No Child Left Behind

This year we decided not to send our kids to Israeli schools and we decided to teach them at home. Because we are not the typical home school family we were unsure as to how successful we would be. Now that the countdown to the end of the year has begun, we have to consider how successful we have been so here is an update, for the world to see, of what our kids are learning:

Our 2nd Grader:
Talks about the reasons for conflict between Jews, Muslims, and Christians. He has asked things like, "When will we get a new passport so that we can enter countries like Lebanon and Syria"? and "Is this wall from the First Temple Period or Second?" He also plays games like "guess what country I am thinking about" and says things like, "It is South of Israel and West of Saudi Arabia". He also wants to understand which American Presidential candidates like Israel and which ones are winning in the primaries.
For fun he is reading a book called "Famous Inventors" and he is telling me about inventors all throughout the history of the world. He was able to see Albert Einstein's Nobel Prize in a museum and wants to be just like him. He even told me that he wants "mad scientist hair" just like Einstein. He works on fractions and multiplication tables for fun. He reads in Spanish and has passed all of the same Spanish vocab tests that his class takes. He has been to active archaeological sites and has found Iron Age pottery. He has met professors, Armenean Priests, and Rabbis and has treated them all respectfully.

Our 5 year old:
Counts to 100 in English, 10 in Spanish, and 10 in Hebrew. He knows a number of phrases in Spanish and Hebrew, he can read three letter words in English and knows most of the Hebrew alphabet. He learned how to add and subtract and is learning US and world geography. He has a good friend who is an orthodox Jew and he spends a lot of time playing with him. He knows the difference between the three major Monotheistic religions and knows a bit about each of them. He likes to eat Pita bread with Humus for snacks and can bake cookies by memory. He goes to ceramics class here and has completely impressed his teacher with his imagination and his skills (He even made a mug on the wheel without help of his teacher). He can also win a match on FIFA soccer on his Nintendo DS. He recognizes the currencies from the USA, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and the UK. Next year he will begin Kindergarten in the US.

Our 10 month old:
Has been to North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. He can laugh when tickled and cry when hungry. He still does not sleep through the night (except once). He army crawls and chews on everything. He can say "dada" and "abba" but doesn't seem to know when to use these phrases. He knows when he is being funny and is good at "hamming it up" to keep us entertained.

I checked the requirements for the "No Child Left Behind" tests in America and discovered that my kids probably won't meet the expectations of the Public School System. I guess they just won't learn a thing at home this year. I just hope next year they will be able to catch up.