4th grade ain't what it used to be

Every year as Caden advances to the next grade in school, I am always suprised at what they cover (in comparison to what we did WAY back when.) They seem to be covering topics at least 1-2 years earlier than when I was in school. I remember in Kindergarten, he was introduced to fractions. And now in the forth grade, he is on to writing papers that 4-6 paragraphs long, using confusing vocabulary words, and college level math! :) Really, many of my juniors in college would not be able to solve his math problems. This week, he was working on a math superstars sheet. Math Superstars is an optional program that we choose to participate in. One of the rules is parents can not help the student solve the problems. Well, Caden had left one problem with three parts to it completely blank. I can't stand him turing in unanswered questions...so I "thought" I would discreetly steer him in the right direction to just get him started. One hour later (and I am an Ivy League graduate!) I was still solving the problem myself...set aside finding a way to explain it to him!

His spelling words this week included: Resounded, Lingered, Inspecting....not hard to spell, but he had to use them in a sentence as part of his homework. As I checked his work I giggled a little after reading his attempt at using these words correctly. "I was not INSPECTING to get a dog for Christmas." and "My voice was RESOUNDED in music class." Made me laugh, and I didn't even try to correct him. I mean really, does it matter if a 9 year old can use the word resounded correctly?

Anyway, it's only October, so I can only imagine what he'll be doing by the end of the year...I feel like I am back in school again too!!!