February 26 - March 1

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston has really been focusing on his language arts and math.  He makes sure he does at least one lesson every day, and often doubles up so he can finish up his book early this year.  His spelling, grammar, and reading comprehension have improved so much this year!

MARISSA

Marissa finished reading "Soldier Boys" for her Heroes class and participated in the book discussion in class.  This book was really difficult for her to get through emotionally.  She learned a lot, but was choked up often about what the soldiers in WWII experienced.  

CALEB

Caleb read the book Thomas Edison for his Ninja Scholars class.  He loved learning about many of the inventions Thomas Edison had over the years.  He also loved hearing about how many times his inventions failed and how he always learned from what went wrong.

February 19 - 23

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston really enjoyed his group piano lesson this week (all the kids participated).  They learned about the composer, Handel.  The first time Handel played the organ was in a castle of an heiress in their chapel.  He started playing on their organ.  The royalty heard him and told his father that he was going places.  That's where he got his start.  They also learned that he went into debtor's prison and his friend's bailed him out.  

MARISSA

Marissa had her clogging recital.  She did such a great job!  She has only been clogging since September and she is already in the intermediate level and doing such a great job!  It's so much fun to watch her enjoy a new sport so much!

CALEB

Caleb had a late Valentine party in his Ninja Scholars class.  He had so much fun making his Valentine box, completing a crossword puzzle and word search, and working on a fun heart craft.  What a great day of class! 

OTHER

WINTER FORMAL

Preston and Marissa both had the opportunity of participating in Polar Star's Winter Formal.  It was a masquerade and everyone had such a great time!

February 12 - 16

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston has been working really hard on his Anastasia script.  He is Gorlinsky, part of the Russian ensemble.  He has rehearsal twice a week and has really been working on memorizing his lines, blocking and vocals.

MARISSA

Marissa finished the book "The Hiding Place" and participated in the book discussion in her Heroes class.  She really liked the book!  She loved how brave the ten Boom family was to be willing to hide Jews in their home.  

CALEB

Caleb listened to Abraham Lincoln on Audible for an extra book this week.  He also followed along in his book.  He loved it and kept coming down to me to tell me all the "fun facts" he was learning.  

February 5 - 9

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston wrote a paper for his language arts this week.  He chose to write it on the benefits of optimism.  He did a great job!  My favorite part is that Preston isn't the type of person for whom optimism comes naturally.  I really appreciate that he chooses to learn more and implement things that are hard for him when he's setting goals in his life. 

MARISSA

Marissa built a pinball machine for her tech class this week.  It had so many steps, but she got it all done.  The kids have all had a great time playing with it!

CALEB

Caleb has been working hard on language arts.  He's learning how to diagram basic sentences and is doing such a great job!  His handwriting is also improving more and more each day!

January 29 - February 2

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston put together a Lego set this week for his tech class.  He loves building and engineering and is so good at seeing things in his mind and then putting them together.  

He also worked on math extra this week to try to figure it out.  It's been a difficult chapter for him so he put in extra time watching videos and practicing extra problems to make sure he grasps the concepts before he moves onto a new chapter.  

MARISSA

Marissa had so much fun learning about Mozart at piano this week.  They are learning classical pieces this semester and studying different composers.  She colored him and started working on different music to see what she will want to choose for the next piano recital.  

CALEB

Caleb did a whole chemistry kit this week.  It was called gross chemistry and was all about human anatomy and physiology.  Marissa ended up joining in the fun!  They had a great time and learning a lot!

January 22 - 26

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston has been working on his math and language arts every day.  He finished a pretty cool water color as part of his language arts assignment.  

He's also been working hard on finishing driver's ed and learning his lines for the play Anastasia.  He took the written driver's ed test last week and passed it with 97%.  Now he just has to get his driving hours with the instructors and he will have his license!

MARISSA

Marissa conducted her first (of 3) interviews about heroes from WWII.  She interviewed the son of a man named Raymond Earl Casaday.  She spent about an hour talking to him and asking him questions.  Then she wrote up a Hero Spotlight, which she gave in class on Thursday.  She did a great job summing up the bravery and sacrifice that was made by this tough Marine.  

CALEB

Caleb finished reading "Orville Wright" for his book discussion in Ninja Scholars.  He loved it!  He was so excited to share his favorite parts in class and to participate in the trivia game to see which team remembered the most about the book.  He was especially excited when he and his peers all got plastic helicopters and foam airplanes to practice their own flying skills in the gym after the book discussion.  

January 15 - 19

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston has been working hard on language arts and math.  He does at least an hour in each subject every day.  This week, he wrote a short story as part of an assignment for language arts.  It turned out great!  Here is a link to the google doc.  

Becoming a Man

MARISSA

Marissa read "The Dream Giver" for a book discussion two weeks ago and "Children of the Dust Bowl" for a book discussion last week.  She also has been journaling every week in her Heroes class and learning a lot about the unraveling that happened prior to WWII.  

CALEB

Caleb has been working so hard on his language arts and writing this year.  Math and science very naturally to him so our focus has been really working on handwriting and then reading and language arts.  This week, he copied a quote from Charlotte's Web for extra handwriting practice.  He did a really good job!  Next time, he's going to work on spacing a little bit more and double space lines on the paper.  

January 8 - 12

 WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston auditioned for Anastasia this week.  He was a little under the weather so his voice cracked a bit on the high note, but he still did a great job.  He got the part of Gorlinksky, part of the Russian people.  He's excited to be part of another play this semester.  

MARISSA

Marissa participated in the Shakespeare Feast this week.  The kids all got to celebrate the hard work they had accomplished during the first semester of class.  Marissa was also crowned Empress at the Shakespeare Feast.  There was only one girl crowned Empress and one boy crowned Emperor in the class.  They worked so hard.  It was fun to see her crowned and all the parent peasants grovel at her feet.  

CALEB

Caleb went on an awesome field trip with his Ninja Scholars class this week.  They learned about the KC-135 plane in the Air Force that refuels the jets in midair.  They got to walk around the inside of the plane and sit in the pilot's seat.  They also got to do a simulation where they laid on their belly as the boom operator and used a computer to learn how to guide the boom to refuel the jets.  It was so much fun and the kids learned a ton!