Preston participated in the book discussion in Classical Acting this week. He read the Greek Trajedy "Prometheus Bound" for class and was prepared to participate in the colloquium. He had lots of good comments to add and enjoyed class this week. He loves ancient Greece and has enjoyed this month focusing on themes and topics from that period of time.
MARISSA
Marissa read "Math and Magic in Wonderland" for her Pyramid class. She found it very interesting to learn about mathematical concepts through a fun story. Math is definitely not her favorite subject, but she is doing a great job working through Pre-Algebra in the Learn Math Fast System this year. She is also gaining greater understanding of mathematical and scientific concepts in her Pyramid class.
CALEB
Caleb read "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" for his Ninja Scholars class. He really enjoyed how mathematical Nat was in the book. He said it was really interesting to learn how Nat used the stars to calculate where they were. We looked up a few videos on YouTube to explain navigation even better. It was really fun to learn.
Caleb also completed a service project helping take ropes off of the peach trees at a peach orchard. He had so much fun and even got to ride in the special cart down to the trees.
Preston wrote an essay for his language arts. It was about spending time in nature. He did a really good job of it. I particularly liked how it impacted his heart. He really meant everything that he said, which is refreshing to read in an essay.
MARISSA
Marissa read "The Chosen" for her Quest Principles class this week. She loved the themes of the book, especially the fact that two people who are so different can become such great friends. Marissa is very open-minded about people from other cultures, religions, etc. and found it a beautiful story. She also knows a lot about WWII from her Sword class a couple of years ago so it is always fun for her to read about that time period.
CALEB
Caleb is working on fractions and decimals in CTC math. He has taken several comprehensive tests and scored about 80% many times. That means he is able to skip multiple lessons. However, we decided that it would be a good idea to go back and learn the lessons for problems that he did miss on the comprehensive mastery exam so he is learning the parts he didn't understand well. He's a great little mathematician.
Preston gave a presentation on city-states in Greece for in his Classical Acting class. It was 15 minutes long. He did such a great job explaining what different city-states were, how they had their own type of government, religion, etc. He also talked a little bit about wars between city-states in Greece in 400BC.
MARISSA
Marissa read "A Place to Stand" for her Quest class. It was about Martin Luther in the 1500s. She took such great notes in her book and in her commonplace notebook that helped her during their book discussion. She also had her first blue book test on the book during class. She was so nervous that she wouldn't write well or fast enough or her ideas would not be organized, but she did a fantastic job.
CALEB
Caleb read "James and the Giant Peach" for his personal reading. He loved it and was excited to watch the movie after he finished the book.
He also worked on inspirements for his Ninja Scholars class. He researched dances from the South Pacific islands and told his class about the Kailao, which is a dance from Tonga. He also learned that the Samoan Slap Dance started with men slapping at mosquitoes on their body and it became a traditional dance performed by men from there.
Preston has been focusing on math this year. This week he finished the 3rd book in the "Learn Math Fast" curriculum. He is understanding equations and plots on a graph so much better. We are so grateful to have found this math curriculum for him.
MARISSA
Marissa read the first half of "The 5000 Year Leap" for her Quest class and memorized the first seven principles. She also gave an oral presentation on a current event and selected which principle it corresponded with. She did a great job and said that after he oral presentation, she talked about the need to be positive even when we are exposed to negative news. It was really inspiring to see her growth in this area.
CALEB
Caleb read "Matilda" for his silent reading the past two weeks. He just finished the book and said he really enjoyed it. He has almost finished the whole Roald Dahl box book set that he received for Christmas last year. He loves reading and is progressing well in his reading and comprehension.
Preston and Marissa both had their audition for Classical Acting this week. They did a combined audition as Ned Leads and Peter Parker. They were prepared with blocking, props, costumes, and memorization. They did such a great job! It was so funny!
MARISSA
Marissa read "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" for her Pyramid class. She really liked how much he loved arithmetic and how good he was at figuring things in his head. She also loved his attitude about being an indentured servant. He wasn't happy about it, but he made the most of it. She loved how he studied new subjects like languages on his own and became proficient at many different things. She found the book very inspiring.
CALEB
Caleb read "Chico of the Andes" as part of his language arts curriculum. He has learned so much this year! He loved the book. It was about a boy who lived in the mountains of Brasil. He said he doesn't want to say anything else about the book because that would spoil it.
OTHER
We attended the "Why I Love America" program as a family this week. It was so good! We all enjoyed watching stories from history that were acted out, listening to the songs that were performed and hearing Brad Wilcox speak about freedom. Our favorite part was singing the last two verses of "The Star Spangled Banner" with others in the audience. It was so touching and brought tears to our eyes!
Preston has been working a lot on his math. His goal is to finish two levels of math this year. He also attended kickoff for Polar Star. He had such a positive experience. He loved the book they read "Do Hard Things" and he participated in the book discussion. He also enjoyed bike riding, 9 square, watching the movie "Raising the Bar" and other activities he did throughout the day.
MARISSA
Marissa attended two separate kickoffs this past week. One was for her Quest class. They went repelling and discussed the reading and writing requirements for the class. It is quite a big load, but she is so excited. Repelling was difficult for her, but she faced her fears and did it.
The second kickoff was for Polar Star. She got to introduce some of the new scholars as a secretary on the student council. She also participated in a book discussion for the book "Do Hard Things". It quickly became one of her favorite books. She also watched the movie "Raising the Bar" and loved that as well. It was such a fun, packed day getting to know her mentors and peers for this upcoming school year.
CALEB
Caleb has been working so hard on his language arts this past week. He realized he had misunderstood a couple of the sections and had to go back and fix a few things. It took him quite a while and he was pretty discouraged. But he did it and I am so proud of him for working so hard!
Preston has been reading a lot. He finished reading "The Blood of Olympus" in the Heroes of Olympus series. He also read "Chalice of the Gods" which is a Percy Jackson book. He loves reading and fantasy is his favorite genre.
MARISSA
Marissa completed a Tinker Crate this week. It was a lock box that has a full working key mechanism. She was so fascinated with the process that she looked up videos on how locks work and did extra research to understand it better. She loves created - either from a kit or from her own imagination!
CALEB
Caleb read "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" this week. He has really started to love reading and has read so many great books this summer. He is also getting back into a school routine with his language arts and math lessons, and can't wait to start science class.
OTHER
We went to "The Museum of Ancient Life" for a fun family field trip. The kids loved seeing all the dinosaurs and ancient sea creatures. We had such a fun time exploring and learning together.
Preston wrote an essay about his life. For language arts he's been writing autobiographical essays. It has been fun to hear what he has to say about his childhood and his current life as a teen.
"Everyone of us is unique, no two of us are exactly alike (even identical twins). Like snowflakes, each one of us is different, and that’s what makes us the authentic, awesome individual that we are! And so my friend, I shall share with you a little bit about myself.
To start, I am a more quiet and laid back person. I tend to spend more time alone than with other people, but because of that, seeing friends every now and then becomes great fun due to the scarce time we are in each other’s presence. Don’t get me wrong I love other people, but I quite enjoy the time I have to do things solo.
In addition, I find that I often am in my head a little too much. This is exactly why I like activities like running, working out, hiking, audiobooks, reading, qigong, meditation, building things (LEGO, blocks, etc) drawing, stop motion, mowing the lawn, cooking, practicing piano, filming and editing videos, and many other productive things to bring me back into my body.
Next, I have many interests and hobbies. One such hobby is karate. It is absolutely amazing the journey I’ve had to become a 2nd degree black belt! At first, I wasn’t in the best shape, and it was more difficult. But I trained and trained for years. My skills kept developing, and I kept learning and growing, and becoming stronger. And then, I finally earned my 1st degree black belt, and it was amazing! It was so amazing that two years later I went above and beyond to reach the even higher rank of 2nd degree. It’s truly amazing the hard work I’ve put in, the strength I’ve built up, the discipline I’ve gained, the skills I’ve sharpened, and overall the dedication and commitment I put in to become a sensei level black belt in this marvelous sport and art! A true master of my craft.
Going off that same theme as martial arts, an Asian inspired tv show I love very much is Ninjago. This show centers around a group of four ninja Kai, Cole, Jay, and Zane who must get the Golden Weapons before the evil Lord Garmadon. The show would then go on to introduce Lloyd Garmadon, the Green Ninja, destined to face his father in a final battle. And this is exactly what got me into the show. My favorite color is green, so I was pretty hooked to the series as a child. But as I grew older (and to this day) I continue to see the story, growth, and fantastic character arcs this show has. You would be surprised how deep and relatable the show is (especially considering it's a LEGO cartoon designed to sell expensive LEGO sets). Even now 14+ years later, and the show is still going, and still amazing as ever, and I absolutely love it. Other tv shows as well like Legends of Chima and Monkie Kid, are just as awesome!
Lastly, I would just like to say, there are so many things I am interested in. I can’t cover them all (or else this essay would go on forever) but here are a few more that come to mind. I enjoy being outside in nature as I love the sheer beauty and wonder of God's world. I enjoy reading good books as it’s just marvelous to see characters, world building, and a great story and message come off of written words on paper. Truly mind blowing! And now to conclude this paragraph, I am a son of God, and I love my life. Everyday I will keep living, learning, growing, and running toward the light.
MARISSA
Marissa wrote a paper on faith for Georgics. She also read "Farmer George Plants a Nation" and "Thomas Jefferson Grows a Nation" for her class. This is a copy of her paper on faith.
Faith
“Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” - Martin Luther King Jr. Faith is believing without seeing. When we plant a seed we don’t know whether or not it will grow, but we have to have faith that with the proper care it will. Our faith, like a plant, must be nurtured, or it will wither away and die. We must put our faith into all things. Whether it be that your brother will pick you up from seminary, or that Jesus will always be by our side. As we allow our faith to grow we will be more happy, more trusting, and with our faith come closer to Christ.
At one point in my life I was really struggling with my faith in Jesus Christ. I began questioning my faith and if Jesus was real. This was a really low point in my life and there were a lot of hard things happening to me and my family. I tried to stay optimistic and look unto Christ, but that wasn’t helping much. I had heard in many scripture stories that if we came unto Christ he would take away our pain, but that was not fully true. If we turn to him he will help us, but he will not take away our pain. If he always just took away our pain, what would we learn? Nothing. He wants us to learn and grow from our trials, so that we can come closer to him and begin to live in his way. He wants us to have faith that this too shall pass, and that if we come unto him he will help us make it out of our trials. It took time for me to learn this, but I’m so grateful I did. If I hadn’t gone through the trails I did, I would not have learned to be so grateful for Jesus Christ and what he did for us.
Matthew 17:20 "Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of a mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” This scripture is amazing! It makes seemingly impossible things possible through faith as small as a mustard seed. With faith we can do all things. We can move mountains, walk on water, and become like Christ. When I was little my grandma gave me a mustard seed necklace and told me that story. She told me to always have faith, even if it’s the size of a mustard seed. I will never forget that lesson. Faith is very important, and I will try to always be faithful.
CALEB
Caleb has been practicing for his play since January and finally got to perform "Imagine a Dragon." He was Chef Clove and he did such a great job. Everyone said he stole the show. It was so much fun to watch him on stage!
Preston created a video for his digital media arts class. He had a list of different shots that needed to be used for the video. They created it in the hall at school and used different shots to put it all together. It turned out really nice. Preston said it was his favorite assignment. He's hoping to take the same requirements and try to create a video with a story line doing the same thing that his teacher had him do for the assignment.
MARISSA
Marissa made a Eureka Crate for her tech class this week. She made a lap table that folds up. It turned out so great and she was so excited to be able to work on small projects wherever she wants in the house with her new little table.
CALEB
Caleb has been working really hard on his language arts and handwriting. It has been a lot for him this year to keep up with everything he's had on his schedule, but he has done a great job. In addition to finish his language arts book this spring/summer, he will be working through All About Spelling and working on his typing skills so he will better be able to put together papers and essays next year.
Preston read the book "Girl of the Limberlost" this week. Marissa read it last semester and kept telling him what a good book it was so he finally decided to read it. He spent several days going to the park and reading while he was there since the weather has been so nice. He loved it! It's so fun to watch him get excited about books he is reading.
MARISSA
Marissa completed a Tinker Crate for her tech class this week. She made a globe that rotates. It has a magnifying card that can be attached to an arm so you can read all the countries better. Marissa loves working with her hands so much and has enjoyed catching up on some of her Kiwi Co. crates in her spare time the past few weeks.
CALEB
Caleb gave a presentation for his Ninja Scholars class. It was about Lego. He had such a great time telling about his experience building, collecting and learning about Lego. He also was super excited to take a treat so he made Lego brownies for the class.
Preston wrote a short childhood biography for language arts this week. It was touching to read about his memories of childhood and to see things through his eyes over the years. His writing has really improved the past two years with the reading and writing he has been completed. It has been extremely rewarding to watch him grow!
Marissa gave a presentation about her second semester project in Georgics. She originally was considering learning about woodwork, but changed her mind when she decided to sew a dress for winter formal. She added many more skills to her sewing knowledge this semester! Her tia abuela (great aunt) helped her so much with the dress. She is a professional seamstress and Marissa learned so much working side by side with her. Marissa's two biggest sewing projects this semester were her formal dress and a rag quilt she made for her nephew, who recently got to go home after 44 days in the NICU. She learned so much and her presentation was amazing!
CALEB
Caleb read the book "Amal Unbound." It is about a 12-year-old girl who lives in a small village in Pakistan. She dreams of becoming a teacher, but when she accidentally insults a ruling family in the village, she is sent away to be an indentured servant. Caleb really enjoyed the book. He has such a tender heart and it was hard for him to read about some of her trials, but it was so good for him to see her perseverance.
