am i growing?

Might sound like a crazy question - am I growing? Well I am not getting any taller that is for sure:) I am gaining a few pounds but am I really growing where it matters and how would I know.

I know I am gaining or losing pounds because I get on a scale - the same scale - and I keep track of where I was, where I am and where I want to go. This is so simple it is almost like "um yea of course"

Lately I have learned that I want my kids to see how they have grown - not just physically but intellectually, emotionally and spiritually as well. The school they are attending now is really big on measuring student growth. I never understood how important this was until Noah was in first grade. We started to realize that school came easy for him - really easy for him. So he would go every morning and come home every evening for 180 days - and it felt like he did not leave with much more that he started with. Being as anylytical as I am I wanted data - yes data - show me he was growing - not just that he was doing fine.

Of course there are Istep tests - which show he is doing great - but is he growing?? Where is that information? (from what I understand we will start getting that information this year)

So this year they entered a new school and they use a MAP test from the NWEA -- it is reading and math taken 3 times a year on the computer - the test is individualized for each student - questions get harder as they get them right and easier as they get them wrong - until it sifts out right where they are at. Amazing - no longer is it about - "well yes he can accomplish the grade level skills" -- its about where is he now and where is he going - really!!

It blew me away - both kids have taken the test 2x now - they know their scores - and how much they should grow with each testing - they each have a data binder at school to see a measure of their growth. The school is taking responsibility to provide an environment for every child to grow - my kids are getting it - they like knowing where they are at and where they used to be -- they are learning that just because they are doing well they aren't expected to stop growing. (Noah still does not like school - but he is being challenged:)

We also found out that school is just as easy academically for Nina - and she loves having a tangible number to show her growth - she is getting it - just like she does when we measure her height and she grew 1/4 inch - she's excited. But most of all she realizes it would be much easier to just hang out and coast along - but that being challenged is the way to grow:)

ALL this to say - seriously I feel like I need data in or of my life to measure growth - It feels like I wake up every morning and go to bed every night and 365 days later - where am I ??