Current stack of books in progress

The Iowa Tests

I am going to brag, with sheer abandon, about my daughter. So consider yourself warned.

We got her Iowa Test of Basic Skills results today. Now, I know that these standard tests don't really give you the whole picture of a child's intelligence. But, since they are a measure of academic progress used across the nation, I will respect that they do serve a purpose.

My kid, who is in 5th grade and turning 11 in December, scored in the 99th percentile on 11 of the 19 categories. The rest were really high too, in the 90s, except for the one little section on math computation, which had about 6 questions and she most likely made those careless mistakes you make when you are rushing through boring math computation. She tested higher than 99% of 5th graders nationwide. Her grade-equivalent results put her at 10-13+ grades (I guess 13+ means college), except for that one section again, which put her at 7th grade level.

So....Hayden is really smart. But I knew that already. I didn't really get it until she got a bit older and I was able to see her next to her peers. She stands out, she's not like them.

I can't wait to see what she becomes when she is all grown up! Despite her sassy mouth and her strong will and lack of patience (where in the world did she get these traits from?), she rocks.

Time to walk the plank

Goodbye Donald Rumsfeld.