WEEK 9: A Week of Wonder!

The Garden kids heard about the wonders that God performed as he freed his people from Egypt and the SEEDS and OAKS were in a state of wonder learning about how crystals form in Science.

Scroll down to see the supplemental readings for the week, galleries of our latest photos, and our current memory verse.

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 what to cover based upon the ages of your children.

OAKS Program

See above for the worship readings

SEEDS and OAKS Programs

Review Memory Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:17 (See bottom of page)

HISTORY
- The Story of the World
  - P. 25 - The Great Game
  - P. 59 - Paraguay and the Triple Alliance
  - P. 63 - The Dominion of Canada

GARDEN - Pre-K and K

*Mrs. Vivi and the kids acting out some of the plagues of Egypt.*

What a blessing to be protected by God! We learned this week about Moses, Pharaoh and the ten plagues. These ten plagues left Egypt almost completely destroyed. It took for all the first born sons in Egypt to die for Pharaoh to finally let the Hebrews go. God had given Pharaoh so many opportunities but because of his hardened heart, all of Egypt suffered. Our sins not only have consequences that affect us, they affect others as well. The angel of death passed over the Hebrews' homes and since they had painted over their doorposts with the blood of a sacrificed animal, they were saved and protected. Just like us, we are saved and protected from eternal death by the blood of our Savior Jesus.

We also practiced the letter “Ee” this week. The children practiced writing the letter “Ee” on a chalkboard using Big line and Small line. The kids enjoyed playing with blocks and built an amazing big house that fit all the Hebrews. Another activity the Garden children enjoyed was playing with the water table and ping pong balls, the water turned to “blood” with red food coloring. After playing with water, the water table became a basket as they threw in from a distance the ping pong balls to score. They also had great time outdoors with Mr. Jared and Emma, playing with rackets, bowling and a favorite: “freeze-dance!”

This week they enjoyed drama time. Miss Vivi led them in role playing all the plagues that Egypt suffered. They had so much fun, they asked to repeat it again. The pictures will show how much they enjoyed doing drama this week!

SEEDS - Grades 1-6

Science

*Fun in the sun on a lovely day without rain.*

I hope that you enjoyed hearing about crystals and polymers from your children this week and what the pencil has to do with both! Above you can listen to the first 8 elements song for review.

Crystals are solids that have a regular, repeating arrangement of atoms and form in geometric shapes. The three items that the students brought home on Wednesday—sugar, salt, and quartz—are examples of common crystals. Gemstones, like diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds, are examples of valuable crystals.

On Friday, we talked about polymers, molecules arranged in long chains of many, many repeating parts. They are often stretchy (some more than others). There are numerous polymers, including wood, cotton, wool, silk, rubber, plastics, and nylon.

So what do crystals and polymers have to do with the pencil?

It turns out that graphite, used to make pencil lead, is actually crystallized carbon. When graphite is under enough intense pressure and heat and then cooled quickly it becomes a diamond!
On his second voyage to the Americas, Christopher Columbus discovered children in Haiti (shortly after landing in Puerto Rico!) playing with bouncy balls that they made from the sap of a rubber tree. This polymer was taken back to England and was discovered to be a great pencil lead eraser!

I love how all the subjects overlap the way that history and science did this week!

Arts
In Studio we started the week by catching up on any unfinished birds and/or coloring pages from other subjects. On Friday, we practiced the art of cutting paper, or KIRIGAMI, by creating paper snowflakes. We certainly put those hand muscles to good practice! At first, many were skeptical looking at Mrs. Vivi cut the paper and wondered how that was going to turn into a snowflake. However, as they cut out their creations and unfolded them to see the final product, there were squeals of delight in every group! We took the opportunity to remind them that all snowflakes are unique, just like each and every one of them.

History

We saw this week that many countries over the course of history had to defend themselves against neighboring countries in their efforts to retain or gain their independence. Such was the case for Afghanistan during the time of the Great Game and Paraguay in South America. Both countries faced threats from much larger nations that had struggled to keep their national identity. We used watercolors to describe how just as colors can blend together when they are painted side by side, conflicts can often spill into neighboring countries when war breaks out. This was an issue for both of these places in the 1850’s and ‘60s.

We reviewed who were the Presidents of the United States during these years as we saw how the Civil War influenced the actions of neighboring Canada in its own journey towards independence. You can read all about these things in the selected book passages this week! Also make sure you review the new WEST COAST song:

OAKS - 7+

*Isaí and Josh “twinning” during snack time.*

It is so awesome to be able to spend time with 7th graders! I know, this may not be what you hear everyday, but in our Bible time, we have been going very deep into our understanding of what repentance looks like and to listen to these OAKS “crystalize” this concept for themselves is mind-blowing. We talked a lot about our memory verse this week and the TRUTH, that we are made into new creations when we are in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Our whole purpose at the Well is to train young men and women in their understanding of the Word of God to then go and tell His story. When we get to witness these kids describe what the grace of Jesus means to them, it is one of the most wonderful things ever. Continue to pray for these young hearts as they enjoy fellowship with one another, and above all, grow in the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

BIBLE readings:

1 John 1:5-10
John 3:1-17

A Young Person’s Guide to Knowing God

P 81 - The Barrier
P 85 - The Five Finger Prayer
P 89 - The Captain and the Cabin Boy

Science

Compounds are all around us and are fun to learn about. We looked at two types of compounds this week: crystals and polymers. On Tuesday we discussed common crystal and precious gemstones as examples of crystals. We learned about the process of turning found crystals that are “in the rough” into beautiful gemstones used in jewelry. On Thursday, as part of our lesson on polymers, we tried our hand at making our own bouncy ball. Despite following instructions, the experiment was a flop! Nonetheless, it was a good moment to remember that sometimes our experiments don’t go as planned and we may have to figure out new ways to try them out. We eventually were able to make teeny tiny bouncy balls from the excess material we scraped from our hands. Eureka!

Studio

This week, we used our Studio Time to share short presentations about some elements in the Periodic Table. The students had to choose the element of their choice, make a small poster resembling a block in the periodic table, and share some facts in front of the class about the element they researched. They were so supportive of each other and truly enjoyed hearing their classmates share what they had discovered. At the end of the presentations on Thursday, Mrs. Vivi rewarded them with rock candy “crystal” lollipops. They all agreed that they would like to do more presentations like this in the future whether there was candy involved or not. :) If you would like to make your own rock candy at home, check out this simple tutorial: