Author: Marisa Palmer

The Discovery heroes had a fun and meaningful week! In core skills, they their IOWA tests. They maintained great focus during the test despite it not being their favorite activity. On Friday Spark joined discovery for an ice cream party to celebrate this important milestone. The ice cream party provided a great chance for the heroes to come together, bond, share in each other’s successes…..and make ice cream from scratch!

Discovery heroes had their Debate Day on Friday for the communication challenge! We invited the Spark heroes to join us and to serve as judges for the debates. Debate Day served as a platform for the Discovery heroes to showcase their communication skills and persuasive arguments in a structured process. In this session ‘Debate a Game’, Discovery heroes worked together in pairs to prepare their arguments, conduct research, and refine their speaking skills. They all deserve a round of applause. Through a serious evaluation, Spark selected two winners at the end, but the vote was so close between everyone! 

In Civilization Research, the heroes researched Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage route. Mansa Musa, the 14th-century ruler of the Mali Empire, is renowned for his legendary pilgrimage to Mecca. As one of the wealthiest individuals of his time, Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage was not only a religious obligation but also a grand display of his empire’s prosperity and cultural richness. By researching more about Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage route, the Discovery heroes cultivate their critical thinking skills and appreciation of a different culture.

Meanwhile, discovery heroes drafted their first garden bed protection proposal in the Community Garden Quest. The proposal included the materials needed, cost of materials, reasons for choosing their structure, and how long it would take to build. When they presented the proposal, they deepened their thinking by considering the pros and cons of their proposed protection structure to keep away insect, birds, rabbit and deer. On Thursday, the heroes also finished filling in all the soil in the garden bed and they drafted a plant observation journal for the sprouts. As they basked in the glow of their achievements, they knew that their garden was more than just a patch of soil—it was a living testament to the power of imagination and creativity. 

Lastly get ready for an unforgettable Mother’s Day celebration, as the Discovery heroes prepare to shower moms with love and appreciation through their art projects they are bringing home.

Another exciting week has flown by in our bustling studio! Here’s a peek into this week in Spark:

In our quest this week, the heroes became gardeners as they crafted garden markers for the community garden. With these markers, they’ll know exactly what’s growing. The learners also explored photosynthesis, discovering all the incredible gifts plants offer us in our daily lives. 

Our World Cultures journey led the children on a secret mission to create something truly special for the remarkable moms in their lives. Spark learners are bursting with excitement to unveil their heartfelt creations and share them with their moms at home this weekend. 

The greenhouses we assembled at the beginning of this session have become the center of much intrigue. Each one is yielding different results, with some seeds bursting with sprouts while others seem to be shying away, nestled in moldy reluctance. Every hero seems captivated by this mystery, eagerly investigating why some thrive while others face challenges.

In core skills, our new Montessori-style start to the morning continues to inspire concentration and focus! Rather than starting the morning with circle time, the heroes go straight to their “works.”

As always, our studio buzzes with curiosity, creativity, and boundless enthusiasm. Thank you for your continued support in nurturing these young minds!

This is the third week that discovery heroes have done “focused free time” in the morning in the studio. They all had a lot of fun reading, doing word searches, practicing math facts and crossword puzzles during the 30-minutes time period. Integrating these activities adds another layer of engagement and excitement for the Discovery heroes.

It’s also fascinating to see how the Discovery heroes have integrated caring for plants into their morning routine. This simple act of nurturing not only fosters the character trait of being responsible but also offers valuable lessons in patience.

One highlight this week was that two of the Discovery heroes earned Spelling and Grammar badges from their core skills badge plans. We all celebrated this great achievement during the Friday badge ceremony. They were excited to complete this milestone in their learning journey. 

For communication challenges, Discovery heroes had their second mock debate on Monday and they followed the ‘Debate Game’ process to state their opening arguments, rebuttals and closing arguments on why they think their game is the best in the world. Moreover, the mock debate served as a valuable opportunity for the Discovery Heroes to cultivate self-confidence in public speaking. Meanwhile through giving each other warm-cool-warm feedback, they identified areas for improvement and refined their arguments. 

During Civilization, the heroes learned that Henry the Navigator was one of history’s greatest sailors, putting to great use inventions that came before him. One of Henry’s notable achievements was his utilization of existing navigational instruments and techniques, such as the astrolabe and magnetic compass, which had been developed by earlier civilizations. Discovery heroes did their civilization research on these great inventions like the compass, sailboat, the astrolabe etc. Through their civilization research, the Discovery Heroes not only gained a deeper appreciation of the past inventions but also recognized the enduring impact of these inventions on the modern world.

Meanwhile the Community Garden Quest has been so engaging! Discovery heroes collaborated with spark to build the community garden bed together. They assembled the bed, stapled a metal “gopher net” at the bottom of the bed to prevent burrowing pests, filled the bed with soil, and strung their planting grid.  Discovery heroes gained a lot of hands-on experience using the drill, staples, and trowels. They had so much fun building the garden bed, and teamwork makes the dream work!  As their guide, I am always amazed at their creativity and unlimited potential!

Another exciting week has flown by in the BUZZING community garden quest! Let’s DIG into the wonderful adventures and discoveries we’ve had together.

This week, the Spark learners joined forces with the Discovery heroes to build a garden bed from the ground up! They filled it with soil with determination and teamwork, preparing it for the upcoming planting season. Our learners got hands-on experience using drills and staple guns!

To protect the garden from pesky birds, the children painted rocks to resemble delicious fruit. These colorful decoys will help keep the garden safe and thriving!

This week featured a hero spotlight on Charles S. Parker, a remarkable botanist and collector. We delved into his inspiring work exploring plants, sparking fascinating discussions about his contributions to the world. Charles S. Parker’s story sparked an impromptu discussion about skin color. Our curious learners eagerly compared their beautiful skin tones to one another, leading to a deeper exploration of genetics and melanin’s role in determining our unique skin colors.

The new core skills schedule where children arrive and directly begin their Montessori work cycle continues to help them achieve deep focus. Some Spark heroes have begun anticipating their transition to Discovery. They are discussing readiness, what they look forward to, what they would miss in Spark, and general excitement about the idea. We are soon unveil a transition process that the older Spark heroes will have the opportunity to begin in Session 7 that includes building self-awareness and visit opportunities in Discovery.

This week, our learners decided to focus on “not walking away during clean-up times.” In addition, they voted on a new rule: if a learner receives two reminders to help with clean-up, that learner will lose a bee. This seemed to light a fire under each learner and helped our Spark room stay tidy.

Discovery had a wonderful and meaningful week. In core skills, discovery heroes demonstrated great focus and continued to meet their daily SMART goals this week. They all received character-call outs this week for showing their best work effort in the studio. Recognizing their hard work with character call-outs surely reinforces a positive learning environment and motivates them to continue striving for excellence. A special highlight was witnessing one of our heroes achieving his Level 2 reading badge. He was so excited to meet this important milestone in his hero’s journey, and we held a badge ceremony for him to celebrate his success together. 

For communication challenges, Discovery heroes continued to draft their rebuttal and completed their closing statements for ‘Debate a Dame’. They all brainstormed and came up with convincing arguments to debate why the games they chose could be better than their opponent’s. Their ability to articulate convincing arguments reflects their growing confidence and proficiency in effective communication. Discovery heroes also offered each other constructive feedback to help each other improve. As their guide, I noticed a huge growth in providing sufficient reasoning to back up their arguments. 

During Civilization, the Discovery Heroes learned about the female war hero Joan or Arc. She was known for leading the French army in a momentous victory at Orléans in 1429 that repulsed an English attempt to conquer France during the Hundred Years’ War. For Civilization research, the heroes researched other female war heroes. By researching and understanding the contributions of other female war heroes, our heroes gained a deeper appreciation for the diverse roles women have played in shaping the course of history through military prowess and leadership.

Meanwhile the Community Garden Quest has been so fun and engaging! Discovery heroes conducted soil identification experiments in collaboration with the Spark studio. They voted for different locations like Nakoma Park and Patio to examine the soil samples. They also set up the butterfly habitat for the cocoons and prepared an apple sauce meal for when the butterflies hatch.

On Thursday, the heroes conducted a decomposition challenge experiment. Discovery heroes put three different subjects (bananas, plastic cups, and toilet paper) into three glass jars with red live worms and soil. They made the hypothesis that the worms will eat bananas so bananas will decompose, and plastic cups will not be able to be broken down. They also set up the vermicomposting bin with moisturized newspaper, cardboards, worms and soil. These hands-on experiments surely provided valuable insights and sparked curiosity among the Discovery heroes!

The Discovery heroes had a wonderful week following the weekend’s Acton Children’s business Fair!

They kicked off with the second week of ‘Debate a Game’ communication challenge. They learned about several types of logical fallacies. Each of hero created their own logical fallacy card. By using real-life examples to illustrate each fallacy and accompany them with drawings, the Discovery heroes not only solidified their understanding but also showcased their creativity in a unique way. As their guide, witnessing their creativity has been truly inspiring.

On Friday, the learners also engaged in their first mock debate. Each Discovery hero provided intriguing and persuasive arguments on why the game he or she chose is the best in the world, and why that game is better than his or her debate opponents’ game. The Discovery heroes truly put in outstanding work effort into these challenges!

Meanwhile, the community garden quest added more hands-on experience to their learning journey. With the tender care of the Discovery heroes, the seeds they planted began to sprout, symbolizing not only growth in the garden but also the personal growth and nurturing care they demonstrated. They have been extremely responsible for taking care of these plants by observing the small changes and diligently watering the plants.

The Discovery heroes also completed the plant capillary action challenge, in which they set up their own experiments by putting white carnations and daisies into half cup of water with food coloring. They used the scientific method by making hypotheses in the experiment, recording the observations and eventually drawing conclusions. After 72 hours of patiently waiting, the flowers turned colors! The children loved how their flowers turned out to be! They were even thinking about drying the flowers after to better preserve the beauty.  

In civilization, the heroes learned about ‘Ivan the Great and Ivan the Terrible’. The Socratic discussions definitely got them to think more deeply about morals. They expanded their knowledge through research. They found out about the current president in Russia,  how long he has been in power, and the three most populated cities other than Moscow. The weekly civilization research challenges have helped the heroes deepen their understanding of history while equipping them with critical thinking skills.

What a wonderful week back after the long spring break. The week started with a special solar eclipse viewing party. After lunch, the children gathered for a launch about what causes an eclipse and why this week’s eclipse is so special. The children were surprised when they had the realization that they will be in their late 20’s the next time such an eclipse comes around. Where and who will they be?! We watched the first 30 minutes of the eclipse, went back to work, and came back for peak coverage. The children were fascinated with how dark, cool and eerie it was outside.

The Discovery heroes kicked off the “Community Gardening” quest this week. For the next several weeks they will explore both the science and art of plants and planting. On day one, they explored vegetables, herbs and flowers through their senses. How do they look, taste, smell, feel? Based on their observations, the children did further research on how much space each plant would need to grow, how they would need to be planted (transplant or direct sow), which plants do best together, and how they can use flowers and herbs to deter pests and attract pollinators. They then researched different locations around the school for successful gardening, and made a planting plan for later in the quest. The next task is to plant seedlings which they will keep under grow lights in the studio for the next several weeks! They also explored the concept of photosynthesis and modeled plant cells with colorful air-dry clay, labeling each part.

In Civilization, the children are continuing to explore the middle ages and complete weekly research on interesting questions. They are learning about reliable sources and paraphrasing their findings with their own words, then presenting to the group.

The children enjoyed the warm weather this week as well. For PE, the children hiked to a place they call “rock park” (Glenway Children’s Park) where they had lunch and explored the canyons, hills, and ledges of the unique park!

This session, art will tie into the gardening quest. The children celebrated spring by creating the components of their indoor community garden which they display for the exhibition.

Finally, this week ends with the Acton Children’s Business Fair happening this Saturday. Several heroes are participating and all will be shopping! We can’t wait to see the creations the children have made!