Well, the waiting is over sooner than expected. I checked the ACT website for Kelly’s scores yesterday afternoon. All her scores were there except the writing score. I tried to get Christian’s scores from the web, too, but did not have the right access ID. Lorena handed them to me when she and the kids got home from their workout. Both of them did very well. I really did not know how to judge their scores so I talked to Evan at work. He knew that, for some reason or another, most of the schools publish the range of scores the middle 50% of admitted students received on their ACT. For example, 25% of the students admitted to North Carolina State University had an ACT composite score below 21 and 25% had a composite score above 26. Oregon State had 25% below 20 and 25% above 26 on the ACT composite score. Kelly’s composite score was well above the higher score for both colleges. There is certainly room for improvement. There were materials in both math and science that we had not yet covered. We are excited to see how she did on the writing test.
Christian did very well, too. He was took the test as a participant in the Duke TIP program. A participant must receive a 20 or above in English, a 20 or above in Math, a 21 or above in reading, or a 21 or above in Science to qualify for state-wide honors. He met that criteria in virtually evey category. There are two sets of programs offered to students who receive high enough scores on the test. They are called Academy and Center. Christian qualified for the higher of the two called Center. When I was going through the material, I saw that Kelly had actually qualified to attend the programs, too. All in all, we were very happy with the results. Best of all, it showed us some areas where we can focus for the rest of this year and the next and invigorated us to keep on going.
THANKS FOR THE HELP! I fixed the blog header image a little. Lorena tells me it needs more work. I am glad there are artists in the family with an eye for that sort of thing. Ruthie and Lynn were both gracious enough to let me know the theme was not displaying correctly on their computers. I am really glad they took the time to pop me a comment. It took longer to work that out than I originally figured. I would be greatly appreciative if you let me know whether I actually fixed anything. For that matter, if there is anyone else out there who sees a problem with the format, please let me know.
The problem we are having is that the code for pasting Betty Blonde has a colored background (peach-ish) that covers up part of your post…ironically the part that says you need help with the theme not displaying correctly!
OK! Let me try something else!
Yeah! It’s fixed!
Wow to Kelly and Christian on those tests! Very awesome. I laughed when I read about how your dad thinks there’s room for improvement! I think you should take a day off and celebrate! We are going to a museum (local) today for a field trip, and our newspaper friends are shadowing us there too.
I was actually thinking of punishing them by making them not read for a week or something harsh like that. That will teach them!
Slave driver! Haha! Congrats. with one test under their belts and several more to go, just think what they can do! Perhaps a National Merit Scholarship recipient lives in your household! Emma scored well above those scores, too, but she took the test in 11th grade. Never thought of having her take them earlier. She did take what was called a PACT in 8th or 9th which gave us a forcaster of what she should score if she continued at the pace she was going. Their scores should only increase from here on.
Thanks for the note Ruthie.That is great about Emma. I read back through this post and it sounds a little obnoxious (“Pride goeth before a fall” and all that), but it is a little bit of a vindication after all these years. Was Emma’s score on the PACT a good indicator of how she eventually did on the ACT?
P.S. Can you see the blog OK today? I struggled with it and got it wrong several times last night before I finally got it to this state early this morning.
Bryan
What is the significance of the light on the stand?
I’m glad it’s not one of those nasty florescent bulbs, but how come it isn’t on?
😉
Bryan, the light IS on! I put it up there because people keep complimenting by saying, “He ain’t the brightest bulb in the house.”
Hey, you have every right to pat yourself on the back for a job well done and to congratulate your kids on being so diligent in their studies that they can score at least as well as, or better than, incoming freshmen. Hard work and dedication reaps results.
Yes, it was a good indicator, actually, she scored above it, so we were satisfied.
Pride….hmm, that is an issue that all homeschoolers deal with at one time or another if we are really honest with ourselves. Pride will only get in the way if it is vicarious pride or pride that takes the credit away from God for the intellectual gifts he bestows upon our children. The gifts still need to be nurtured, if that makes sense.
Congratulations on the great scores!! That’s awesome. I thought your posted sounded just right!
The blog looks great. I can see everything now. Love it!
Lynn
Thanks, Lynn and Ruthie. I get carried away sometimes with my enthusiasm for how the kids are doing. Because we work at our own pace, we do not really know how we are doing with respect to the rest of the world until one of these tests come along. I think other homeschoolers understand this a whole lot more than non-homeschoolers.
so…
“The lights are on… and know buddy’s home!” 😉
Precisely!!! Bryan, with an emphasis on the BUDDY!