Week 15: Ready for Adventure!
WEEK 15: Ready for Adventure!
The amazing weather has allowed us to spend a lot of time outdoors this week. Also, the students “braved the frontier” as they played the computer game Oregon Trail!
Scroll down to see the supplemental readings for the week, galleries of our latest photos, and our current memory verse.
The Great Outdoors!
Between ur “World Cup Soccer match” and testing physics laws, we spent a lot of time outside this week.
SUGGESTED READINGS FOR THE WEEK
The readings are meant to reinforce the topics covered from last week and to have the parents understand more fully what is being covered in the classes. They are not required for the class, but a good supplement. You can try to read all or just a few selections. Use your discretion as to what to cover based upon the ages of your children.
SEEDS and OAKS Programs
Review Memory Verse (See bottom of page)
HISTORY
The Last 500 Years / World History from Ancient to Modern Times
P. 60-61 / p. 256-257
The Story of the World
P. 197 - Moving West
P. 202 - Stocks, Philanthropists, and Outlaws
P. 183 - The Korean Battleground
GARDEN - Pre-K and K
Elena collecting ingredients for her mud sandwiches.
This week we learned how Israel was led directly by God in the Bible. The people asked for a human king and God warned them against it, but they insisted. God gave them a king because they wanted to have one like the other nations around them but it did not turn out how they expected. They did not have kings like God. Many of these human kings did evil and led the people away from God’s commands. Nonetheless, God is so good and he promised the people a true King, a Savior. This King would rule forever and his kingdom would be eternal. This King came through the virgin Mary, and his name is Jesus. The angel Gabriel told Mary she would deliver a child, and He would be the Messiah, the awaited King for the people. Praise God for our King Jesus!
The children this week also had a lot of fun at the big park, drew their favorite part of the Nutcracker, armed puzzles, did some sewing and played in the kitchen. At the small park, the girls had fun making mud sandwiches with Emma using leaves and flowers as veggies.
We also practiced the letter “Jj” that stands for Jesus. We played a guessing game where the children had letters from A-J in front of them and the teacher made a sound and they had to point to the letter that made that sound, they did awesome!
Time flew by this semester. We have had an amazing and special time in the Garden with the kids. Next week we will be having a picnic and special activities to celebrate the end of the year.
SEEDS - Grades 1-6
Eden shares her theater review.
Science
It seems like I am often asking my children to be still. After beginning our study of physics this week, they now know that that is impossible! Not only are the electrons in every atom of their bodies constantly in motion, but they are traveling at 1000 mph around the earth as it rotates on its axis and 66,500 mph as they travel around the sun!
To learn more about how God uniquely created things to be in motion, we learned all three of Newton’s laws of motion but took a closer look at the first two. Newton’s first law of motion is also known as the law of inertia. Objects at rest tend to stay at rest and objects in motion won’t stop unless they are forced to stop. They continue moving at a constant speed, in the same direction unless a force (a push or a pull) acts upon the objects, like gravity or friction.
Newton’s second law of motion says that Force = mass x acceleration. Essentially, the more massive an object is, the harder it is to move it or stop it.
Stay tuned! We will study Newton’s third law of motion this week and continue practicing the song for all three laws. :-)
History
This week in History, it seemed that our time machine was all over the place! From the shores of Oregon to the peninsula of Korea, we covered a lot of ground and sea.
What was most exciting for the kids was learning about the Oregon Trail in the period of U.S. Westward Expansion through the computer game of the same name. The kids learned about the difficult journey that pioneers took on the trail and unfortunately many died along the way. You will see in some of the pictures the screens of the tombstones generated in the game. Many wanted to continue playing at home, so if you want to do so, you can follow this link:
Play Oregon Trail Online
https://playclassic.games/games/adventure-dos-games-online/oregon-trail-game/play/
On Friday, we studied more about how the US grew into a world power in the age of industrialization. We learned that steel companies grew tremendously during this period and the kids went on a “metal hunt” around the playground. Whenever they found metal, Mr. Jared would inspect it and then “pay” the students for their work. It was a lot of fun!
Studio
I loved hearing the students’ impression of The Nutcracker. Mrs. Vivi gave them a theater review template with different faces that would help them rate different performance elements. They reviewed the costumes, scenery, and overall dancing. They also got a chance to write out and draw their favorite part of the play.
On Friday, we practiced the memory verse songs that each group will do for Friday's time of worship with the parents. The kids were excited to find out what song their group would be doing and had some great ideas about how to sing it together! This week they will continue practicing all of their songs.
OAKS - 7+
The rocket launcher helped to prove the laws of Newton.
Worship and History
As we draw near to the end of the semester, we are spending a lot of time reflecting on the stories we have been reading in our book, A Young Person's Guide to Knowing God. The students have been working on an icon project where they had to design artwork that would represent each of the stories if they were to publish a book cover for them. This week the students will be presenting their finished projects and we are looking forward to this immensely.
With all the soccer fever from the World Cup. We also had the chance to go out in this beautiful weather and kick the ball around. A great time was had by all!
Finally, in History, the OAKS also had Oregon Trail fever. The students teamed up to find their way from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon. This was a great exercise to determine how to work together to survive and how to calculate the supplies they would need along the way. Sadly, the teams didn’t make it to the end (you will see some of the tombstone epitaphs in the photos), but they can try again at home:
Play Oregon Trail Online
https://playclassic.games/games/adventure-dos-games-online/oregon-trail-game/play/
The Oaks students also performed a short skit in class to learn about the concepts of stocks and philanthropy and how they influenced American business at the turn of the century.
Science
We definitely took advantage of the good weather to go outside and learn more about motion this week. We explored Newton’s second law of motion by noting how different masses affect the force you need to stop or push a swing. We also enjoyed running and jumping on our backyard rocket toy after chanting Newton’s third law of motion. After saying “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction,” the kids would jump on the bag with air that pushes the rocket off the ground. On Friday, we read more about the life of Sir Isaac Newton and how his reverence for God led him in so many ways.
Finally, (and in case you were wondering) there was a marbles rematch this week. Mrs. Vivi was banned from participating in it however, and Isaí was victorious over his classmates.
Studio
There was so much to discuss after our first theater field trip. After getting their feedback about the production, Mrs. Vivi introduced them to the job of a theater critic and broke down several important points about what to include in a theater review. The Oaks students then began writing a short paragraph describing a particular production element of The Nutcracker and/or describing their favorite part of the play. They ended their review by giving their overall impression of the production and either coaxing their audience to go see it or deterring them from doing so. They also had the opportunity to include a drawing in their review. They will share their work with each other this week.
Memory Verse #7
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”