October 14 - 18

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston had his belt test for his second degree black belt.  He has been working on this for two years...and he did it.  The test was all day long and he had to remember EVERYTHING he has learned through all the levels, plus the new katas and weapons.  They started with a 5 mile run, pushups, mountain climbers, sit-ups, etc.  Then they started the test.  They push them when they are completely worn out to see if they can perform even when they are exhausted.  Preston was AMAZING!!  There were only two of them to test for their 2nd degree.  It was so fun to watch him achieve something so difficult!  

MARISSA

Marissa finished reading "Girl of the Limberlost" for her Georgics class and participated in the book discussion.  She LOVED the book so much and was sad when it was over.  She loved all the nature themes throughout the book as well as the difficult relationship between Elnora and her mother.  But her favorite part was Elnora's grit and determination mixed with kindness and compassion. 

CALEB

Caleb read "A Long Way from Chicago" for his Ninja Scholars class.  He really enjoyed the book and was excited to participate in the book discussion.  Caleb is so busy with lots of different classes this year, but he is thriving and learning so much! 

October 7 - 11

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston completed a really cool project in PhotoShop this week for his Digital Media Arts class.  He had to turn a black and white photo into a color photo.  It was so much work and took him quite a bit of time, but he really enjoyed the project! He learned so much about PhotoShop that he would not have learned without this class.  

MARISSA

Marissa LOVES art!  She can often be found sketching or painting when she has some time to spare.  She works on language arts, math, piano and reading, and then finishes any assignments she has for any of her specific classes.  After that, she often turns to arts and crafts for extra learning.  Here are a few of her most recent paint projects.  

  

CALEB

Caleb learned a little bit about the science of cooking for the science portion of his Ninja Scholars class this week.  He learned that vegetables turn out better if they are cut and salted first to allow them to sweat and release some of the excess water first.  He did two separate sautee dishes to experiment and sure enough, the squash with salt on it turned out less mushy and soggy.  

The only thing we realized he didn't account for was using a different pan for each dish since we cooked them at the same time.  So that may have been a contributing factor.  We still think the experiment was pretty conclusive.  

September 30 - October 4

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston wrote a poem for his language arts this week.  It turned out great!  He was really happy with the way it conveyed how he was feeling about the day.  He is really loving all his core subjects, as well as his tech class and karate.  

MARISSA

Marissa decided to learn different sewing techniques for her Georgics' project this semester.  She dove in head first and turned an old sheet into a dress with no pattern or tutorial.  It's not perfect, but it's pretty amazing considering this was such a big undertaking.  She also completed it in only a few hours.  

CALEB

Caleb learned about Hokusai for the art portion of his Ninja Scholars class this week.  He loves "The Great Wave" and learned all about block painting.  He also presented what he learned to his class.  He's enjoying learning so much! 

September 23 - 27

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston completed an assignment in PhotoShop for his Digital Media Arts class.  He took a picture using a green screen and then photoshopped himself into four different scenes he created.  It turned out awesome! 

MARISSA

Marissa finished reading "Mission Driven Life" for her Mission Driven Teen class.  She also read several chapters from "7 Habits of Highly Effective People."  They discussed habits and principles that help when setting and achieving goals.  It was such a great class!  She has a full load this year, and is doing amazing keeping up with reading, writing, math, language arts and more.  

CALEB

Caleb read chapters 17-20 in Story of the World, Volume 4 for his history lesson in Ninja Scholars.  He loved learning about the last emperor in the Qing Dynasty.  He couldn't believe all the different things he went through during his life - ruling as a young child, living in the Forbidden City, living in captivity, becoming a gardener, marrying five times, etc.  

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September 16 - 20

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston finished reading "Little Lord Fauntleroy" for his language arts.  The first few chapters, he said he really didn't like the book, but by the end, he decided it is one of his favorite stand alone chapter books.  After reading the book, he decided he wanted to watch the old movie over the weekend to see how it compared with the book.  

MARISSA

Marissa finished reading "Little Men" for Georgics.  She loved the book so much and had a great time participating in the books discussion during class.  Her favorite character was Nan.  She loved how spunky and daring she was with all the boys at Plumfield.  She also loves Jo (Mama Bhaer) and the way she interacts and solves problems with each of the boys in such a loving manner. 

CALEB

Caleb is learning about India and German this month for his Ninja Scholars class.  He decided to take on the challenge of learning a recipe from one of the countries.  He made apple streusel sheet cake.  It turned out so good so he made it once for his family and a second time to take to class with him.  

September 9 - 13

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston completed an assignment in PhotoShop for his Digital Media Arts class.  He took a picture using a green screen and then created a collage all about himself.  It turned out awesome! 

MARISSA

Marissa attended her first day of Polar Star classes this week.  She is taking Georgics and Classical Acting this year.  She had to audition for Classical Acting today.  She and a friend performed a scene from "Anne of Green Gables."  Marissa was Anne and Lydia was Diana.  She did a great job!  She can't wait to see which play they perform and which part she gets.  

CALEB

Caleb has been working so hard on his CTC math this year.  He misses Beast Academy, but he is flying through the curriculum and enjoying it so much!

September 2 - 6

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston created a website as part of his digital media arts class this week.  He will be adding his assignments to his portfolio on the website throughout the year to keep track of different modalities he learns.  He is so excited!

 https://new.express.adobe.com/webpage/uDQp9szNcW7yB

MARISSA

Marissa read "The Inner Ring" by C.S. Lewis this week to prepare for Polar Star's kickoff day.  The theme this year is "Expand Your Circle."  She had a great time at kickoff and learned a lot from Lewis's essay. 

CALEB

Caleb is excited for his Ninja Scholars class this year.  He gets to read and study different topics each week and present an "inspirement" to his class.  He will also be reading a book every month for the book discussion.  

He has so many fun things he will be learning in two different classes he takes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  

August 26 - 30

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston memorized a poem this week as part of his language arts studies.  He also wrote a summary of the book he just finished as part of his language arts curriculum.  

MARISSA

Marissa finished her language arts book this week.  She took the placement test and is able to skip two levels this year.  She is so excited and started working on level 7 this week.  She is also reading, watching video clips and journaling as part of her classes that start this coming Tuesday and Thursday.  

CALEB

Caleb finished his language arts book this week.  He had a goal to get through a full level this summer and he did it!  He is excited to get started on the next level, as well as to participate in classes with his peers on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  

OTHER

READ ALOUD

We have been reading the Harry Potter series aloud as a family this summer.  We are on book 5 now.  Things are slowing down as we don't have quite as much time to dedicate to reading in the evenings with all the school and extracurricular activities picking up again, but we are excited to finish book 5 and have a fun movie party when we finish.    

August 12 - 23

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston is back at his routine with math and language arts.  He completes 1-2 lessons of language arts and spends about an hour doing his math lessons.  

He will be completing his tech class at Layton High School this year.  He is taking digital media arts, and is so excited to learn skills that will help him with audio and video recording and editing in the future.  

MARISSA

Marissa has also been working on her language arts and math to get back into a more rigorous study routine for the fall.  Her favorite part, however, has been reading "Anne of Green Gables" this summer.  She received a beautiful set of books for her birthday and couldn't wait to get started reading the series.  

CALEB

Caleb is a rockstar!  He's been working on language arts over the summer so he would be ready for the next level by fall.  He is almost there and is working on completing the last few lessons in his book to be ready to start level 4 in September.  

OTHER

SUMMER LEARNING

We had so much fun learning about and working in nature this summer.  We built garden boxes and planted a garden.  We added new chicks to our flock and two little ducklings. We also started fermenting feed for our flock and growing wheat grass to add to their food. The kids found tadpoles that we watched grow into little frogs.  We also had an ant farm and caterpillars that we watched become butterflies.  It was so much fun and we are still benefiting from the learning and hands' on knowledge we gained this summer.