Third Quarter Update

Time is flying by here at Revolutionary Learning! After a long winter break, we returned to regular classes on February 4th. To prevent class cancelations during this typically cold and snowy time of year, we decided to hold all classes at our Augusta County location. (We will return to Nelson County on Wednesdays for fourth quarter). This winter has been uncharacteristically warm, so the students are enjoying plenty of outside time between classes Spirits are high and everyone is having a great time!

Our older students have started filling in an interactive notebook for language arts. We are reviewing the basics of sentence structure and working towards writing paragraphs. The kids seem to really enjoy having this information displayed in such a fun and hands-on manner. The emergent readers in our group are practicing reading and writing simple words and sentences and we are so proud of how they are progressing.

We are taking a small detour from our year long nature study to focus on some related science topics. The students have been learning about the classification of living things and the science of taxonomy. We learned how and why organisms get their scientific names (such as Canis lupus familiaris for the domesticated dog) and identified several examples using this method. We learned about ecosystems and biomes and how plants and animals are better suited to live in different environments because of their characteristics. This theme will continue throughout the quarter as we discuss food chains and webs, and how animals have adapted over time to survive in their environments. Fourth quarter, we will return to our nature study and make connections with what we observe on our nature walks.

Instead of individual projects for Genius Hour, we have decided to do a group study on life in Colonial America. The students are learning about daily life, jobs, and food during colonial times. They made a traditional treat called "Apple Tansy" and recreated daily life on their own during free play. The favorite activity so far has been a computer simulation which demonstrates the choices and hardships colonists faced when building their settlements.