Assessment 2017--Super Star

My Super Star is knee-deep in figuring out how she'd like to be defined and trying to make herself into the person she wants to be.

It's a hard phase.

And I look forward to her letting this one go in favor of embracing her true self.

Some of the truths that I can see are:
She has an empathetic soul.
She is sensitive.
She is smart.
She is beautiful.
She knows how to work hard.
She is creative.
She is a fighter.

She did a lot of interesting work this year--her 8th grade year.

Math
Super Star has struggled with math for quite some time.  Her math issues are not as pronounced as Rose Red's, but they have caused her no end of frustration, embarrassment, and pain.  However, she has settled quite well into Saxon math, and she worked double lessons in order to finish 7/6 this year and start 8/7.  She's really getting it now, and she's feeling so much better than she's ever felt before about math.

Literature
Super Star read and narrated a variety of books including:
The Story of my Life by Helen Keller
Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
To the Rescue: The Biography of Thomas S. Monson by Heidi S. Swinton
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
Bessie's Pillow by Linda Bress Silbert

Language Arts
She is a writer, and she wrote all year long--including a story that has been accepted for publication by Bumple Buds, an online magazine for preschoolers.

However, it looks as if that site has closed, as all of the links I've ever used to contact them are defunct, and I found a news article about the publishers saying that they are behind on their payments to contributors but they intend to catch up.

Rats!  It would have been so fun for Super Star's story to really be published, but at least she had the honor of being accepted before the e-zine collapsed.

Super Star is a natural speller, and we do a lot of her grammar and punctuation work as we edit stories together, but Sir Walter Scott pointed out (based on a Father's Day gift he received) that she does need some more formal work on those skills, so we'll get on that in the year ahead.

Science
This girl is a scientist--a marine biologist to be.  Icthyology is her passion.  She worked through the jr. high science program by Masterbooks that included The Wonders of Creation books Ocean and Ecology.

Then she had an entire semester ahead of her.

She worked her way through all of the ichthyology books we could get our hands on from our library system and from interlibrary loan, but she was hungry for more.  College level textbooks were out of our budget, so I purchased a used copy of The Edge of the Sea by Rachel Carson for her to read and narrate while we saved up for a larger purchase.

She says that The Edge of the Sea was a great read!

Religion
Super Star read and journaled her way through The Book of Mormon and earned her Young Women in Excellence medallion this school year.  It was a huge amount of work, and she really forced herself out of her comfort zone time and time again as she developed new talents.

She has a testimony of Christ and of His restored gospel.

She is spiritually deeper than she lets on in her boy-crazy daily talk.

History
She participated in our family study of The Mystery of History volume 2.  She's not much of a fan of history, and she didn't put a lot of effort into her narrations or our discussions, but she did an adequate job.

Foreign Language
Super Star loves French.  She completed all of the Year 1 and Year 2 lessons at Schoolhouseteachers.com.  However we agree that these lessons do not cover all of the material that is covered in a standard high school 1st year French textbook, so she feels that she should start over again with 1st year French when she starts 9th grade in just a matter of weeks.

She hates Spanish.  But she learned a little bit in our family lessons. :)

Computer Science
She completed part of the Digital Savvy computer course offered by CompuScholar.  She was wildly enthusiastic at first, but as the course progressed she realized that she really isn't all that interested in computers.  I offered her the incentive of a high school credit if she kept working, but she just couldn't muster up enough interest to force herself to keep going.

She learned a little about computers.

She learned a lot about herself.

I'm okay with that. :)

Home Economics
Super Star completed both halves (Kitchen Skills and Household and Personal Management Skills) of a free, online home economics course.  It was a huge challenge for Super Star, and I'm very proud of her for doing it.

The Arts
Singing, dancing, and music making light up her life.  Her playlists include everything from current pop music to show tunes to classical music.  Her tastes are eclectic and entertaining.

She grew so tall this year that her dancing has been a little big gangly, but I think it will smooth out as she gets used to her long, gorgeous legs.

She learns music by ear, though she doesn't pick up or sit down to an instrument very often.  I wish she would.

She'd really prefer not to draw or sew, but she does when she needs to.

She participated in our family art appreciation, art history, and music appreciation lessons.

In General
Super Star is a passionate reader of sci-fi and fantasy novels.  She's still figuring out what is worthy and what is not, so sometimes I worry, and sometimes I'm quite proud of her.

We found out this year that her sleepiness and crabbiness (some of it anyway) were due to an underactive thyroid.  Medication has helped significantly.  She now has the energy to do even more than she's already been doing . . . though she is a classic teen who wants to stay up all night and sleep the day away. :)

I think she's really smart and is able to set and meet goals.  I think she's not very confident about her skills, and I hope that she'll develop confidence in her high school years ahead because I think she can do anything she sets her mind to!