failure? I fear the early age of enrolment has more to do with babysitting and getting mums into "gainful employment" than lifting standards. Anyone interested?

Little Fatty: Skye, has put on a kilo and grown 2cm since birth. She is now capable of wiggling her way around the bed, rolling front to back and has a good degree of head control.  She is a night owl with an impatient  personality. Hopefully that will change.

Swim School: Kirk had a great time and is starting to swim the length of the pool (approx 12m). He has a lot of confidence but swimming club is a long way off yet.

NAPLAN: Finally I'm close to finishing the NAPLAN math preparation materials for the teachers who will instruct this year (YAY for Jo &  Barb!)  I spent terms 3 & 4 last year teaching students how to do better in their national exam. Why are we spending money on teaching kids how to score well in an exam? Because our funding is linked to it. Qld came 7th of the states and although the authorities say they make allowance for Qld students being a year younger and with a year less schooling there is little evidence of this and they are not forthcoming on exactly how they do this. My best wishes to Jo and Barb as they try to bring our year 8s up to scratch.