Educational Excellence

I have wondered over the last 5 1/2 years why we ended up in Layton, Utah.  We could have lived anywhere along the Wasatch Front and we ended up in a city we had never even heard of before.  One reason I believe is that both Neil and I have been able to serve in various capacities within our church that have brought much growth spiritually as well as temporally.  Our strengths have grown and our weaknesses lessened as we have strived to magnify our callings.  Our testimonies of our Savior have been strengthened as we've tried so hard to do His will.  We have made great friends in the process as well.  But I believe the number one reason we are here is for the educational opportunities it affords our kids.  We just got back from Conner and Sam's parent/teacher conferences and we got such excellent reports.  Both Conner and Sam are in the full time gifted program and thus all the kids are so intelligent that you normally don't hear how smart your kid is because in these classes they are just normal compared to the other kids in the class.   But today was different.  Sam is in the second grade.  He has received the highest score possible on reading comprehension and is #1 in his class at solving 100 math problems at 100% accuracy in the fastest time.  He is reading at a 6th grade level.  Sam loves his teacher who he has had for 2 years and you had to push him out the door because he wouldn't stop talking to her.  I am so glad that he is not scared to talk to adults.  Conner is in the 4th grade and is doing equally well.  He is #2 in his class on completing IXL skills.  His teacher had them complete a multiple intelligences survey and his top 3 were spatial, musical and self.  He is reading at a 9th grade level.  Conner struggles with organization which affects his grades at times often from forgetting to turn in work and thus making it late or missing.  Both Sam and Conner have to do 3-5 minute presentations in front of the class once or twice a month.  I know it is such a pain for me to help them and listen to them practice over and over again but it is such great experience for them.  I wish I could have had these opportunities myself when I was in elementary school.  Instead my gifted teacher just read to us from the encyclopedia day in and day out.  Over the last year and a half I have often wondered if putting them in the program was really worth it because it is a lot of work for me and them and having the kids at two different schools isn't fun but I now know it was the perfect choice for them.  They are truly becoming the leaders of tomorrow.  I feel so blessed to be in such close proximity to the school; it's a 7 minute drive.  I don't want anyone to feel I am bragging about my kids because I am just sharing their strengths and recording it for their future.  You'll never hear me say my kids are wonderful athletes or gifted musicians or great comedians.  Those aren't their greatest strengths.  They have good minds.  I just found out about a charter high school called NUAMES:  Northern Utah Academy  for Math, Sciences and Engineering and it is just up the road from us as well.  I know it is 6 years down the road but it would be perfect for Conner and I am just so excited that he might have the opportunity to go there.  It is an early college high school and if admitted he would have the opportunity of graduating from high school with his diploma as well as an associate's degree from Weber State University all tuition free.  The thought of only having to pay for 2 to 3 years of college is amazing.  Anyway the educational opportunities that we have where we live are incredible and I am so excited for my kids and to see where it takes them.

We had gotten a babysitter for the younger 3 and with such a great report we decided to take the boys to Cherry Berry, a yogurt bar, one of our favorites.  You pay by the ounce and so usually I am freaking out about how much they put in their bowls but tonight they had a special that you could fill 4 cups as much as you want for $15 so we piled on the yogurt and toppings and after weighing them we would have spent $39 for our family so $15 was quite the bargain.  The boys were ecstatic to be able to go crazy.