Greetings Families,
I hope your weekend has been enjoyable. Here are some notes for you going into week four.
NO TUTORING TUESDAY
Both Arete Chargers varsity basketball teams made it to regionals this year so I will be leaving school early on Tuesday. There is no tutoring on Tuesday as a result.
Volcano Projects
I want to say thank you to the families who have graciously offered to send in the items we need for the volcano projects. I will try to have Ms. Lacsa take some pictures to put on the blog so you can see their good and fun work. Here is a screenshot of who is sending in what (please send it in tomorrow morning).
My Mom
On Friday morning, my mom fell in the bathroom. This led to Emily taking her to the doctor. The doctor was concerned that she had two possible issues: another broken bone and pneumonia. Emily took her to the hospital to have x-rays ran. She was admitted and found neither were the issues. Instead, we found out that her cancer has spread very rapidly over the past couple of mouths, and it is in her spine, bones, and lungs. She has been put on hospice, is no longer allowed (or really able) to walk, and must be cared for twenty-four hours a day. The doctors haven’t given us any information with respect to how long she will be with us, but it seems that the near is growing closer and closer every day. Emily took this pretty hard given my mom’s improved condition lately, but we are all adjusting to the fact that she likely won’t be with us much longer. She has decided to stop the cancer treatments to best enjoy the last days she has with us.
Emily and I are very thankful for the time we’ve had with my mom and plan to celebrate the last weeks or months we have left. When we moved here five years ago, we never anticipated that she would be with us until now. Had we expected this, we likely wouldn’t have moved to Mesa as soon as we did, and I likely wouldn’t be at Arete to day. My family is very blessed. Thank you for the kind words and encouragement you have extended to me this year.
Field Day
Athletic Field Day is Friday, February 1st from 12:00-2:30 for grades 3-5. Each year classes are assigned a Greek City State for their team. This year, your child’s team is Persia, and our team color is yellow. Your child may wear a plain yellow shirt (no pop-culture) with the Persia logo and athletic pants or shorts. Shirts and shorts should be loose fitting. If you don't have a yellow shirt for your child, avoid red and blue because that is the other team's colors. There will be no school lunch offered on Athletic Field Day. Please send your child to school with a packed lunch.
In order to have Athletic Field Day run smoothly, Coach Gethings & Coach Warren need volunteers for setting up and running the events. Please sign up to help with the events.
I hope your weekend has been enjoyable. Here are some notes for you going into week four.
NO TUTORING TUESDAY
Both Arete Chargers varsity basketball teams made it to regionals this year so I will be leaving school early on Tuesday. There is no tutoring on Tuesday as a result.
Volcano Projects
I want to say thank you to the families who have graciously offered to send in the items we need for the volcano projects. I will try to have Ms. Lacsa take some pictures to put on the blog so you can see their good and fun work. Here is a screenshot of who is sending in what (please send it in tomorrow morning).
My Mom
On Friday morning, my mom fell in the bathroom. This led to Emily taking her to the doctor. The doctor was concerned that she had two possible issues: another broken bone and pneumonia. Emily took her to the hospital to have x-rays ran. She was admitted and found neither were the issues. Instead, we found out that her cancer has spread very rapidly over the past couple of mouths, and it is in her spine, bones, and lungs. She has been put on hospice, is no longer allowed (or really able) to walk, and must be cared for twenty-four hours a day. The doctors haven’t given us any information with respect to how long she will be with us, but it seems that the near is growing closer and closer every day. Emily took this pretty hard given my mom’s improved condition lately, but we are all adjusting to the fact that she likely won’t be with us much longer. She has decided to stop the cancer treatments to best enjoy the last days she has with us.
Emily and I are very thankful for the time we’ve had with my mom and plan to celebrate the last weeks or months we have left. When we moved here five years ago, we never anticipated that she would be with us until now. Had we expected this, we likely wouldn’t have moved to Mesa as soon as we did, and I likely wouldn’t be at Arete to day. My family is very blessed. Thank you for the kind words and encouragement you have extended to me this year.
Field Day
Athletic Field Day is Friday, February 1st from 12:00-2:30 for grades 3-5. Each year classes are assigned a Greek City State for their team. This year, your child’s team is Persia, and our team color is yellow. Your child may wear a plain yellow shirt (no pop-culture) with the Persia logo and athletic pants or shorts. Shirts and shorts should be loose fitting. If you don't have a yellow shirt for your child, avoid red and blue because that is the other team's colors. There will be no school lunch offered on Athletic Field Day. Please send your child to school with a packed lunch.
Ms. Allgood will be sending out an email to volunteer for our event. All are welcome to come and cheer for the students. I've only asked for some people to provide drinks and snacks for the class. The students will be eating their snack after the second event. We will try to establish a place for parents and students to meet up. If you come to cheer your child on, please sign in at the front desk. Just tell them you are here to watch. If you come to volunteer to help the coaches, you will sign in at the field.
Lastly, if you take pictures at the event, please send them to me so I can share them with all of the families.
Lessons
Writing/Grammar: Students will completing their second paper of the semester. On Monday and Tuesday, students will be completing their sentence outlines. The step we are adding in on this paper will be citing the information. They will type their papers on Thursday and Friday.
History: In history, students are starting to understand why the conflict came about between Britain and the colonies. Students will learn about the Boston Tea Party and the events it caused. There is an open-notes, open-book test at the end of the week.
Literature: Students will read chapters 11-13 of Prince Caspian this week in literature. I'm proud of the work most of them put into writing their essays over the first three weeks. Only two students did not complete this assignment and it was due to numerous absences. Other students were able to complete the work assigned. This is a strong improvement from the first quarter.
Math: Tomorrow, students will take the last test on geometry. The test is on area and perimeter. They will then get their 4B books (the second section of the Singapore books). They will then move into a study of decimals. They will have their first decimal test at the end of the week.
Poetry: Students will recite "The Concord Hymn" tomorrow and then move on to the longest poem of the year, "Paul Revere's Ride." Students should really focus on practicing this poem almost every night. I recommend five minutes a night. The time spent memorizing the poem should count toward the 25 minutes of nightly reading. It is long, but students have six weeks to memorize it. If they work on it regularly, I believe they are able to do it. We talked last week about doing hard things and how beautiful it is when people do good things that are hard. This will be a good time for them to flex their muscles of self-discipline. For those who apply themselves and master the poem, a great reward awaits them. It is a noble and soul-encouraging thing to do hard work.
Greek and Latin Roots: There is a small review over Greek and Latin roots 58-60 on Wednesday.
Science: Students will complete the volcano building projects tomorrow. Thank you again for those providing supplies. They will spend the rest of the week studying how mountains are formed, both on land and beneath the sea. There is a life science review quiz on Tuesday.
Spalding: There will be thirty new Spalding words this week.
Schedule for the Week
Please don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions or comments. Thank you for all you do!
Best,
Michael Naaktgeboren
Lessons
Writing/Grammar: Students will completing their second paper of the semester. On Monday and Tuesday, students will be completing their sentence outlines. The step we are adding in on this paper will be citing the information. They will type their papers on Thursday and Friday.
History: In history, students are starting to understand why the conflict came about between Britain and the colonies. Students will learn about the Boston Tea Party and the events it caused. There is an open-notes, open-book test at the end of the week.
Literature: Students will read chapters 11-13 of Prince Caspian this week in literature. I'm proud of the work most of them put into writing their essays over the first three weeks. Only two students did not complete this assignment and it was due to numerous absences. Other students were able to complete the work assigned. This is a strong improvement from the first quarter.
Math: Tomorrow, students will take the last test on geometry. The test is on area and perimeter. They will then get their 4B books (the second section of the Singapore books). They will then move into a study of decimals. They will have their first decimal test at the end of the week.
Poetry: Students will recite "The Concord Hymn" tomorrow and then move on to the longest poem of the year, "Paul Revere's Ride." Students should really focus on practicing this poem almost every night. I recommend five minutes a night. The time spent memorizing the poem should count toward the 25 minutes of nightly reading. It is long, but students have six weeks to memorize it. If they work on it regularly, I believe they are able to do it. We talked last week about doing hard things and how beautiful it is when people do good things that are hard. This will be a good time for them to flex their muscles of self-discipline. For those who apply themselves and master the poem, a great reward awaits them. It is a noble and soul-encouraging thing to do hard work.
Greek and Latin Roots: There is a small review over Greek and Latin roots 58-60 on Wednesday.
Science: Students will complete the volcano building projects tomorrow. Thank you again for those providing supplies. They will spend the rest of the week studying how mountains are formed, both on land and beneath the sea. There is a life science review quiz on Tuesday.
Spalding: There will be thirty new Spalding words this week.
Schedule for the Week
- Monday
- "The Concord Hymn" Recitation
- History Quiz (Open-Book, Open-Notes)
- Math Test - Geometry - Area and Perimeter
- Tuesday
- Science Quiz - Life Science Review Quiz
- Wednesday
- Greek and Latin Roots Review Check (58-60)
- Thursday
- Math Quiz
- Friday
- History Test - American Revolution - Ch. 1-10 (Open-Book, Open-Notes)
- Math Test - Decimals
- Athletic Field Day (12:00-2:30 p.m.)
Please don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions or comments. Thank you for all you do!
Best,
Michael Naaktgeboren