Week 10: October 22-26 - "Southern Adventures"
“Southern Adventures”
Check one off the list! In our study of Countries and Cultures this year, we are visiting the continents one by one. Now that we’ve completed North America, its time to travel south to the continent known for its volcanic mountain ranges, ice glaciers, churrasco and Soccer legends.
Dressed for Travel
Thanks to a good friend, Mr. Jared secured a great new jacket to wear during Geography class.
READINGS FOR THE WEEK - Family Book Package
The readings listed below are optional, but are great ways to reinforce the lessons taught at the center and for the entire family to explore together the topics we cover from week to week.
Our Memory verse can be found at the end of this page.
The Bible - the Book of Matthew
Matthew 6:19 - Matthew 7:12
Window on the World
pp. 126-127 (Quechua)
pp. 194-195 (Animism)
Additional Read-Alouds:
The Usborne Living World Encyclopedia
102-105 - Climbing and gliding; Monkeys and apes
92-93 - Water Birds
106-109 - Rain Forest Hunters; Colors in the Rain Forest
100-101 - The Rain Forest floor
Missionary Biography: Nate Saint
THE GARDEN
WORSHIP:
Just like an apple tree can only give apples, we who are in Christ Jesus should bear the fruit of LOVE. This is one of the things we discussed as we have been talking this week about the fruits of the Spirit. We studied how Jesus is the Vine and how we are the branches and apart from Him we can do nothing. Without Jesus, we cannot bear fruit. With Jesus, we can bear much fruit. “How can we show the fruit of love to others?”, asked Miss Nicole. “Yo enseño amor con abrazos,” said Estela.
On Tuesday we had indoor park because of the weather and the children got to play board games. They enjoyed Candy Land very much.
For activity time, we explored for the first time this year our water table. “Esto es muy divertido”, said Hallel. When they tried filling the water jug to the top, they all shouted “Weeeeee”. They were really excited. “Me gustan los experimentos que hacen aquí,” exclaimed Cesare.
On Thursday we had the chance to enjoy time outside. It was sunny and very hot. The kids took turns helping Mrs. Vivi to water the plants and fill their containers with mulch in the space around the flowers. The girls have a new favorite game at park: playing mommies. They will pretend to have big bellies while the boys will sometimes cooperate and make them food and take it to their houses as a special delivery. Emphasizing that they show the fruit of love towards each other, they played with blocks while at the same time working on being extra nice to each other. “Cesare, me prestas un cuadrado para construir?”, asked Hallel. “Claro, sí yo te lo presto”, replied Cesare.
Oh how we all need to be connected to the Vine to keep producing the good fruit of love. Only with Jesus’ help!
SEEDS
SEEDS
Worship and Park time
We had some new friends visit us this week: Righty and Lefty the Sock Puppets! They helped explain what Jesus was telling his listeners in Matthew 6 when he told them how they should give and how they should pray. The kids loved meeting them and learning why our praying and giving should be done in secret.
For park time, we had a training session to prepare for some soccer games we will be playing as we study Brazil in the next few days.
Geography
We have finished our first continent and said goodbye to North America this week. The children have done an excellent job identifying the 17 countries we covered throughout the unit. Now, we venture to South America and our first stop is Brazil! We began by getting our passports stamped and looking at the map of the entire continent. We learned that there are 13 regions in South America, twelve of them being independent countries while French Guiana remains a territory of France.
South America is full of amazing sites, from volcanoes to glaciers. This is going to be a very fun unit of study.
Science
This past week was all about tropical rainforests. I always think it is fun to be able to study the biome in which we live. It can help us appreciate how God made our world.
Tropical rainforests are located near the equator between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. They receive more than 80 inches of rainfall each year. They are hot and humid and typically have many rivers.
Over half of the world's land animals and birds live in the rainforests. Most are arboreal which means that they live in trees.
As we continue studying the rainforest, the students will share their research concerning an animal from this biome and we will discuss the many resources, including medicinal, that originate from these forests.
Studio Time
One of the highlights of our field trip was getting to see the famous Puerto Rican parrot up-close! This served as inspiration for this week’s activity. We worked on a sketch of another beautiful Puerto Rican bird that lives in the forest: the San Pedrito! The students followed a tutorial that walked them through some basics shapes. Then they erased and contoured. I was impressed by their ability to follow along, especially the youngest group. On Thursday, they finished the sketch and added some color. I love their creations and I’m sure you will too.
OAKS MIDDLE YEARS
OAKS
Helping Hands
Jonathan is one of our new volunteers on Thursdays. He’s been a great help around the facilities as well as assisting with other things for our programs.
Oaks Geography
The OAKS students began studying the map of South America, exploring the many amazing locations that this enormous continent is known for. Did you know that Easter Island (officially part of Chile) is over 2,000 miles from the mainland? We also discussed the temperature differences between the warm waters of the Caribbean to the frozen waves between Argentina and Antarctica. Then we began to look at the interesting facts regarding South America’s biggest country: Brazil. We are looking forward to all the amazing cultural experiences this Portuguese-speaking nation has to offer.
Oaks Science
Our next biome to focus on will be rainforests and what a blessing to be able to start by sharing our favorite parts about our field trip, and our very own tropical rainforest, El Yunque! After discussing what we all learned and liked about the trip we began to share the answers to our assignment regarding tropical rainforests. The students were able to take many more notes than the last assignment, which is a great sign that they are growing in their note-taking skills. FInally, I gave the students their next assignment related to rainforests. They each picked a paper containing a rainforest product that they need to promote. On Thursday, they will come prepared as an advertising executive with a poster that should convince their audience to buy their product.The students got very excited and started sharing ideas right away! I look forward to seeing their final work.
Oaks Studio
Our Oaks students used their Studio Time this week to brainstorm ideas for their Rainforest Project Presentation. Since we are working on developing good study habits, we read through the paper that described the guidelines to the project. I emphasized how important it is to read the instructions carefully so they can know what is required of them and where there is room to be creative or add to their assignment. After clarifying their questions, we began sketching the cute and chunky San Pedrito bird! This week, they will finish their sketch and add color to it.
Memory Verse #8
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.”