But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But
the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and
perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be
blessed in his doing.- James 1:22-25
____________________________________________________________________________
Dear Durham Parents, August 19, 2010
Here is a brief recap of our day today:
Your students' first papers, on Archimedes, were very good. All the students have nice presentation skills. Our discussion in Literature was very well rounded. I was so excited to hear how well grounded your children are in their understanding of their faith and its impact on their lives and choices.
My favorite quote of the day:
"His daddy (from the book, Shiloh) is nice and all but NOT as cool as my dad!"
For those in the Math seminar, their work could be spaced out more (not so crowded) and show ALL the steps of their work :)
We will have a quiz in Logic next week. I anticipate that it will take about 15 minutes of the seminar time. They all did a nice job with their Current Events articles. One student quoted bible verses on the CE form. I LOVE bible verses! They will be researching "Methods of Education" for next week. The Latin students are a powerhouse! They did a great job presenting the material to me. We continue to keep on target with the guide. While I saw everyone writing down their assignments in their planners, the blog is available should the students have any questions.
Thank you very much for allowing me to have them on Thursdays, they are a delight!!
______________________________________________________________________________
Dear Durham Parents, August 13, 2010
Our first day together was very good! We had a strong start with many good questions! To begin the year, I wanted to recap each seminar:
Math- please encourage your student to follow the guidelines Mr. Frazier gave about keeping their Math notebook. I will be checking their homework each week! There was confusion about which room but the Challenge I students will come to my room at 8:30. There will be lots of work done on the board.
Logic- it would be very helpful for them if you had your student explain to you how they are to outline each Lesson. We took some extra time going over this by using the Summary as a starting point.
Science- while we did not go over the format for bibliography, I have uploaded 2 documents as helps for the students to refer to - please let your students know about these. These documents are on the Links page. I showed them a timeline of the scientists we'll be studying and we went over the 5 basic paragraph essay from the back of the guide. Reading the Hippocratic Oath together was a cool exercise!
Literature- We talked about the books we'll be reading and one student did an impromptu "commercial" for us about Shiloh! While we discussed the format of their upcoming essay (next week's assignment), I neglected to go to 1st, 2nd & 3rd person writing (as mentioned in the guide). You may need to go over this with your student. However, as we wrote the introduction paragraph, I was impressed as well the were able to write sentences off the top of their heads!
Current Events- We discussed some concepts that were new to your children: euthanasia, infanticide and genocide. Please discuss these with your children, especially with your bible in hand :) All of them were familiar with abortion. We also discussed bias which is a new idea to them. Being neutral is very difficult to portray. I hope you'll have time to talk about this with them!
Latin- This will be an exciting seminar! All three boys have strong Latin backgrounds but have come from three different curricula so each will be strong in a different area. All three boys are competitive so the sparks will fly as they will challenge one another in this seminar! It will be great way to end our day each week.
Housekeeping-
____________________________________________________________________________
Dear Cary Parents September 4, 2010
Yesterday was a great day for our Week 4 in Challenge B! The students were well prepared and ready to participate.
Math clicked along without any hitches. In Logic, the quizzes were returned, please ask your students for them. There will be another quiz next week covering lessons 6-11. This is different than the guide. I wanted to break Unit 2 into 2 parts.
In Science, the students' Kepler assignments were nicely done! The Pascal assignment does not require writing a paper. It is described in the back of the guide. I refined this assignment by asking for 2 more specific requests: (1) Write the Bibliography once on an index card and label each source (#1, 2, ....), then on the back of the note cards, the student can simply refer to the assigned source number on each of their 20 index cards. (2) Please color code the index cards. For example, all of the subtopic cards for scientific need to be the same color, all cards for mathematical all the same color, etc.... The students need to be prepared to give an oral presentationon Pascal for a time frame of one and a half minutes to two minutes in length, using a couple of points they learned about Pascal. The point of this presentation is to TELL us about Pascal NOT to read their note cards(!)
In Current Events, we discussed the Death Penalty and I explained to them how our debate format will work next week. The Resolve (or Premise) is different than what is in the guide. It is about the Arizona Immigration Law and I wrote it on the board. The students were divided into 2 teams: Affirmative and Negative. It would be VERY time efficient for your family if all students had a Gmail account and could conduct team meetings online. Please let me know their Gmail accounts once they have been assigned. The students are very eager to get together for meetings but I realize how draining that can be on the family. Online meetings are best at this point. Once they understand more about debate, in-person meetings for 2-3 weeks later this semester will be better. Please see the Cary News page for our schedule. The students will be assigned a new topic each week and new team members. For 3 Fridays in September, we will have one of the Durham students, Andrew, with us. This means he will be included in the debates in Cary as well.
Our Literature discussion went well. We talked at length about the assignment for next week, writing a compare/ contrast paper which includes symbolism examples. In Latin, we will stop working in our LNST workbook so the students can learn two important items in their Latin: (1) all 4 principal parts for each verb of their vocabulary, (2) the gender of each noun in their vocabulary. In our seminar next week, I will give them a short quiz on their vocabulary then we'll drill/ play together on the vocab.
As always, I enjoy your children very much!
______________________________________________________________________________Yesterday was a great day for our Week 4 in Challenge B! The students were well prepared and ready to participate.
Math clicked along without any hitches. In Logic, the quizzes were returned, please ask your students for them. There will be another quiz next week covering lessons 6-11. This is different than the guide. I wanted to break Unit 2 into 2 parts.
In Science, the students' Kepler assignments were nicely done! The Pascal assignment does not require writing a paper. It is described in the back of the guide. I refined this assignment by asking for 2 more specific requests: (1) Write the Bibliography once on an index card and label each source (#1, 2, ....), then on the back of the note cards, the student can simply refer to the assigned source number on each of their 20 index cards. (2) Please color code the index cards. For example, all of the subtopic cards for scientific need to be the same color, all cards for mathematical all the same color, etc.... The students need to be prepared to give an oral presentationon Pascal for a time frame of one and a half minutes to two minutes in length, using a couple of points they learned about Pascal. The point of this presentation is to TELL us about Pascal NOT to read their note cards(!)
In Current Events, we discussed the Death Penalty and I explained to them how our debate format will work next week. The Resolve (or Premise) is different than what is in the guide. It is about the Arizona Immigration Law and I wrote it on the board. The students were divided into 2 teams: Affirmative and Negative. It would be VERY time efficient for your family if all students had a Gmail account and could conduct team meetings online. Please let me know their Gmail accounts once they have been assigned. The students are very eager to get together for meetings but I realize how draining that can be on the family. Online meetings are best at this point. Once they understand more about debate, in-person meetings for 2-3 weeks later this semester will be better. Please see the Cary News page for our schedule. The students will be assigned a new topic each week and new team members. For 3 Fridays in September, we will have one of the Durham students, Andrew, with us. This means he will be included in the debates in Cary as well.
Our Literature discussion went well. We talked at length about the assignment for next week, writing a compare/ contrast paper which includes symbolism examples. In Latin, we will stop working in our LNST workbook so the students can learn two important items in their Latin: (1) all 4 principal parts for each verb of their vocabulary, (2) the gender of each noun in their vocabulary. In our seminar next week, I will give them a short quiz on their vocabulary then we'll drill/ play together on the vocab.
As always, I enjoy your children very much!
Dear Durham Parents, September 4, 2010
Thursday was a great day in Challenge B for Week 4! The students were enthusiastic and ready with their assignments!
Math clicked along without any hitches. In Logic, the quizzes were returned, please ask your students for them. There will be another quiz next week covering lessons 6-11. This is different than the guide. I wanted to break Unit 2 into 2 parts.
The students did a nice job with their Kepler assignments. I was very excited to tape them in the hallway for all to see! The Pascal assignment does not require writing a paper. It is described in the back of the guide. I refined this assignment by asking for 2 more specific requests: (1) Write the Bibliography once on an index card and label each source (#1, 2, ....), then on the back of the note cards, the student can simply refer to the assigned source number on each of their 20 index cards. -thank you Mimi for his tip! (2) Please color code the index cards. For example, all of the subtopic cards for scientific need to be the same color, all cards for mathematical all the same color, etc....
IMPORTANT NOTE: The students need to be prepared to give an oral presentation on Pascal for a time frame of one and a half minutes to two minutes in length, using a couple of points they learned about Pascal. The point of this presentation is to TELL us about Pascal NOT to read their note cards(!) I did NOT mention this in our seminar. This is new information for them to know.
In Current Events, we discussed the Death Penalty and I explained to them how our debate format will work next week. The Resolve (or Premise) is different than what is in the guide. It is about the Arizona Immigration Law and I wrote it on the board. The students were divided into 2 teams: Affirmative and Negative. It would be VERY time efficient for your family if all students had a Gmail account and could conduct team meetings online. Please let me know their Gmail accounts once they have been assigned. The students are very eager to get together for meetings but I realize how draining that can be on the family. Online meetings are best at this point. Once they understand more about debate, in-person meetings for 2-3 weeks later this semester will be better. Please see the Durham News page for our schedule. The students will be assigned a new topic each week and new team members.
Our Literature discussion went well. We talked at length about the assignment for next week, writing a compare/ contrast paper which includes symbolism examples. In Latin, we chugged along in the book. Next week, the students will have a quiz on Lessons 1-8.
It was a delight to be with your students this past Thursday. I enjoy each one very much.,
________________________________________________________________________________Thursday was a great day in Challenge B for Week 4! The students were enthusiastic and ready with their assignments!
Math clicked along without any hitches. In Logic, the quizzes were returned, please ask your students for them. There will be another quiz next week covering lessons 6-11. This is different than the guide. I wanted to break Unit 2 into 2 parts.
The students did a nice job with their Kepler assignments. I was very excited to tape them in the hallway for all to see! The Pascal assignment does not require writing a paper. It is described in the back of the guide. I refined this assignment by asking for 2 more specific requests: (1) Write the Bibliography once on an index card and label each source (#1, 2, ....), then on the back of the note cards, the student can simply refer to the assigned source number on each of their 20 index cards. -thank you Mimi for his tip! (2) Please color code the index cards. For example, all of the subtopic cards for scientific need to be the same color, all cards for mathematical all the same color, etc....
IMPORTANT NOTE: The students need to be prepared to give an oral presentation on Pascal for a time frame of one and a half minutes to two minutes in length, using a couple of points they learned about Pascal. The point of this presentation is to TELL us about Pascal NOT to read their note cards(!) I did NOT mention this in our seminar. This is new information for them to know.
In Current Events, we discussed the Death Penalty and I explained to them how our debate format will work next week. The Resolve (or Premise) is different than what is in the guide. It is about the Arizona Immigration Law and I wrote it on the board. The students were divided into 2 teams: Affirmative and Negative. It would be VERY time efficient for your family if all students had a Gmail account and could conduct team meetings online. Please let me know their Gmail accounts once they have been assigned. The students are very eager to get together for meetings but I realize how draining that can be on the family. Online meetings are best at this point. Once they understand more about debate, in-person meetings for 2-3 weeks later this semester will be better. Please see the Durham News page for our schedule. The students will be assigned a new topic each week and new team members.
Our Literature discussion went well. We talked at length about the assignment for next week, writing a compare/ contrast paper which includes symbolism examples. In Latin, we chugged along in the book. Next week, the students will have a quiz on Lessons 1-8.
It was a delight to be with your students this past Thursday. I enjoy each one very much.,
Dear Cary Parents, August 20, 2010
Friday was another great day in Challenge B! Here is a recap from our Week 3:
Math- I am still working with the students when they go to the board. If we accomplish a goal that the students are consistently: (1) copying the problem from the book correctly, (2) Working the problem as the directions specify (3) Showing ALL their work, (4) Indicating the answer with a square or circle, (5) and giving the formula when it is used, then I will consider much of our time in the seminar to be a success!
Logic- Since I was out of town this past weekend, I have not looked at the quizzes yet However, we did move forward with the next lessons that begin Statements.
Science- We shared the student's papers and talked about their presentation skills. I gave them their next assignment on Kepler which is different than the past 2 assignments. I wrote the details on the board and hope the students took good notes :)
Literature- We shared our papers and worked on our listening skills. This was a REAL stretch for the students. I plan to continue this process next week so that the students will hone in their ability to actively listen to the content of the papers given. I look forward to our discussion next week on LLW!
Current Events- This is the last week that the students will fill in their CE forms from their research on articles. They will be bringing in 2 articles on the death penalty. Next week, they will begin their research in preparation for debate.
Latin- There was a great deal of review material to cover in the seminar. Joe said it took most of their seminar time going over it and he enjoyed "being" a student! Next week, I will resume the position of the "teacher" again but I will assign them "teacher" roles again in the future. It does prove to be a very effective tool in their learning process!
Again, please know how thankful I am that you have your students with me on Fridays! They are a delight!!
______________________________________________________________________________Friday was another great day in Challenge B! Here is a recap from our Week 3:
Math- I am still working with the students when they go to the board. If we accomplish a goal that the students are consistently: (1) copying the problem from the book correctly, (2) Working the problem as the directions specify (3) Showing ALL their work, (4) Indicating the answer with a square or circle, (5) and giving the formula when it is used, then I will consider much of our time in the seminar to be a success!
Logic- Since I was out of town this past weekend, I have not looked at the quizzes yet However, we did move forward with the next lessons that begin Statements.
Science- We shared the student's papers and talked about their presentation skills. I gave them their next assignment on Kepler which is different than the past 2 assignments. I wrote the details on the board and hope the students took good notes :)
Literature- We shared our papers and worked on our listening skills. This was a REAL stretch for the students. I plan to continue this process next week so that the students will hone in their ability to actively listen to the content of the papers given. I look forward to our discussion next week on LLW!
Current Events- This is the last week that the students will fill in their CE forms from their research on articles. They will be bringing in 2 articles on the death penalty. Next week, they will begin their research in preparation for debate.
Latin- There was a great deal of review material to cover in the seminar. Joe said it took most of their seminar time going over it and he enjoyed "being" a student! Next week, I will resume the position of the "teacher" again but I will assign them "teacher" roles again in the future. It does prove to be a very effective tool in their learning process!
Again, please know how thankful I am that you have your students with me on Fridays! They are a delight!!
Dear Durham Parents, August 26, 2010
Today was another great day in Durham's Challenge B. One nice aspect is that the students are feeling nicely comfortable! I'm glad that are feeling at home during our time together. This does mean that I need to make sure they remain focus on our task at hand! Here is a recap from Week 3:
Math- We will focus more next week on shoring up our homework problems on the board: copying them down correctly from the book and working them step-by-step. The students will explain the math problem to the others as well.
Logic- We took the quiz but I haven't looked over them yet. We started on Unit 2 in the book with statements and practiced with the homework exercises.
Science- Their papers were very good and the presentations were quite good!! I am already looking forward to the Kepler reports, which will be in a different format than the previous two papers. It is described in the back of the guide and I provided more details in the seminar.
Literature- The students' papers contained some well-thought out alternatives to Marty's situation and consequences of his choices. It was a joy to hear their papers today!
Current Events- Going through the research and filling in the forms seemed to be somewhat better this week! It is still a bit of an awkward exercise for them. This will continue to be the case as we move towards debate. Their assignment for next week is about the death penalty. I am making a change to the assignment given in the seminar on Thursday. Please simply find 2 articles on the death penalty. You do not need to worry about finding articles which mention the factors, i.e. mental capacity, etc. We will talk about these factors in the seminar as we discuss your articles.
Latin- This seminar continued to go well. The students are quickly completing their review portion of the book so there is a quiz on the horizon for them (Week 5). I plan to teach the lesson next week and hope to have a game planned out as a method of reviewing for the quiz.
Please look over their checklist. This is a way for me to communicate with you each week what your student is/ is not bringing to the seminars.
I love having your students with me on Thursday!! Thank you for allowing me this privilege.
________________________________________________________________________________Today was another great day in Durham's Challenge B. One nice aspect is that the students are feeling nicely comfortable! I'm glad that are feeling at home during our time together. This does mean that I need to make sure they remain focus on our task at hand! Here is a recap from Week 3:
Math- We will focus more next week on shoring up our homework problems on the board: copying them down correctly from the book and working them step-by-step. The students will explain the math problem to the others as well.
Logic- We took the quiz but I haven't looked over them yet. We started on Unit 2 in the book with statements and practiced with the homework exercises.
Science- Their papers were very good and the presentations were quite good!! I am already looking forward to the Kepler reports, which will be in a different format than the previous two papers. It is described in the back of the guide and I provided more details in the seminar.
Literature- The students' papers contained some well-thought out alternatives to Marty's situation and consequences of his choices. It was a joy to hear their papers today!
Current Events- Going through the research and filling in the forms seemed to be somewhat better this week! It is still a bit of an awkward exercise for them. This will continue to be the case as we move towards debate. Their assignment for next week is about the death penalty. I am making a change to the assignment given in the seminar on Thursday. Please simply find 2 articles on the death penalty. You do not need to worry about finding articles which mention the factors, i.e. mental capacity, etc. We will talk about these factors in the seminar as we discuss your articles.
Latin- This seminar continued to go well. The students are quickly completing their review portion of the book so there is a quiz on the horizon for them (Week 5). I plan to teach the lesson next week and hope to have a game planned out as a method of reviewing for the quiz.
Please look over their checklist. This is a way for me to communicate with you each week what your student is/ is not bringing to the seminars.
I love having your students with me on Thursday!! Thank you for allowing me this privilege.
Dear Parents, August 25, 2010
The assignment for Current Events for Week 5, Internet Issues, has made me uncomfortable as I have nosed around the internet looking at hits my searches produced. So, I am changing this topic. In the seminar on Week 4, I will introduce the Arizona Immigration Law. The factors involving this topic are: “unauthorized aliens", uniform Rule of Naturalization, verification of immigration status, constitutional rights, immigration laws, reasonable suspicion, pre-emption. The premise for this debate is: Arizona immigration law should be revoked because it is unconstitutional since it infringes on a US Citizen's basic citizenship rights.
_______________________________________________________________________________The assignment for Current Events for Week 5, Internet Issues, has made me uncomfortable as I have nosed around the internet looking at hits my searches produced. So, I am changing this topic. In the seminar on Week 4, I will introduce the Arizona Immigration Law. The factors involving this topic are: “unauthorized aliens", uniform Rule of Naturalization, verification of immigration status, constitutional rights, immigration laws, reasonable suspicion, pre-emption. The premise for this debate is: Arizona immigration law should be revoked because it is unconstitutional since it infringes on a US Citizen's basic citizenship rights.
Dear Cary Parents, August 21, 2010
As a brief recap from Week 2:
We had a great day together! The Math lessons looked good. Some students crowd their work. Please encourage them not to do this since it is difficult to follow. There will be a quiz on Lessons 1-5 in Logic next week that I hope will only take 15 minutes during our seminar.
Their papers on Archimedes were nicely done! In order to refine their writing skills, allow me to suggest that they strive to use more formal than conversational language in their choice of words. I have placed a link on our Links page which provides an example. All of them appeared as young professionals behind the podium! Our current events articles were nicely thought out. One student brought in an example which was pro-choice rather than pro-life. This is a new skill for them to even consider looking at arguments supporting the "other side".
In literature, we discussed lying, whether there is ever an exception when it acceptable to lie, are there different degrees of "badness" when one sins? With both this subject matter and those presented in Current Events, I strongly encourage you parents to talk with you children about the biblical view! This is an exciting age for them when they are exposed to issues and thought patterns that stretch their belief system!
In Latin, we are still reviewing material from last year. I would encourage you to make sure they have this material memorized well. When the new material hits soon, it builds on the foundation of this review material.
Please look at their Challenge B Guide, I have checked (on p.23) that they completed their work and I initialed it. It is important that you, as the teacher, are aware that your student is prepared when they come on Fridays. If you ever need to adjust an assignment, please email me. I always print off the email and keep it tucked in my own "checklist" book.
Your children are an absolute delight!! They are so respectful and kind to their peers and authority. I thoroughly enjoy having them each Friday!!
______________________________________________________________________________As a brief recap from Week 2:
We had a great day together! The Math lessons looked good. Some students crowd their work. Please encourage them not to do this since it is difficult to follow. There will be a quiz on Lessons 1-5 in Logic next week that I hope will only take 15 minutes during our seminar.
Their papers on Archimedes were nicely done! In order to refine their writing skills, allow me to suggest that they strive to use more formal than conversational language in their choice of words. I have placed a link on our Links page which provides an example. All of them appeared as young professionals behind the podium! Our current events articles were nicely thought out. One student brought in an example which was pro-choice rather than pro-life. This is a new skill for them to even consider looking at arguments supporting the "other side".
In literature, we discussed lying, whether there is ever an exception when it acceptable to lie, are there different degrees of "badness" when one sins? With both this subject matter and those presented in Current Events, I strongly encourage you parents to talk with you children about the biblical view! This is an exciting age for them when they are exposed to issues and thought patterns that stretch their belief system!
In Latin, we are still reviewing material from last year. I would encourage you to make sure they have this material memorized well. When the new material hits soon, it builds on the foundation of this review material.
Please look at their Challenge B Guide, I have checked (on p.23) that they completed their work and I initialed it. It is important that you, as the teacher, are aware that your student is prepared when they come on Fridays. If you ever need to adjust an assignment, please email me. I always print off the email and keep it tucked in my own "checklist" book.
Your children are an absolute delight!! They are so respectful and kind to their peers and authority. I thoroughly enjoy having them each Friday!!
Dear Durham Parents, August 19, 2010
Here is a brief recap of our day today:
Your students' first papers, on Archimedes, were very good. All the students have nice presentation skills. Our discussion in Literature was very well rounded. I was so excited to hear how well grounded your children are in their understanding of their faith and its impact on their lives and choices.
My favorite quote of the day:
"His daddy (from the book, Shiloh) is nice and all but NOT as cool as my dad!"
For those in the Math seminar, their work could be spaced out more (not so crowded) and show ALL the steps of their work :)
We will have a quiz in Logic next week. I anticipate that it will take about 15 minutes of the seminar time. They all did a nice job with their Current Events articles. One student quoted bible verses on the CE form. I LOVE bible verses! They will be researching "Methods of Education" for next week. The Latin students are a powerhouse! They did a great job presenting the material to me. We continue to keep on target with the guide. While I saw everyone writing down their assignments in their planners, the blog is available should the students have any questions.
Thank you very much for allowing me to have them on Thursdays, they are a delight!!
Dear Cary Parents, August 14, 2010
Our first day together was great with a strong start! To begin the year, I wanted to recap each seminar:
Math- please encourage your student to follow the guidelines Mr. Frazier gave about keeping their Math notebook. I will be checking their homework each week! There will be lots of work done on the board.
Logic- please ask your students about their Logic lessons so they can explain the concepts to you :)
Science- while we did not go over the format for bibliography, I have uploaded 2 documents as helps for the students to refer to - please let your students know about these. These documents are on the Links page. I showed them a timeline of the scientists we'll be studying and we went over the 5 basic paragraph essay from the back of the guide. Reading the Hippocratic Oath together was a cool exercise!
Literature- The students did "commercials" for us about Shiloh! We discussed the format of their upcoming essay (next week's assignment), and wrote an example introduction paragraph. They even wanted to write another paragraph, so we did!
Current Events- Please discuss Right to Life issues with your children, especially with your bible in hand :) We also discussed bias and the notion of being neutral.
Latin- We brushed up on our Latin skills from Level 4! It was a great seminar.
Housekeeping-
_____________________________________________________________________________Our first day together was great with a strong start! To begin the year, I wanted to recap each seminar:
Math- please encourage your student to follow the guidelines Mr. Frazier gave about keeping their Math notebook. I will be checking their homework each week! There will be lots of work done on the board.
Logic- please ask your students about their Logic lessons so they can explain the concepts to you :)
Science- while we did not go over the format for bibliography, I have uploaded 2 documents as helps for the students to refer to - please let your students know about these. These documents are on the Links page. I showed them a timeline of the scientists we'll be studying and we went over the 5 basic paragraph essay from the back of the guide. Reading the Hippocratic Oath together was a cool exercise!
Literature- The students did "commercials" for us about Shiloh! We discussed the format of their upcoming essay (next week's assignment), and wrote an example introduction paragraph. They even wanted to write another paragraph, so we did!
Current Events- Please discuss Right to Life issues with your children, especially with your bible in hand :) We also discussed bias and the notion of being neutral.
Latin- We brushed up on our Latin skills from Level 4! It was a great seminar.
Housekeeping-
- Beginning in September, we will be in the room across the hall, FC215
- Please make sure that your students brings a lesson planner and the guide each week.
Dear Durham Parents, August 13, 2010
Our first day together was very good! We had a strong start with many good questions! To begin the year, I wanted to recap each seminar:
Math- please encourage your student to follow the guidelines Mr. Frazier gave about keeping their Math notebook. I will be checking their homework each week! There was confusion about which room but the Challenge I students will come to my room at 8:30. There will be lots of work done on the board.
Logic- it would be very helpful for them if you had your student explain to you how they are to outline each Lesson. We took some extra time going over this by using the Summary as a starting point.
Science- while we did not go over the format for bibliography, I have uploaded 2 documents as helps for the students to refer to - please let your students know about these. These documents are on the Links page. I showed them a timeline of the scientists we'll be studying and we went over the 5 basic paragraph essay from the back of the guide. Reading the Hippocratic Oath together was a cool exercise!
Literature- We talked about the books we'll be reading and one student did an impromptu "commercial" for us about Shiloh! While we discussed the format of their upcoming essay (next week's assignment), I neglected to go to 1st, 2nd & 3rd person writing (as mentioned in the guide). You may need to go over this with your student. However, as we wrote the introduction paragraph, I was impressed as well the were able to write sentences off the top of their heads!
Current Events- We discussed some concepts that were new to your children: euthanasia, infanticide and genocide. Please discuss these with your children, especially with your bible in hand :) All of them were familiar with abortion. We also discussed bias which is a new idea to them. Being neutral is very difficult to portray. I hope you'll have time to talk about this with them!
Latin- This will be an exciting seminar! All three boys have strong Latin backgrounds but have come from three different curricula so each will be strong in a different area. All three boys are competitive so the sparks will fly as they will challenge one another in this seminar! It will be great way to end our day each week.
Housekeeping-
- The three boys have a cleaning job this semester and the girls will have one next semester.
- My schedule was posted incorrectly. Latin will end at 3:00. I have corrected this schedule.
- After the room is cleaned up, I will take the boys (along with some other children) to the gym until they can be picked up.
- During lunch, there are only 2 places where the students can be: Fellowship Hall or gym. When you parents are not on the campus, I must know where they are. They did a very nice job in respecting this rule !
Dear Parents, August 10, 2010
Here is a list of the volunteer jobs you so graciously signed up for:
Durham - Last Day Lunch (12/2), Mimi Daniels
Judge for Mini-Debate in Current Events, Mimi
Substitute, Mimi
Baking treats for Students, Heather Ling and Heather John
Cary - Mid-Semester Social, Karen Doidge, Erin Nolan & Mary Ellen McMorrow
Last Day Lunch (12/3), Angela Gordan & Michelle Blische
Judge for Mini-Debate in Current Events, Steve Soost
Substitute, Diana Soost, Maggie Jordan
____________________________________________________________________________Here is a list of the volunteer jobs you so graciously signed up for:
Durham - Last Day Lunch (12/2), Mimi Daniels
Judge for Mini-Debate in Current Events, Mimi
Substitute, Mimi
Baking treats for Students, Heather Ling and Heather John
Cary - Mid-Semester Social, Karen Doidge, Erin Nolan & Mary Ellen McMorrow
Last Day Lunch (12/3), Angela Gordan & Michelle Blische
Judge for Mini-Debate in Current Events, Steve Soost
Substitute, Diana Soost, Maggie Jordan
Dear Parents, August 9, 2010
One of the parents raised a concern about curse words in the book Shiloh particularly from the character, Judd. I wanted to pass this concern onto all of you, making you aware of these words. This reminds us that, as parents and teachers, we're encouraged to be familiar with the books our children are reading.
Also, I wanted to give you a warning about the book, Crispin. The character, Bear, speaks what I would call "old English" cursing.
Thank you.
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Dear Parents,
Thank you so much for coming to the meeting this morning! It encouraged me to have you there so that I can focus on important details of Challenge B!!
There were a few items I missed which are worthy of mentioning:
1. The article from WORLD magazine, "Life and Death" will be the article I will use on the first day of our seminar in Current Events. This is a perfect article since we learn about the Hippocratic Oath in Science that day :)
2. When I listened to Leigh Bortins talk about Challenge once, she mentioned that parents should spend roughly 4 hours per week with their Challenge students. It was an encouragement that this is a fabulous time in the life of you & your teenager and to not waste such an opportunity in deepening your relationship with your teen. I agree!
3. More details about the assignments on the scientists are given in the back of the guide.
4. When students hand in their Literature and Science papers, they will need to include their outlines as well as the 2 copies of their papers :)
5. While I did mention that all parents read the guide pp. 1-21, I'd like to remind you that this is important reading before we begin in August :)
Thank you again for your time and attention this morning!
In Christ Alone.
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Current Events Topics document by week with assigned premise
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Science Books to think about...
Janice VanCleave's Scientists Through the Ages
Champions of Science by John Hudson Tiner
Scientists of Faith: 48 Biographies of Historic Scientists and Their Christian Faith by Dan Graves
Christian Men of Science by George Mulfinger
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Please bring the following books to the Parents Meeting this coming Saturday 7/10/10:
Introduction to Logic and Answer Key
Algebra 1
Latin's Not So Tough Level 5
Please print WORLD magazine article and bring it with you
Science Project Helper
Your calendar so you can plug in important dates
Binder for Challenge B Guide
Cary Parents: Please bring money for your family's pizza if you would like some at the Kickoff
($3./person, under 5 free)
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