Greetings, AABC Families! We hope you had a meaningful holiday and a great week.
Two of our morning launches this week were led by our learners. It is inspiring to see learners on their Hero’s Journey as they take more initiative to guide their fellow mates. Monday’s launch was about coding: the learner who led the launch shared a video game he created and then led a discussion about how coding changed the world. On Thursday Launch, the learner who led the circle showed a video with some inspirational quotes and asked the learners to share which quote they liked and how they could use it in their own life. Every Friday morning, we dedicate the launch to share character call outs. If a learner has witnessed an act that demonstrated a positive character trait, he or she says, “I saw (insert name) do (insert virtuous act.) I would call that (insert character trait.)” It is great to see how the quantity and the quality of character call outs rise every week as the tribe gets stronger and more connected.
For Quest this week, the learners tried to generate electricity using the water wheel and build a battery using only potatoes. Those challenges could be very frustrating, and the learners had to figure how to push through the frustration, when to ask for help and how to come up with creative ideas to solve their problems. During Launch on Wednesday, we talked about Lord Acton and his famous quote: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
This week during Civ, we read the chapter about the Celts and the Anglo-Saxons in Britain. One of the questions that created a great debate was this one: The Celts enjoyed verbal storytelling and singing. Specialized singers, or bards, taught children through stories and songs that being strong and aggressive were good traits, mainly because they would be better prepared for conflict and war. As a modern American parent, would you teach your children the values of strength and aggression, or calmness and conflict resolution? Why?
In Music, we had a Socratic launch about music being universal. The learners debated where our music interests come from, whether it comes from our environment or does it come from our loved ones. The learners enjoyed learning how to play guitar and keyboard or working on their songs and dances.
For the writer’s workshop, the learners are working hard to finish their Podcast’s scripts. Some of the learners chose to create the Podcast with a partner, which adds a lot of fun and some new challenges to their tasks.
This week the learners earned their second party (for finishing studio maintenance ten times on time). The party will take place next Friday, and we can not wait to see what the plan will be this time. Enjoy your weekend, and we will see you back next week!
