Week 14 Summary

Scripture of the day: Proverbs 19:20-21 – "Listen to counsel and receive instruction, that you may be wise in your latter days.   There are many plans in a man's heart, Nevertheless the Lord's counsel – that will stand."

We have one more session left of the semester - Tuesday, Dec. 3^rd.  We will be finishing up in Literature and Current Events, and having a Blue Book Exam in class.  Afterwards, we will enjoy lunch and festivities with Challenge A.  Each person needs to bring a $5-$10/wrapped gift (gender neutral) for a gift exchange.  We will have lunch a little later that day - 12:30/1pm.

We spent a lot of time reviewing for the Blue Book Exam next time. I sent home with each student a study sheet of what to expect and prepare for the exam.

Math – Reviewed fractions and order of operations. Also played a new game to help review fractions; it is like the card game war. Ask your students about how to play.

Latin  - Reviewed vocabulary today and gave them a take home Latin Exam for Units 1 & 2.  Please bring back the exam and I will correct in class that last day.

Literature – Our last literature book for the semester, The Phantom Tollbooth. I hope the girls enjoyed the book as much as I. We spent a few minutes talking about puns. Homework: They can choose this week to do a writing assignment or a project. Check the guide for information about what is expected.

Logic  - We spent the time reviewing Logic through playing Jeopardy. It was challenging but it was good to see what they have learned and remembered this semester in Logic. We have come a long way since the beginning of the semester. We integrated our seminars today, by finding genus/species in each of our seminars.  Good work girls!! 

Science Fair Projects– Looks like everyone has their SF project solidified. Worked through the last of the details, and they look like they are all ready to begin their experiments now. Reminder: The girls need to write everything in their SF notebook.  Gave them handout/info about how to set up their display board and talked about their Research Paper – what it contains. They will need to complete that before we come back together in the January. HOMEWORK:  If their research plan is signed off by you the teacher, they may begin their experiment process. Remember www.sciencebuddies.com has a lot of great info about the process.  They will be finishing up their SF project over the Christmas break, and will need to have them completed when we begin again in January.

Current Events –Another very lively discussion – Great Job!!  The girls came well prepared to discuss and debate their side.

HOMEWORK:  Religious Displays on public/federal property

Premise: Religious displays (like nativity scenes) should be allowed on public/federal/state property.  

The girls will need to prepare a 1-2 minute speech (memorized) as if presenting before Congress about having religious displays on public property. They will need to find at least 2 articles to draw their information from.

Have a great week off and I will see you all on December 3^rd.

Mrs. Jennifer

Week 13 Summary

Scripture of the day: Psalm 8:1 – "O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name above the earth!  You have set your glory above the heavens."

Thank you all for the yummy feast we had today, and it was great to see all the families here to help celebrate.

We have only 2 weeks left of the semester. Woohoo!!  Keep up the hard work; we are almost done.  Next week we will be having an Open House for the Challenge programs on campus, so please forward on to anyone that might be interested in visiting.  Open House hours: 9-12 and 12:30-3:30pm.  Any questions, please let me know.

Also for our Last Class on Dec. 3^rd, we will be having a celebration time for all the Challenge classes on campus. In the morning, Challenge B will be doing their Blue Book exam and finish up the last of our work, then we will be having a luncheon together with the Challenge A class and a gift exchange. I will send our more info next week about what to bring, etc.  

A review of what we did this week and what to look forward to next week…

Math –Introduced exponents and roots, and reviewed fractions, reciprocals, and reviewed solving equations with variables. Also reviewed mental math work through drills and a game.

Latin  -  We continued our study of 1^st conjugation verbs this week.  Also we continued our review of vocabulary – a favorite game is Pictionary.  I sent home a practice test to help them see where they are at. It is a master review of their vocabulary.  This is a good time to watch again the Latin Tour Guide DVDs to help with reviewing all we have studied this semester. Homework:  Lesson 9 –1^st conjugation of verbs– Have them read the lesson and do the assigned exercises, make vocabulary cards for new words and fill in their Latin notebook – vocabulary, special rules (boxes from lesson text), and examples of 1^st conjugation verbs. Next week, I will be sending home a comprehensive Latin exam covering everything from Lesson 1 through Lesson 9 (nouns, adjectives, 1^st conj. Verbs and vocabulary) for them to take during the week off.  Please remind the girls to bring their Latin Notebooks, Latin books and homework exercises to class each week.

Literature – Great job on the papers this week!! Homework: Read The Phantom Tollbooth. There are 20 chapters, so if they read 4-5 chapters/day they will finish by next week.  Have the girls look ahead to the writing assignment so they know what is expected of them the following class session.

Logic  - We reviewed the Square of Opposition and syllogism form/mood. The girls are doing very well with this. We have been working with changing everyday arguments into syllogisms.  HOMEWORK: Finish exercises 26-30 and review all vocabulary up to this point.  We are one week behind in the guide.  Have them Read Lessons 30-32 and begin the corresponding exercises. Please encourage your students to watch the Nance videos – Lessons 15&16.  

Science Fair Projects– We reviewed Science Fair projects and hypothesises. The girls need to write everything in their SF notebook. We reviewed how to set up their notebook and the deliverables chart.  We are also going through the process in class with a SF experiment we are doing together. We are half way through the data collection and will finish up next time. HOMEWORK:  If their research plan is signed off by you the teacher, they may begin their experiment process.  Remember www.sciencebuddies.com has a lot of great info about the process.  Next week we will talk about putting together our board and what is expected on it. They will be finishing up their SF project over the Christmas break, and will need to have them completed when we begin again in January.

Current Events – This week we had a very lively discussion about raising the driving age to 18 yrs. The girls came prepared to discuss and debate their side. They all did a superb job!  

HOMEWORK:  Topic: Income inequality

Premise: The US government should increase the federal minimum wage to $15/hour.

The girls were each assigned to one side of the argument.  Please have them find 2 articles for their side. The girls should write 1-2 paragraphs and be prepared to present their findings as we will debate/discuss the premise.   

Next week I will be sending home info about the Blue Book exam and what to expect on it, so they can spend some time preparing for it. The Blue Book exam will showcase all that the girls have learned this semester.

**Remember -- CC Connected has many great videos on all Challenge subjects to help us as parents as we teach our students.  It is a great resource and it has been very helpful for me as I teach my student, so please don't overlook what is there. 

 

Have a great week.

Mrs. Jennifer

Week 12 Summary

Scripture of the day: Ephesians 4:32 – "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."

Next Tuesday we will have a Thanksgiving Celebration on campus for all the CC families. We will be taking a little longer lunch next week to enjoy the festivities and food.  Hope you all are able to join us.

 A review of what we did this week and what to look forward to next week…

Math –We worked on multiplication of mixed fractions, reciprocals, and reviewed solving equations with variables. Keep drilling the math vocabulary!! We are using various math games for mental math, strategy and logic practice.

Latin  -  We began our study of verbs this week. Make sure your student is reviewing the vocabulary – master review at end of Units 1 & 2 in Henle book. Homework:  Lesson 9 –1^st conjugation of verbs– Have them read the lesson and do the assigned exercises, make vocabulary cards for new words and fill in their Latin notebook – vocabulary, special rules (boxes from lesson text), and examples of 1^st conjugation verbs. I check the girls homework, just to make sure they do it, but they are not regularly bringing their weekly homework to class. Make sure they are correcting their homework with the answer key, so they know where they need to spend some extra time in their Latin studies.  I will be sending home a comprehensive Latin exam covering everything from Lesson 1 through Lesson 9 (nouns, adjectives, 1^st conj. Verbs and vocabulary) on week 14 (week before Thanksgiving) for them to take during the week we are off. 

**Remember -- CC Connected has videos of all the Latin concepts we have covered so far.  Have them watch them or the Latin Tour Guide, to help review. The CC Challenge Tier has a lot of great videos on all subjects to help us as parents as we teach our students.  It is a great resource, that has a lot of great helps, so please don't overlook what is there. 

Literature –Homework: Write an essay describing the relationship between any two characters in the book. My suggestions – Bear and Crispin, or John Aycliffe and Crispin. Please have them bring 2 copies of their essay and one with all the checklists attached, showing they have gone through all the steps. I have been really encouraged as the girls have improved in their writing skills over the semester.

Logic  -. HOMEWORK: Reread Lessons 27-29,  make vocabulary cards if they have not done so, and do the corresponding exercises. We are one week behind in the guide.  The girls are beginning to struggle with the new logic concepts, please have them watch the Nance DVDs – Lesson 13 & 14 correspond with the lessons in the book. The girls need to be spending time in their logic each day, reviewing vocabulary and concepts.

History of Science –  We officially began our Science Fair projects. Everyone shared their project idea (very creative ideas/projects) and we discussed how to write up a hypothesis. The girls need to write everything in their SF notebook. We discussed how to set up their notebook and the deliverables chart – what is due when.  HOMEWORK:  Next week they need to have their Research Plan – what they are going to do: materials list, procedure for experiment, background information and bibliography.  Everything should be written with pen in their notebooks. Their research plan needs to be signed off by you the teacher before they begin their experiment.  Remember www.sciencebuddies.com has a lot of great info about the process. 

Current Events – HOMEWORK:  Topic: Laws affecting Children.

Premise: The driving age in Louisiana should be raised to 18 yrs old..

The girls were each assigned to one side of the argument.  Please have them find 2 articles for their side. The girls should write 1-2 paragraphs and be prepared to present their findings as we will debate/discuss the premise in seminar.   

 

Also, I have been reminding the girls that we will be doing a Blue Book Exam on week 15 - covering all we have covered this semester: Timeline of the Scientists and Literature; Logic - square of opposition and form/mood of syllogisms; Math concepts we have reviewed, Latin and Current events.  I will send home next week a list of what will/could be on the blue book for them to review and prepare for. I do not want them to get nervous about it - it is an opportunity to show all they have learned this semester. 

We have a webpage for our CC campus, so I will be posting the weekly update to the webpage. Here is the web address: http://challengebofcovington.blogspot.com/. 

We will be having a Challenge (A&B) Open House on Tuesday, November 19^th, 2013. If you know anyone interested in CC program, please forward the information on. Thanks!

Have a great week.

Mrs. Jennifer