Academics and Enrichment!
Our two new teachers, Rachelle Alspaugh and Julie Decker, have brought a great deal of creativity and engaging activities into the classroom this year. Their depth of knowledge and experience has really propelled our students’ educational experience to new levels!
Our students are 3rd through 5th graders this semester, and their curriculum consists of Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Economics, Bible, Leadership, and Spanish. Below are some of the special activities the kids have participated in:
- Valentine's Day celebration with a craft and a scavenger hunt
- Gratitude Challenge—think of 1,000 things to be thankful for (we are at #512 right now)
- Classroom economy and store
Spanish Class
--World "travel" to Spanish-speaking countries (stamping our passports with each country's flag) and cooking/tasting food from each country
--Making digital presentations over the countries we visited
--Visitors from Colombia who did a presentation on the language, culture, and food
--Learning some Spanish phrases and vocabulary- STEAM buckets for early finishers to broaden their experiences (art, legos, magnets, puzzles, etc.)
- Met the author (via Facetime) of the children's book we are reading
- Math Club once a week
- Visiting the library
- Children's Museum field trip (upcoming)
- Fun Science experiments
- Learning basic economics
- Learning about good and godly leadership
- Weekly Leadership awards
These activities have added a lot of engagement and excitement among our students. Our teachers have noticed the steady, positive impact that our learning environment is having on the kids. Below is a short Q&A with our teachers, which we hope gives you some good insight into our work with the students here!
Q: What has been the most meaningful experience you have had in the classroom with any of the students?
Rachelle: The most meaningful experience in the classroom so far is seeing the boys take pride in their progress. They came to us hating school, but little by little, they see themselves doing things they couldn't do before and actually look forward to practicing things like flashcards now.
Julie: The most meaningful experience I have had was in Bible class as I’ve seen the boys become more and more interested in finding the passages of Scripture in their own Bibles. They have also started asking more questions about Salvation.
Q:What is the biggest challenges any of the students face academically, and have you seen any progress?
Rachelle: Their biggest challenge academically is self-motivation. They have to see and feel those small successes often in order to find any desire to keep trying. When they first came, they gave up before they even started, but now they are more willing to push through and ask for help because they are proud of their progress.
Julie: Some of the students automatically assume that they cannot do the assignment even before they have tried. They are starting to see that they have all the help that they need here and that they can read and be successful in their schoolwork!
Q:What has brought you the most encouragement since the start of the school year?
Rachelle: Being part of a team working together for the same goal, equipping these boys with the tools and resources needed to lead a godly life outside of our campus.
Julie: A couple days ago, one of the students was working with temperature and he asked how Fahrenheit switched to Celsius. I pulled out the formulas (Celsius to Fahrenheit and Fahrenheit to Celsius), and together we worked through the problems. I was so encouraged to see him wanting to understand more about the topic.
If you would like to make a one-time or monthly gift to our Children's Scholarship Fund to help support our students, you can do that here!