In this issue - d10k7k7mywg42z.cloudfront.net · “This has been an answer to prayer... :)” ~...

OCTOBER EDITION 2011“He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30

FFFFFRIDAY AAAAADDITION DDDDDELIVERS EEEEEDUCATION

Friday Addition is a Christian homeschooling group of families, students, and teachers whomeet weekly during the school year to enhance, experience, and enjoy learning. FA isthankful to meet in a beautiful facility, First Baptist Church in Zeeland, MI. Classes rangefrom kindergarten to high school, including a variety of classes. We start the day withworship, and the tones linger throughout our day... For more information contact anyboard member, or visit our website @ www.fridayaddition.com.

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...an exalting, enriching, & equipping experience.

...to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up...Ephesians 4:12

In this October issue, I can almost hear the heart of the teachers through theirwriting... I also stand amazed at what God is doing...the families He bringstogether...the students He places side by side...the friendships He creates, andstrengthens...the respect for each other that is growing...the examples He setsbefore us...the willingness to learn and the thirst for knowledge...the joy ofbeing together...the ability to work through differences...the ‘I’m sorrys’ andforgivenesses He volleys...the successions...the steps...the ‘hammer times’ andthe survival tips...the ‘I need thises’ and the ‘thank yous’ and the ‘Good to seeyous’ and the ‘See you next weeks...’ If you’re seeing that too, well, then itMUST BE FRIDAY!

It Must Be Friday page 1Teachers / Board / Reminders page 2HS Poll / Experience Matters page 3Kindergarten page 41st/2nd Grade / EL Spanish page 5PE / Flex / Music page 6Drama / Art page 7MS Science / MS Art page 8MS Spanish / MS Writing page 9Biology / Chemistry / Govt & Econ page 10English GWL page 11Self Defense / Speech & Debate page 12Spanish 1 / Personal Finance page 13A Dream Comes Alive in Thailand page 14

In this issue...

EMAILEMAILEMAILEMAILEMAILSSSSS FRIDAY ADDITION STAFFFRIDAY ADDITION STAFFFRIDAY ADDITION STAFFFRIDAY ADDITION STAFFFRIDAY ADDITION STAFFKindergarten with Barbara Boersen [email protected]/2nd AM with Patty Buehler [email protected] with Joanna Yu [email protected]/Drama with Kathleen Veenstra [email protected]/MS Science with Barb VanderPloeg [email protected]. with Carrie Zeilstra [email protected] / Gov’t & Econ with Mark Sooy [email protected] Defense with Bill Church [email protected] Finance with Sarah Ash [email protected] & Debate with Linda Dykstrar [email protected] with Shannon Tyler [email protected] with Lynda Leuschner [email protected] and Hign School Writing with Linda Schaap [email protected]

2011-20122011-20122011-20122011-20122011-2012

Brandon & Ruth Kaercher

Dan & CJ Pletcher

Brian & Kim Luurtsema

Ryan & Shannon Tyler

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

TEACHER COORDINATOR/SUPPORTSET-UP/TAKE DOWN CREW

CHURCH LIASONHOSPITALITY COORDINATOR

WEBSITE/ADVERTISINGHIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM

FINANCESREGISTRATION

* The board wants to thank all the parent helpers! The day runs more smoothly with your help! Pleasecheck the October helpers on the website! The most up-to-date helper schedule can always be found onthe communication board in the hallway each week (with all the switches/changes).Parents, please check the FA helper schedule! We have missed some key help the last couple of weeks(especially during lunch)!

FRIDAY ADDITIONFRIDAY ADDITIONFRIDAY ADDITIONFRIDAY ADDITIONFRIDAY ADDITIONBOARDBOARDBOARDBOARDBOARD

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*There are several students who have an allergy to nutsand even the smell of peanut butter can bother them.The FA board is requesting that ALL students not bringanything in their lunch that has nuts or peanut butter init. Thank you for being sensitive to the needs of thesestudents with a nut allergy.

*Do you have a name tag that is broken? Please bring itto the Friday Mom to be replaced!

* Are you running late to pick up your child(ren)? Stu-dents who have not been picked up by 3:30p on Fridays,will be found in the transition room (room right next toKindergarten). The class clipboard will be there to signyour child out.

* The FA cell phone number was accidentally not printedin the handbook. The number is: 616-298-1843.

*The W.O.W. (wiped up, on time, and waiting quietly)award has really motivated classes to be a great helpwith clean - up for lunch! 5th/6th grade has taken theaward twice and 3rd/4th and 1st/2nd have also wonthe award! Keep up the great teamwork!

* The fire drill has been delayed until October 7! Stu-dents will practice with their classes that day getting outof the building in a quick and orderly manner!

* The next pizza day will be October 28! $2 for twoslices and a pop and $3 for three slices and a pop![ 616-298-1843 ]

FA ON FRIDAYS

“I have been very pleased with how well-thought out and organized this newprogram is. The teachers are great. The homework load has been somethingfor us homeschoolers to get used to. I do find that we are letting some of ourown "home" stuff go, just so that we can complete all the assignments. I havemixed feelings about this.” ~ homeschool mom

POLLPOLLPOLLPOLLPOLL

“For our family, it is just another year w/ lots of homework (which is good),fantastic instructors and lots of learning!! We couldn't ask for more! We lovethe new "grade link"-lots!!!” ~ Helders

“We are so excited about the high school classes at Friday addition. They arejust what we needed!” ~ Herremas

“The program is awesome and I'm learning so much! :)” ~ Tori Gann

“This has been an answer to prayer... :)” ~ Leeanna Gann

“Two enthusiastic thumbs up from the Buehler parents!”

“Love it! ...but would like to have more time with friends there!” ~ Meg Buehler“Good!” ~ Isaac Buehler

What are yourimpressions of ournew high schoolprogram this year?

Homeschooling high schoolers is awaning...of sorts. We have been

teaching, and hoping, for our kids tobecome independent responsible

people, yet at the prospect of themdoing just that, we also want to

hang on tightly to those last preciousmoments, while we still can. I know.

I have raised 5 teenagers intoadulthood. One of the best things I

felt led to do was to pray godlypeople into my children’s lives,people who would not only love

them, influence them, and guidethem, but also CHALLENGE them tobecome who God wanted them to be.

Trust me, there is no magic buttonwhen they turn 18..but exposing

them to deeper challenges NOW alsogives us the opportunity to help

them get back up, if they fall down;it helps us, to help them NOW, to

show them how to succeed in deed,not only in thought.

“Overall, I am enjoying my classes, enjoying the practicality of them, andenjoying the people. As a senior, although I understand, it IS kind of awk-ward being herded into rooms, and having the time slots inbetween classes.I wasn’t expecting that...” ~ Colton Schaap

EXPERIENCE MATTERSby Mrs. Linda Schaap

Each month I will tryto ask families toparticipate in a shortpoll. Thank you tothose who are able toshare their thoughts...

“It is early in the school year to reply about the FA program, but what I cansay is that I am grateful to have the high school course options in thisconvenient location for our family, and we have had a great history with ateacher in the past, so we look forward to a great year! That is why we cameto FA this year. Thanks for making that class a great highlight for our boys. Ican see that they are enjoying the dynamic classroom times. (but please feelfree to email us if it seems they are a bit too "chatty" in class, so we can helpfrom our end.) Thanks!” ~ Julie Conroy

ELELELELELEMENEMENEMENEMENEMENTTTTTARYARYARYARYARY

ELEMENTARYEL K5 Barb BoersenEL 1st/2nd Patty BuehlerEL SPANISH Joanna YuEL PE Carrie ZeilstraEL MUSIC Mark SooyEL FLEX Barb VanderPloegEL/MS ART Kathleen VeenstraEL/MS DRAMA Kathleen Veenstra

KINDERGARTEN

Barbara BoersenKINDERGARTEN

It is incredible to me that a month has already passed. We have done so many fun things in the month ofSeptember. I hope that your kids have told youabout many of the things that can’t come home.

We have spent a little time each week working withour names. It was fun to make our names out of

playdough. And the sand names weregreat! This past Friday we talked about allthe different ways that we see letterswritten (fonts) and launched a name project from that discussion. I am hoping that, by the end of the

next month, each of the kids will be proficient in writing their names on their papers. We give them a lot of practice in class, butit is very important that they also practice each week at home.

As we continue with our fall themes, we will transition from “APPLES, APPLES, APPLES” and begin working with Pumpkins. I hopeall of your kids came home and told you about the “Little Red House with No Windows, No Doors and a Star inside”. I love toshare this story with the kids. It is storytelling at its best. I have used felt figures on occasion, but I like to tell it best when theonly prop I have is “the little red house with no windows and no doors and a star inside”. As wiggly and noisy as kindergartnerscan be, this story keeps them engaged and quiet.

Our morning centers concentrate on language development. Each Friday morning we have our adult helper Mom and a highschool student (Miss Brea) that come in to help us. We run three stations. I work with the kids on phonetics (letter sounds) andletter form (writing). Next month we will be concentrating on Bb/Ii, Ss/Dd Uu/Vv and Ll/Ww. Our parent helper works with thekids on either sight words or word families that have been introduced during our morning circle time. This past week weintroduced our first "word family" (_at). Each of the following months we will also have a "word family" on the first Friday ofthat month. For the Fridays in October we will work with the following sight words: to, the, you, and, do, my, is & said. Our finalstation is a story station and usually includes a supplemental activity that is led by Brea.

Numbers and Shapes are the basis for math concepts. While all of the children seem to have a good concept for one to onecorrespondence and counting the numbers one through 10, there are many who are struggling with writing the numbers on theirpapers. I use "poems" to help them remember how to make the numbers. If you are interested in these poems please let me knowand I can include it in one of my Friday News notes.

The kids have had some great things to share during September. We have had great discussions about fall through our time ofguided sharing. One of my favorite sharing activities is Book Week. It is so much fun to see what stories the kids like to read. Iappreciated your patience while we allowed each child to take their turn to share. I apologize for going over. I am including thetitles that they shared this past Friday, so that you can find some of them at the library to share at home.These are the titles the kids shared:

Danny and Daisy: A Tale of a Dolphin Duo by Suzanne TateMy Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles GannettRichard Scarry’s What Do People Do All Day by Richard ScarryKeys for Kids (Periodical) March/April Volume IV No. 2Curious George Goes to a Chocolate Factory by Margret and HA ReysCurious George and the Pizza by Margret and HA ReysMañana Iguana by Ann Whitford PaulPinkalicious: Tickled Pink by Victoria KarrThe Action BibleI’m looking forward to another great month!

In October sharing will be as follows:Oct. 7: Anything they want!Oct. 14: Something RED or YELLOWOct. 21: Something GREEN or BROWNOct. 28: Something ORANGE or BLACK

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1st & 2nd GRADE

ELELELELELEMENEMENEMENEMENEMENTTTTTARYARYARYARYARYELEMENTARYEL K5 Barb BoersenEL 1st/2nd Patty BuehlerEL SPANISH Joanna YuEL MUSIC Mark SooyEL PE Carrie ZeilstraEL FLEX Barb VanderPloegEL/MS ART Kathleen VeenstraEL/MS DRAMA Kathleen Veenstra

Sra. Joanna YuElementary SPANISH

SPSPSPSPSPAAAAANININININISHSHSHSHSH

Happy Autumn FA families! It has been such a joy to teach the 1st/2nd grade class here at FA! What a greatgroup of children they are! Everyone seems to get along well with everyone else -- I love that! I know it makesJesus smile too!

I look forward to the month of October and studying the continent of South America.There is so much fun and beautiful South American art. I can’t wait to see theawesome creations that the 1st/2nd graders will be making. The Brazilian drinkingstraw flutes, Mixtec codex books from the Mixtec Indians, fiesta dancinghats, and etched gourds should be so much fun to make, play with, as wellas just to look at!

In science we will be studying air pressure, reflection, pumpkin and gourd growth, and animals ofSouth America. We also have some fun South American games to play in the gym and working on Spanish willbe easy as we study this continent! I hope to get into learning more colors and some foods. Last week, the kids did avery good job of remembering to use the Spanish words “por favor” and “gracias” in their conversations.

A few things that I need parents to keep in mind -- please remember when it’s your child’s SuperKid/snack day that wedo have a few nut (both peanut and tree nut) allergies and a child with gluten and dairy allergies. Also, there is a“newspaper” that gets sent home each Friday that tells the basics of what we did in class that day. I hope that it ishelping your child to be able to tell you about their morning at FA!

One more request -- if each child could bring in a paper garbage sack (the short ones from Meijerare fine and it doesn’t matter if they are a bit wrinkled!) before our October 21st class, thatwould be really helpful! They can bring it any week before that and I will store them. Thanks!!

Please, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to talk with me before you pick your childup at the end of the day (I am almost always there early to make sure they get their yellow folders), call me at home, ore-mail me. Have a very blessed October!

Hola, padres! Wow, has time been flying! Here is a recap of what we have been working on in ELEMENTARYSPANISH and what we will be looking at in the coming weeks...The elementary classes started out by learning some greetings in Spanish and some other small butimportant words for everyday conversation, like "please" and "thank you". We practiced these in mini-conversations with our classmates. They also have been learning the letters and sounds of the Spanish

alphabet. We learned a song to sing to help us learn and we played alphabet BINGO in class.We started to practice lots of new vocabulary words for the things in a classroom or that weuse for school. We played a picture BINGO with these items. I called the words in Spanishand the students had to search for these items on their Bingo boards. This past week, we

began to learn some things from our calendar. We learned a song to help remember the days of the week in Spanish, andanother song to learn the months of the year. We learned how to say the date. We have discussed how all nouns have agender, either masculine or feminine, in the Spanish language. This past week we added how to make nouns plural and wewill soon be learning the difference between definite articles ("the") and indefinite articles ("a" or "some") and the role thatgender has with these words. In the coming weeks we will be continuing some practice with the calendar and we will knowthe days of the week, the months of the year, how to say a date in Spanish, how to describe the weather in different seasons,as well as numbers up to 100.

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Patty Buehler1st & 2nd GRADE

Por Favor

Carrie ZeilstraElementary PE

ELELELELELEMENEMENEMENEMENEMENTTTTTARYARYARYARYARYELEMENTARYEL K5 Barb BoersenEL 1st/2nd Patty BuehlerEL SPANISH Joanna YuEL MUSIC Mark SooyEL PE Carrie ZeilstraEL FLEX Barb VanderPloegEL/MS ART Kathleen VeenstraEL/MS DRAMA Kathleen Veenstra

Barb VanderPloegElementary FLEX

Mark SooyElementary MUSIC

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We started the year off with lots of activity in Physical Education class. Thekindergarten class as well as the 1st/2nd grade class got a chase to worktogether to do some fun activities with the parachute. We also worked on theconcepts of moving in personal space, general space, and speeds. Finally wewill be wrapping up the month by doing some jump rope activities. We will

continue doing a jump rope unit during the month in October.The 3rd through 6th grade classes have been learning a little about sports and activities that arepopular in other areas of the world. We got to play polo, but since we couldn’t bring in horses, weplayed on scooters instead. We also played “Ga,Ga ball.” If you’re wondering how this game got itsinteresting name, ask your child. This game originated in Israel, but has become popular in the U.S.

recently. We also tried out Jaegi, and dragon tail. Check out how to make your own Jaegi toy athttp://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/do/jaegi.html . We will also be trying Chinese jump rope and cricket. But first we will beworking on the skill of batting for both baseball (our upcoming unit) and cricket. Although our September unit was entitled“Internationally active,” I intentionally incorporated many team games into this first month. As the post season in MLB is infull swing we will be doing a baseball unit in class. The 3-6th grade classes will be working on batting, throwing, catching,and fielding. At the end of the unit we will be having our own “World series” of Friday Addition.

Our adventures into the world of Folk Music have been fun so far. We have learned about thePlayer Piano, the Guitar (fingerpicking style), and also the Tin Sandwich (If you haven't heard aboutthis from your kids, just ask!). It's been fun to explore these instruments and help the studentsunderstand that before TV, videos, computers, telephones and radio that folks got together at each

others' homes and in barns to play music and have fun!

On October 14th we have our first "Performance Day" for our classes. Each student who is currently takingmusic lessons, or has taken lessons in the past, is welcome to bring their instrument (or use the piano) toshare with their friends a song which they have prepared and can perform. This is like an informal recital,and parents are welcome to attend. Students are expected to do their best, and it is not an opportunity to just"show off" if they really don't have anything ready to perform. Have them bring any instruments into theMusic Room in the morning and place them at the back of the room. If you have any questions, please email

me at: [email protected] -- I have the privilege of traveling to the Zeeland / Hudsonville /Allendale area each Thursday togive private music lessons to a number of FA students. If this is something that interests you for yourstudent, please contact me. I teach piano, guitar, bass guitar, drums, voice, and trumpet.

Galloping the GlobeOur tour of the world in Geography is off to a great start. We have spent the last monthpreparing and packing our bags. We have seen how small our planet is in the scope ofGod’s amazing universe and how big it is in His eyes and in ours. We have spent timelearning where we are and how to find our way around the globe….something that willcertainly come in handy in our travels. We are set to embark and our first destinationwill be North America. We will spend about three weeks there and then head south toSouth America. Geography covers about everything there is to learn about people and places on theearth. Our goal will be to touch on a few of these things at each of our destinations but not neces-sarily the same thing at each place. Get ready and hold on to your hats….we are off!!!

MUSICMUSICMUSICMUSICMUSIC

FLEXFLEXFLEXFLEXFLEX

PHYSICAL EDUCATIONPHYSICAL EDUCATIONPHYSICAL EDUCATIONPHYSICAL EDUCATIONPHYSICAL EDUCATION

Kathleen VeenstraElementary/MS ARTElementary DRAMA

arTarTarTarTarT

ELEMENTARY / MIDDLE SCHOOLEL/MS ART Kathleen VeenstraMS DRAMA Kathleen VeenstraMS Science Barb VanderPloegMS Writing Linda SchaapMS SPANISH Joanna Yu

3rd/4thFor the month of September, we have been talkingabout the basics of art: the color wheel, how artistsuse color, holding a paintbrush correctly, andexploring color and color mixing with both temperaand watercolor paints. We will continue to build onthis knowledge as we explore collage. For the firstfew weeks of October, the students will learn aboutthe American artist, Georgia O’Keefe and will patterna collage with tissue paper, learning about layering.In the latter part of the month, we hope to considerthe art work of the children’s author/illustrator EricCarle and use texture in his style to create our ownwork of art.

5th/6thWe began the year reviewing what we know aboutlandscapes and perspective. First we created asurreal landscape with our names, then we looked atthe Western American art of Charles Russell and are inthe midst of creating a landscape in pastels. After wefinish this, we will use collage as our avenue to learnabout another artist named Charley...Charley Harper.Then we will learn about the style of Monet later inthe month.

1st/2ndWe have had a lot of fun getting to know each other andlearning to trust each other in drama class. In the lasttwo weeks of September, we explored the senses withvarious exercises. First we began with a “sight walk”trying to see things we normally walk right by without

noticing. It was amazing to see thingsthat others missed! Then we played alittle game trying to have 2 actorsperform a simple task while the 3rd didthe sound effect for the task. What

creative kids you have! This month, we will work through pantomime andother acting games to learn about focus, listening, and bodymovement. We begin each class thinking quickly aboutsomething unique to each person… favorite food, favoritesong, etc. end each class period making a “sunflower”expressing our feelings about drama that day.

3rd/4thEach time we begin drama class, we have a mystery object. We rotate whobrings the mystery object each week. Hopefully you have seen the list ofwhich week your child needs to bring in the mystery object! (If you haven’t,please see the list in this newsletter!) It has been so much fun to hear all thecreative things your children have come up with for simple objects… a markerbecomes a pop-gun or a cane or a baton, while a tea ball becomes a meatballmaker, a bug catcher, or a mini snowball maker. This really helps get thecreative juices flowing! In October, we will turn our attention to details andwatching how people move. We will use pantomime a lot in the latter half ofthe month. We close each class time imagining we are sitting around a firecalling out one word or phrase that describes their experience of drama thatday and “throwing it” into the fire.

5th/6thAs we begin each drama class, the 5th and 6th graders rush into the room,eager to give each other a shoulder massage to loosen us up for drama! InSeptember, the kids each did a fantastic job presenting their own crazycampaign! They each picked something about themselves that they are goodat… reading or watching dogs or playing a sport, for example, and explainedin animated voices why we should vote for them as “president of the bookclub” or “chairman of the dog-sitting club” or “coach of the soccer team”. Thestudents also worked on poems that they are reading to the class that tell alittle about themselves.In October, we will explore spatial relationships, how we use our bodies as weact and using good vocal techniques. We end each class time playing“Compliment Ping-Pong” where each student verbalizes something that theyliked about how another student acted that day or just a general compliment.It is sweet to hear kids say things such as “(name of student), I like yoursmile” or “(name), you did a good job with the game today”. Each person getsto walk away with feeling good about something they did and having givenothers a compliment, too!

ELELELELELEMENEMENEMENEMENEMENTTTTTARYARYARYARYARYDRAMADRAMADRAMADRAMADRAMA

CHECKLIST FOR DRAMA3/4 MYSTERY OBJECTSDATEOctober 7, 2011 Levi SikkemaOctober 14, 2011 Ross MangoOctober 21, 2011 Mark LowellOctober 28, 2011 Anna KaynorNovember 4, 2011 Nathaniel KaercherNovember 11, 2011 Grant ImminkNovember 18, 2011 Abbi HazardNovember 25, 2011 NO CLASS Happy Thanksgiving!December 2, 2011 Paige Hager

January 6, 2012 Sarah BoersenJanuary 13, 2012 Karsten Van FaroweJanuary 20, 2012 Ellie Van FaroweJanuary 27, 2012 Spencer Vander ZwaagFebruary 3, 2012 Matthew SlaghFebruary 10, 2012 Drew SchippersFebruary 17, 2012 Luke RotmanFebruary 24, 2012 Cody MolewykMarch 2, 2012 Sophia McClardMarch 9, 2012 Elsa LuurtsemaMarch 16, 2012 Samuel CurtisMarch 23, 2012 Zoe Boes and Grace Boersen page 7

5/6 students: Please bring in one picture from a newspa-per or a magazine of an interesting person to use on 10/14.

Barb VanderPloegMiddle School SCIENCE

SCIENCESCIENCESCIENCESCIENCESCIENCE

MIDDLE SCHOOLEL/MS ART Kathleen VeenstraEL/MS DRAMA Kathleen VeenstraMS Science Barb VanderPloegMS Writing Linda SchaapMS SPANISH Joanna Yu

MIDDLE SCHOOLMIDDLE SCHOOLMIDDLE SCHOOLMIDDLE SCHOOLMIDDLE SCHOOL

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7th/8thIn September, we talked a lot about some of the elements of a good art composition: color, balance,repetition, and then tried to use these elements in a collage of our names. Then we began to look at non-objective art in nature to work on a circular close-up with colored pencils. We will continue working onthis into October. In the later part of October, we will be having fun learning some new techniques with

acrylic paint!

Just a note for all of the parents who wonder why they aren’t seeing their student’s artwork:Much of the art work we create we keep here sowe can display it at our art show later in the year!

Kathleen VeenstraElementary/MS ARTElementary/MS DRAMA

Dear Middle Schoolers,Please go online to http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/starand choose a star galaxy that you would like to paint. Please printit out as large as you can (no larger than 8 1/2 x 11) and bring it toclass by October 14 at the latest! If you have a problem with this,please e-mail me at [email protected] or call meat 616-748-4660 no later than Wednesday, October 12! Thanks!

arTarTarTarTarT

DID PREHISTORIC DINOSAURS JUMP ON LEAVES?

Exploring Creation with General Science (Middle School Science)The middle school students have jumped into science with a great leap! They have seen that in studying sciencethey are part of a very long line of individuals who came before them. Many, many of theseindividuals have been Christians who were committed to knowing God by understanding Hiscreation. It is my prayer that this class will gain this same kind of understand-

ing as we go forward through the book. So far wehave concentrated on what science is and how togo about it correctly. In the next three moduleswe will use this knowledge to study geology and paleontol-ogy. According to the author,” these are two of the most

controversial fields in science”. We will need to have a firm grounding in what science is so weknow how to deal with these controversies. Please do your best to help your student keep upwith the daily assignments. On You Own questions and study guides are essential forlearning the material and passing the tests. Tests should be taken with no help andreturned, signed by a parent, in the envelope I have provided. In order to do a morethorough job of teaching each module and in order to give students a bit morebreathing room before tests ( the work load seems large to me)

WRITINGWRITINGWRITINGWRITINGWRITING

Linda SchaapMiddle School WRITING

Sra. Joanna YuMiddle School SPANISH

MIDDLE SCHOOLMIDDLE SCHOOLMIDDLE SCHOOLMIDDLE SCHOOLMIDDLE SCHOOL

SPSPSPSPSPAAAAANININININISHSHSHSHSH

MIDDLE SCHOOLEL/MS ART Kathleen VeenstraEL/MS DRAMA Kathleen VeenstraMS Science Barb VanderPloegMS Writing Linda SchaapMS SPANISH Joanna Yu

Hola, padres! Wow, has time been flying! Here is a recap of what we havebeen working on in MIDDLE SCHOOL SPANISH and what we will be lookingat in the coming weeks.The middle school class is also off to a goodstart! We have been busy learning four new questions in Spanish, andmany ways to answer them. We can ask someone what their name is, how old

they are, where they are from and how they are feeling. Thismay not seem like much, but when you add in subject pronouns,verb forms and different cultural nuances, then it sure becomes alot! This past week, we created a secret identity for ourselves andwe practiced some conversations with these four questions with

the added fun of being a created person (fake name, age, and country of origin). We then switchedeverything into the third person form and I asked questions abou the other people in class who theyinterviewed. In the coming weeks we will be learning how to say what we like and dislike in regards to food, class subjects,music, and sports. Then we will take a look at school supplies and learn how to say what we want and what we need. Someindefinite articles will be coming up as well as how to make nouns plural or singular in Spanish.

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It’s HAMMER TIME!

Who knew that it would be SO FUN to ask 17 middle schoolstudents to use their imaginations? Words are out there...in factthey are just about every where...and thatis WHERE SPLUNKcomes in. SPLUNK is an actual computer term, where there is acollecting of information form all different areas. I wanted toincorporate this into our writing, because we know so manywords, yet we use so few as we write!! So if we SPLUNK! then wewill collect those words...from every where, and beginto make better WORD CHOICES as we write! So we

even SPLUNKED OURSELVES this month. Plus, we described a museum or alibrary. Plus, we described ANGELS! With the starting of the lit story Old Yeller, students will be

sharing their pet stories. As Week 6 hits us, we change from SPLUNK toSPLASH, for after gathering words in our heads, we need to SPLASH themall over the paper. Students learned about CHAD ~ how to CHSIELK out athought, then HAMMER it down on paper, then read it ALOUD to find

mistakes, and finally go back and DESIGN the writing the way they really want it.Dear CHAD! Yes, you’ll know when it’s HAMMER TIME!!!

Besides our literature and writing, we memorized a poe by ShelSilverstein called Forgotten Language, and now we havestarted JABBERWOCKY by Lewis Carroll. This is intendedto increase their imaginations even more!!! Studentshave been petting forth an awesome EFFORT!!

REMEMBER: Students may send metheir writing assignments to editand offer suggestions by TUESDAY@ TEN PM!

SPLUNK [6 wks]SPLASH [6 wks]SPLATTER [6 wks]SPLENDOR [6 wks]Imagination! [24 wks]+

Our writing base this year:

Lynda LeuschnerHigh School CHEMISTRY

Shannon TylerHigh School BIOLOGY

HIGHHIGHHIGHHIGHHIGHSCHOOLSCHOOLSCHOOLSCHOOLSCHOOL

HIGH SCHOOLHS BIOLOGY Shannon TylerHS CHEMISTRY Lynda LeuschnerHS GOV’T/ECON Mark SooyHS ENGLSH GWL Linda SchaapHS SELF DEFENSE Bill ChurchHS SPEECH & DEBATE Linda DykstraHS SPANISH 1 Joanna YuHS FINANCES Sarah Ash

BIOLOGYBIOLOGYBIOLOGYBIOLOGYBIOLOGY CHEMISTRYCHEMISTRYCHEMISTRYCHEMISTRYCHEMISTRY

Mark SooyHigh SchoolGovernment & Economics

GOVERNMENT & ECONOMICSGOVERNMENT & ECONOMICSGOVERNMENT & ECONOMICSGOVERNMENT & ECONOMICSGOVERNMENT & ECONOMICS

Chemistry in OctoberWe will be studying chapters 3 & 4 duringthe month of October. We'll be learningabout atoms, molecules, elements, andcompounds. We'll beginour study of the periodictable as well as learn thenames of elements, andhow to name compounds.Matter will also bestudied, including distinguishingbetween physical andchemical changes ofmatter. By the end of themonth, we'll startlearning some chemical reactionsand how to write them properly in a balancedchemical equation. A little less math thismonth. Looking forward to a good month as we learn aboutsome amazing, tiny, details of God's creation.

Government:We have spent the month of September reviewing thebiblical and philosophical foundations for Government.The students are progressively getting a bit more "lively"

and engaged -- which is encouraging.I see signs that each of them isseeking to understand and processthe ideas we are discussing.

In October, we move to consideringthe basis of American government from the pens of the Founding

Fathers. Specifically, we will be actually reading and discussing the Declaration of Independence and theConstitution. In addition, we will be viewing some video presentations from Dr. Larry Arnn, President ofHillsadale College. Dr. Arnn is a Constitutional scholar and expert, and I can think of no better way to learnfrom someone of his stature. These lectures are being produced in September and October, and we are viewingthem only two weeks after he has given the lectures.

Biology:We enjoyed a great first month ofBiology! The kids have all become veryfamiliar with the microscope. We havelooked at our cheek cells, the letter "e",

and also our pondsamples!! We were ableto observe microscopicprotists and monerans

swimming around on the slide. Thismonth we will continue our study onKingdom Protista and start KingdomFungi. There will be some dissection ofsome mushrooms and in lieu of coldseason we will be completing a veryinteresting experiment comparing theduration you washing hands vs. not

washing them (and watch the mold grow). Everyone is doing agreat job keeping up with their assignments and followingalong in class through note-taking. Keep u the great workguys!!

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ENGLISH GWLENGLISH GWLENGLISH GWLENGLISH GWLENGLISH GWL

Linda SchaapHigh School ENGLISH GWL



ENGLISH GRAMMAR, WRITING & LITWhen S.E. Hinton wrote The Outsiders at the age of 15, shegave me the perfect book to start a writing and lit class with.When Ernest Hemingway listened to his grandfather tellstories about adventures of the sea, another book, The OldMan and the Sea, filled me with fodder to help studentsgrasp the concept of RESOLUTION = FIRMDETERMINATION. This is how we have begunour literature discussions of SURVIVAL thisyear. The passion of our class theme, is to

empower the students with enthusiasm to write. To use literature to write. To useliterative coupled with grammar, to write...

And grammar comes about in the name of Shurley. She gives us definitions. She gives us writing examples...so far of descrip-tive and expository formats...to which we learn to NOT sound formatted at all. We begin to MASTER the tools in learning towrite. We aim to erase the blank stares and blank paper, and idle keyboards by empowering the students to have a plan, toCHISEL out an idea, to HAMMER it down on paper, to re-evaluate it by reading it ALOUD, and then to DESIGN it the way thatthey REALLY want it...because THEY BECOME THE AUTHORS. No more writing for parents. No more writng for the teacher. Theyare beginning to learn what being an author really entails...so we write...and write...and write.

We’re going to write until it becomes second nature, like a runner takes to the track, or a bird takes to flight, or a rose takesover a trellis. We write, because we can. We write, because I want the kids to believe that they have something to say. Wewrite because I want to make it easy for them, as easy as that bird swiftly takes to that adventure in the sky, and I want themto soar with their writing just as majestically. So I will let them spread their wings...

Call me Ismael...or anything you want, because these kids are coming up with some mighty good stuff.

As Shurley continues to give us her wisdom, we also incorporate that into our writing. Learning the definitions, learning thesentence patterns, and no...NOT just learning them, but trying to MASTER them this year. Mastering them means we reallyKNOW our grammar, and it doesn’t just go in one ear and right out the other, and we have to relearn it all when we get tocollege...NO! I refuse to let that happen. We will MASTER our grammar. We willmake Shurley make sense. NOW.

Parents, how can you best help your English GWL student? You canread the lit books with them, or along side of them, and discussthem at home. You can let them flounder with ideas for writing,until they get their own angle. Their own perspective. Why?Pretty soon they’ll be in college, and you won’t be there toinspire them. They have to learn to get their inspiration. It has tocome from within them. They have to learn HOW TO SURVIVE!You can let them read their writing to you out loud, since it isthis process where they catch their uh-ohs, hopefully, and seeif they are repeating themselves. You can ask them vocabu-lary words, make sure they know the definitions. You candiscuss news at the dinner table, give them thoughts tothink for their Thought Journals. And by all means, as always,you can pray. Pray the message of RESOLUTION = FIRM DETERMI-NATION comes through...and pray that their fingers don’t fall off...

Bill ChurchHigh School SELF DEFENSE



Linda DykstraHigh School SPEECH & DEBATE

SELF DEFENSESELF DEFENSESELF DEFENSESELF DEFENSESELF DEFENSE

SPEECH & DEBATESPEECH & DEBATESPEECH & DEBATESPEECH & DEBATESPEECH & DEBATE

TTTTTaaaaang Soo Dong Soo Dong Soo Dong Soo Dong Soo Do(pronounced: tung sue doe)

The speech class is off and running with two speeches "under our belts." The students confessednervousness, but I was very pleased with their first speeches. We learned a bit about each student asthey introduced themselves to the class. Our second speech, a speech about pet peeves, showedstudents being upset about apathy, being too comfortable as Christians, noise in movie theaters,being noncommittal, and many other topics that encouraged each speaker to show great emotion asthey gave their speech.

The next two speeches are slated to be a personal experience speech--moving to a new three minutetime frame, and a story telling speech, which will be a five minute speech. Students can retell theirfavorite fairy tale, bible story, children's book, or any other story to the class. Parents are alwaysinvited to attend speeches.

Students are parents alike are encouraged to visit the new Gradelink website to view grades, assignment due dates, andupcoming assignments. There is no excuse to miss an assignment! Just check with Gradelink. Of course, any questions about anassignment can also be addressed to me at any time.

A few "housekeeping" items to clarify: if we are rehearsing a speech, students are expected to come prepared to give thatspeech. They may wish to revamp and revise for the final, graded speech the following week, but if they don't have a speech

prepared to present, helpful comments for improvementcan't be given. Also, chapter assignments are to be readprior to class, and the end of chapter review questionswill be due on that date. If these review questions areforgotten-or eaten by the dog- they can be emailed to Mrs.

Dykstra until midnight that same day.

I am so excited about the students in my class, and am having agreat time getting to know them. What agreat group of young people! I am lookingforward to hearing great speeches in theuncoming month.

Hello Home school Family:

The self defense class is off to a great start. We have 9 students that are willing to be twisted, manipu-lated, pulled and shoved into various positions to learn the fine art of self defense. So far we have beenworking on the very basic structure of joint and limb manipulation as well as our own

body position so we can always stay safe. We are also learning allotabout how God made such a miracle as the human body and how itoperates. Jaci and I are enjoying this group of students that arewilling, friendly, dedicated and VERY fast to learn all we have. Welook forward to each class every week.

Dojunim Rev Bill Church

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Sarah AshHigh School FOUNDATIONS

IN PERSONAL FINANCE

Sra. Joanna YuHigh School SPANISH 1



SPSPSPSPSPAAAAANININININISH 1SH 1SH 1SH 1SH 1

During the month of September inthe Foundations in PersonalFinance, we took a deeper lookinto savings. We discussed theimportance of saving and thebenefits of saving early. Inaddition, we learned how toestablish an emergency fund andsave our money using a “sinkingfund” to make large purchases.Now that we understand thevarious facets of savings, we aregoing to study the differentinvestments options to make ourmoney grow. We are going to takean in-depth look into investmentsto develop a working knowledge ofthe various options. We are goingto weigh the pros and cons ofeach type of investment in orderto make wise and educatedchoices with our money. Further,we are going to investigatevarious wealth building tools,such as 401k’s and Roth IRA’s, andhow to plan for saving for college.

Hola, padres! Wow, has time been flying! Here is a recap of what we havebeen working on in HIGH SCHOOL SPANISH and what we will be looking atin the coming weeks. The high school Spanish 1 class is doing great! Wehave had some issues with the online activities all working when we likethem to...however, the students have all been emailing me regularly with

their concerns and we have been able to work things outwell this way. I am very pleased with all of their progressand we are already speaking well in class activities andpartner work! We have been learning lots these first fewweeks: greetings and goodbyes, days, months, dates,

seasons, weather, body parts, school supplies, telling time, somegrammar, and ¡punctuation! Now we are busy learning how to saymany different activities that we like, don't like, or don't like at all.We can also agree or disagree with our friends opinions on anactivity.

Next week we will be learning how to describe people's character .This will include definite and indefinite articles, noun and adjective gender agreement, andsentence word order in Spanish. Following that, we will talking about schedules and intro-ducing ordinal numbers and class subjects. We will be checking out the connections betweenSpanish, English and Latin and learning about what schools are like in many Spanish-speaking countries. We will be learning some subject pronouns and start to work with some -AR verb conjugations. As we continue, we will be looking at what items are in a typicalclassroom and where they are located. This will incorporate prepositions of location, severalnew verb conjugations, and making nouns and their articles singular or plural as needed.Wow! That is a lot! But these students are all off to a great start and I'm so proud of howdedicated and enthusiastic they all are. I can't wait to hear them speaking at the end of thisyear as they will have come so far by then!

And just a reminder, don't worry about what the gradebook at Realidades.com says as this isnot our real gradebook. This just shows me what work has been attempted by the studentseach week. I look at everything that looks strange and all the student work that is typed I readand grade in person and the grade is very different that what the computer is able to do. (Thecomputer will count it wrong if there is even one accent mark missing!) I am not gradingevery single assignment of every single week. I am choosing two or three activities that areassessable each week and the assigned workbook pages for the homework grade. Classparticipation is another grade for the class, which will be based on the student's donkeysheet in their folder. The last part of their grade will be tests or quizzes, which may some-times include a listening comprehension part or an oral mini-presentation.

If you have not been able to get the listening activities to work on your computer, then I hopethat you might consider what you might need to do to remedy this with your computersituation. Perhaps a visit to the public library once a week to use their computers? It is veryimportant in language to have the listening practice as students will only be able to pro-nounce things correctly if they have been listening to it spoken correctly. These activities willbecome increasingly important as the year goes on. I'm having lots of fun with your kidsduring our class time and I hope they are enjoying their second language experience!

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PERSONALPERSONALPERSONALPERSONALPERSONALFINANACEFINANACEFINANACEFINANACEFINANACE

For over 3 years I dreamed of and prayed to go to Thai-land. I knew a lot about the work of Christian FreedomInternational with refugees from Burma, but I wanted to seeit for myself! This August/September I got the awesomeopportunity to go to Thailand through CFI with my Dad,who’s on their board. We went to 4 different cities/townsand saw a lot of the country around them.

Mae Hong Son is a town in Northern Thailand(right along the border with Burma) nestled in the foot“hills” of the Himalayas. It’s pretty much the prettiest placesI’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, like many places we visited, ithas plenty of secrets and hurts. Outside of the town, thereis a small church on a hill and a Bible school where manyyoung people have risked their lives to study. Many of themhave seen war and the death of family members in theirhomeland, and yet they study so that one day they can goback and preach Jesus to their people. They are Karenni,and they are known for their beautiful singing voices andsmiles! It was amazing to get to know some of these won-derful people and learn more about what they go through inBurma. We also got to spend some time playing with andworshipping God with Karenni kids from an orphanage in anearby refugee camp.

Mae Sot is another town we visited. It is a littlesouth of Mae Hong Son and also on the border. In this townthere is a vocational school run by CFI that is the home ofabout 30 elementary/ junior high age kids who are Karen(similar to Karenni). My Dad and I got to spent quite a bitof time at this school, and were surprised a couple timeswith opportunities to teach their classes! However, I thinkwe learned a lot more from them than they learned fromus. They were so full of joy and absolute wonder at theworld and gave me more of a desire to learn and studythan I ever had. While in Mae Sot, we were able to visit MaeLa Camp, where the families of most of the students cur-rently live. It is the largest refugee camp in Southeast Asiaand we only saw a small bit of it, but it was definitely lifechanging. We went to a Freedom House orphanage whereanother 30 or so kids live in very tight conditions. Nearlyeveryone in the camp had so little, and yet so much morejoy than you see on the faces of most Americans. Theorphans were just happy to be able to get an education andto be able to sing about their Lord!

In a way, it seems too amazing to believe I wasactually there, on the other side of the world, with thepeople I dreamed of about every night. In a way it feels likeI’m still there! I know I miss those people, and I know I willgo back... in God’s time. I’m so thankful for this trip and Iwant to encourage anyone and everyone that if you have anopportunity to go on a mission trip, do it! It will changeyour life and your perspective!

Doblu (thank you in Karen)!Meg Buehler[Meg is sophomore @ FA]

Meg and her dad at the vocational school with students

Orphans in Mae La refugee camp

Meg and her dad in Mae Hong Son

Bible School students performing traditional dance

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FA HIGH SCHOOLSTUDENT GOESTO THAILAND

by MegBuehler

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