Another School Year in the Books

Incredible how quickly this past year flew! We now have an 8th, 7th and 5th grader! The Lord has been so good to our children and allowing them not only to advance year to year in school with their second language, but to be truly excelling at the top of their classes. We are so proud of the hard work each of them dedicate to their studies and their perseverance, diligence, and the testimony they maintain in an environment that is counter cultural to their faith. It is NO easy task, but time and again their teachers commend us and them for their studies and more importantly their unique comportment.

June 9, 2016 - Last day of School

Final grades were given out at the middle school right before we left for the USA. We will be gone for the third year in a row when Luca's grades are given out at the end of June. Funny how we don't even has his final grades for 3rd grade either. I went in September to pick them up and the school institute office said they would not be unaccessible for another year since they needed to input them into the computer system. REALLY?! So hopefully when we return in a few months we'll know the final outcome for Luca's 3rd and 4th grade results. 

All of the kids competed earlier this year in the XVII Italian Edition of Kangaroo Math. This is an International competition that focuses on logical combination and not just knowledge of math facts and formulas. You can read more here.

The testing in Italy begins at the 4th grade level and is open to anyone who wants to participate. Luca heard two words, MATH + COMPETITION, and he was all in! Here are his test results, which are even more impressive since he had to understand the questions in Italian first and was competing against 5th graders too.

Ecolier Test (4th and 5th)

Local School Institute: 16 out of 82

National: 2,130 out of 9,737

Emma was also up against 7th graders for her test category. She certainly held her own as well!

Benjamin Test (6th and 7th) - Emma

Local School Institute: 24 out of 80

National: 13,177 out of 27,715

Samuel did exceptionally well considering he spent 20 minutes on the Ecolier test before realizing he was doing the wrong test. 🙈 He ran out of time and didn't complete two questions and still placed 3rd! We all had a good laugh over it! As a top place winner he received a board game at the assembly on the last day of school.

Benjamin Test (6th and 7th) - Samuel

Local School Institute: 3 out of 80

National: 4,200 out of 27,715

This summer Samuel is required to start researching high schools so he can make a decision of where to go after 8th grade. Application and registration begins in January 2017. However, I think it is clear that he might be headed to a "Scientifico" high school that focuses on math and sciences. I feel a guest blog post coming on the process and complication of choosing a high school. Samuel is our guinea pig and we most certainly will be learning together!

Congratulations Samuel, Emma and Luca on another school year down in the books! We love you dearly and are so very proud of you!!