ITBS Results
Everyone who reads this knows that I have been waiting a long time for the results of Kaitlyn’s Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) that she took in April (here, here, here, and here). You might also remember that I am not a big fan of this type of testing, or the FCAT, and only subject Kaitlyn to them because it is required that she take them. And since today was her last day of school, included with her report card were the results of her tests.
If you thought that I was beaming with pride about her final report card, just wait a minute and keep reading.
Kaitlyn’s Core Total, which describes her total achievement on the tests was an 80. That placed her in the 80th percentile nationally, meaning she scored higher than 80% of kindergarten students in the country. Wow!
Her math total was a 77. Not too shabby in my book. Kaitlyn worked a lot on her math at home during the school year, so this is a great number.
She did score below the national average (50th percentile) on vocabulary, scoring a 42. Which if you read on, makes no sense.
Her reading words, reading comprehension, reading total, and word analysis all scored at a 99. Her overall language score was a 99. In those areas, Kaitlyn scored higher than 99% of all kindergarten kids in the country.
In the explanation area, it is noted that “two areas that contribute to reading comprehension are vocabulary and listening.” Wait, vocabulary plays a vital role in reading comprehension? Then how does a 42 in vocabulary help Kaitlyn score a 99 in comprehension? It is almost like the explanation wants us to know that the test is ridiculous. Doesn’t one need a strong vocabulary to be able to read at a higher level than 99% of students in the same grade?
Kaitlyn proved herself to be an excellent student this year, and also to be a very good test taker. For a child with Asperger’s that struggles with focusing, she blew those tests out of the water.
Final Report Card
Along with today being the last day of school for Kaitlyn, it was also the day she brought home her last kindergarten report card. She had done really well on her first three report cards (here, here, and here), making the honor roll twice (there was no honor roll for the first grading period).
Her last report card did not disappoint, either. She made the honor roll again, making her three-for-three this year. That is really awesome. More importantly, she did not have any drop-off in any subject area, so she did an awesome job at maintaining her good work ethic the whole year.
And as always, I wanted to share the comments from her teacher on her report card. They were very nice and made me choke up just a little bit. Here is what her teacher wrote: “Kaitlyn has soared academically this year. She reads and writes above grade level. She also made growth socially, choosing to play with others as opposed to playing alone.” How can our hearts not swell with pride reading words like “soared academically” and “made growth socially?”
In the end-of-year status box, every box was checked that she perfoms on grade level, and she has been promoted to 1st grade. Kaitlyn worked hard this year to do her best, and for her to excel academically was not much of a surprise; for her to grow so much socially was truly a blessing. She has a lot of social awkardness still, and still struggles in some social settings, but she is growing. It is going to be a life-long process, and it will not always be easy for her in a social setting.
Day 180, The Last Day
180 days sure goes by fast. It seems like just yesterday that Amber and I were taking Kaitlyn to the first day of school. And I just picked her up on the last day of school. Where did the school year go? 
It’s hard to believe that 9 months ago, Kaitlyn started school. Over the last 180 days, Kaitlyn was at school for 177 of them, something that Amber and I are very proud of. (There will be two other entries coming today, one about her report card and one about her test scores).
Now, she gets to start her summer. She is excited, yet sad. She is excited about going to summer camp again. She will be going to the same camp she went to last year, so there is that familiarity there, which is very important for her. A few kids from her class will also be going to the camp again this year, which is also a really good thing.
But, Kaitlyn was also a little sad today. She was sad that she won’t see her teacher again for a while, and will not be in her class anymore. She really enjoyed her class. She is sad that she won’t see all of her friends for a while. And she is sad that school is out because she loves going and loves learning.
Kaitlyn was up earlier than usual this morning. We heard her open her door at 6:20 this morning. Apparently, she could not wait to get her day started. As usual, she had breakfast and relaxed for a little bit. After she got dressed, she freshened up on her reading. Yep, she did some reading on her own before the last day of school. Then, it was off to school.
She had no idea when she went to school how she was getting home today. I am sure that she assumed that Amber would be picking her up as is usually the case. But we were careful not to mention anything about her being picked up after school, just in case she would get upset at a change of plans without her knowledge. Instead of Amber picking her up, I decided to take the afternoon off and surprise her, and surprised she was! It was nice for me to be able to pick her up, especially today. It felt like a good way to bookend her year.
We plan on having Kaitlyn relax a lot this summer. She will be busy with summer camp. We have a vacation coming right around the corner as well. But we are going to also keep her in learning mode. We do not want her to get out of the rhythm of doing some kind of learning. And, there might also be some swimming this summer for her, too (although not in the pool pictured below).
Journal Entries
As promised, I wanted to share some of my favorite entries from Kaitlyn’s journal this year. I love the growth she experienced in her writing, and it is neat to see what interests her the most. I will share what she wrote, and some translations since she spelled some of the harder words by sounding them out.
Her very first one, dated August 25: “I like rain” with a picture of a rainbow (she likes rainbows).
In another, she wrote, “I like to play on the pink slide.” She has always been a fan of slides.
On October 25: “I’m gnna be Minnie for Halloween.” She was Minnie Mouse for Halloween.
November 7: “I like my boosr ton ball with my dad.” She likes her Boosterthon ball with her dad.
From November 14: “Wen somebody is hert I help them.” Always looking to lend a hand.
November 16: “I like the scool bus bekese I like naping.” Who doesn’t like taking a nap on the school bus?
On December 1: “December is here! Becas on crasimas I open prasens becas we make mile and cookies becas Santa likes them.” Excitement for Christmas and making cookies and leaving milk for Santa.
A New Year’s resolution came on January 5: “Happy New Year! This year I will behave in chrch becas if I behave in chrch I will get some snacks.” Whatever motivates her to behave in church works for us.
February 6: “I watched the Puppy Bowl this weekd.” She obviously did not care about the Super Bowl.
She also shared in an undated entry: “I’m on the 5th level of Lexia. Do you know why? Because I finish with the 4th level of Lexia.” Lexia is a computer-based reading program, and Kaitlyn excelled in using that program all year. She received two stars and a “super” from her teacher for a proper contraction and use of a question mark. Notice that her spelling is improving.
After ITBS testing, and with a full color 100% on the top of the page: “The test was called ITBS. I think I got one huned pecnt. I did relly good on the test.” I cannot wait to see her scores. I am sure she did a great job and tried her hardest.
And finally: “I went to all of the 1st grade classes. I met new friends named: Nate Olivia and other friends. I think I will like 1st grade.” Such a positive outlook.
There are a lot of entries that I did not include, but Amber and I have read them all. We are proud of each and every entry, and that she really seemed to enjoy writing in her journal. Kaitlyn spells like one would expect a kindergarten student to spell, and seems to have done a good job in trying to sound out each word. We love that Kaitlyn enjoys going to school and learning, and plan on working with Kaitlyn to keep the positive attitude toward school.
Tomorrow is the last day of school, and Tuesday night, Kaitlyn was almost beside herself in tears and saying how much she will miss her teacher. Amber and I are very thankful for the patience Kaitlyn’s teacher has shown this year, and how she has been a willing partner with us in Kaitlyn’s overall educational plan. We felt all year that there was open communication between us and her teacher, and I think that was a very important part of Kaitlyn’s success.
A Case of The Giggles
First, what an awesome weekend! Kaitlyn seems to have a real understanding of Memorial Day, and a real pride in our country. She insisted on helping me put our flag up, and kept watching all weekend to make sure the wind was blowing it nicely (especially yesterday, thanks to Beryl).
She also developed a severe case of the giggles at some point over the weekend. Once she would get started laughing, it was hard to get her to stop. It was even more pronounced as she started to get more and more tired.
There really are few things that bring me more joy than when she gets a good laughing spell. It makes everything better. She is happier and we are happier, too. That is one of the most amazing aspects of her personality, her infectous laughter.
Kaitlyn finishes up with school this week, and she seems happy about it. As much as she loves school, she has endured a lot of stress over it also. And it will only increase as she continues on. Summer is almost here, and I don’t anticipate her having any trouble enjoying it, or staying motivated to learn.
Overachieving
Kaitlyn wraps up her kindergarten experience this week with three half days of school. Three days, and then she can relax a little for the summer. This past week, her teacher sent home a giant stack of her work from this year. As I was going through the stack, I noticed two giant math workbooks; these were the workbooks that they used in class to prepare for the weeklong ITBS testing.
No sooner had I changed out of my work clothes had Kaitlyn retrieved the workbooks off of the counter and had them at the table. I did not think much of it, until she opened one and started working on some of the lessons. She was working very hard to get through several lessons because in her mind, they were due this week. Amber and I had to convince her that she did not have to do the lessons that night.
I have a feeling that she will work her way through both workbooks this summer. She likes school, and she enjoys learning. We won’t discourage her at all from working on the lessons, we just do not want her putting a lot of pressure on herself to get them done all in one day. She has worked very hard to do her very best in school this year, and Amber and I are very proud of her. She needs to just sit back and relax a little this summer and enjoy being away from school. Her teacher recommended some things that we can work on this summer, and we fully intend to follow her recommendations. We want Kaitlyn to be a well-rounded student, but also to enjoy being a kid.
Kaitlyn is very excited about the end of the school year and going to first grade next year. She has told us who she wants as her teacher, but we do not get too much input on that one.
I hope to share this week some highlights from the journal that Kaitlyn kept this year. It gives some fascinating insights into what really goes on in her head, and seeing the growth she experienced this year is amazing to me.
Fifty Thousand Words
No, I’m not talking about the current inventory of Kaitlyn’s vocabulary, but I would not be shocked if it were that high.
Fifty thousand words, from what I am told, is the minimum number necessary to complete a book worth writing. That’s a lot of words.
And the challenge I am accepting. From pretty much the first entry in this blog over a year ago, my dad has been encouraging me to compile what I have written in a binder or somewhere and have it to show to Kaitlyn at some point. It is and was a good idea.
It wasn’t, however, until a friend of mine (who happens to own a publishing company) came and told me that she has been reading my blog, and she encouraged me to write a book, did I even seriously think about it. And when she told me that it should be at least 50,000 words, I was not discouraged or intimidated. A little overwhelmed, but up to the challenge.
So, I am going to attempt to take some of these entries and expand on them, while also adding some new stuff, and write a book. The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that maybe it could help another family just getting a diagnosis, or one that is dealing with some of the hurdles we jumped. I could be wrong and nobody will buy it. Either way, I am ultimately doing this for Kaitlyn, Amber, and myself. Despite the openness that I try to have on here, I have held some things back, mostly to conserve space, and a book is a fine place to let them out.
The goal is to have the book completed by the end of this year. I will continue to write on here as much as I have in the past, because caring for someone with Asperger’s is nothing if not a fluid situation. The title of the book is still to be determined, but I have a few ideas floating around (any suggestions are welcomed). I may even use this space to provide updates on the progress of the book. Some of what will be in there will be raw and emotional, and I do not plan on filtering what is written in an effort to “fluff” anything.
Thank you for continuing to read and share in our adventures.
