Training our Brains

Our heroes have been training their brains all week long. They have been talking about how their behavior follows their words and their words follow their thoughts. So during discussions, they have been talking about thinking before they speak and act. They have also been encouraging each other to never give up when they try something a little hard for them, to listen carefully before answering, to tell others about Jesus with our words and actions, and to think about what God says in the Bible before we make our choices.

During one discussion, all the heroes were unanimous and agreed that it is okay to be scared sometimes. Each one shared a time they were scared to do something, but they still did it and succeeded. They have been encouraging each other by saying, “You have a growth mindset! You can do it!” Each one recognized the difference between fixed mindset and growth mindset statements. They all agreed that the growth mindset statements were much better and promised that instead of… they will try thinking or saying…

What a busy week it has been for our Entrepreneur quest, as we count down the days before our business fair! As heroes bring in their product samples, the anticipation grows even more! Each hero genuinely lifted up one another as they supported each one’s business efforts. They complimented every product brought in and made promises to each other to buy their products at the business fair.

We are very grateful for our heroes who have brought products samples and shared with all the heroes. The samples made it so much fun to film their commercials. Some commercials transformed into tutorials as heroes actually demonstrated how to make their products.

The heroes showcased their ingenuity as they created their logos on the whiteboard. They put a lot of thought into their logos, as they viewed famous logos, and decided on the best colors and images they wanted to use to represent their businesses. They used these logos on their invitations and were eager to pass them out to their family and friends.

Our heroes have also begun their work on creating posters for the business fair. They helped each other add details and suggested ways to improve their posters to catch the attention of potential customers, such as making letters biggers and adding borders and images to their posters.

In addition to our preparations for the business fair, the heroes have been practicing to count money and make change. They set up tables all around the studio to pretend that they were at the business fair selling their products. They had many “customers” visit their tables from the elementary/ middle school studio. So they were able to practice their sales pitches, selling dialogues, and give change to their customers.

Our writer’s workshop has also been exciting for our heroes taking turns to sit on the “author’s chair,” where they choose to create either a fictional or nonfictional story for their book. The words from their stories are typed into a document and they add illustrations for each page. They also made a cover for their books. They often choose to read their own books during DEAR time and are very proud to share their books with friends.

For music this week, our heroes enjoyed listening to famous composers like Tchaikovsky, Offenbach, Chopin, Joplin, and Beethoven. They agreed with Chopin as they listened to the Cat’s Waltz and thought the music sounded like a cat walking on the piano. They also liked dancing to beat of “Can Can,” by Offenbach and “Maple Leaf Rag,” by Scott Joplin. And they were really amazed at how Beethoven composed his Ninth Symphony while he was deaf. But their personal favorite was Tchaikovsky since they recognized the song from The Nutcracker and imagined the toys dancing. Most of our heroes took on a role of the toys in the ballet and performed their own version of The Nutcracker! At the end of our music explorations, one hero requested to listen to Michael Jackson, for he was convinced that Michael Jackson was the most famous composer of all time!

Symmetry painting drew out creativity and experimentation from our heroes. They tried different ways to create images with different color combinations and placement on their paper. Then they folded the paper right in the middle. They rubbed their paper to spread the paint inside. They were very pleased with the surprise awaiting them when they open up their papers again! They couldn’t resist doing this over again several times!Throughout the week, it is such a blessing to hear the heroes reflect Jesus in their words and actions. One of our heroes often

Throughout the week, it is such a blessing to hear the heroes reflect Jesus in their words and actions. One of our heroes often reminds his friends about the golden rule, “Treat others like you want to be treated.” So our heroes have been really abiding by our promises to remember our manners in the way we greet each other in the morning, offering help, interrupting when needed, and saying “excuse me” when someone is in our way. Another hero often says to friends that he wants to do what Jesus said so he lets others line up in front of him and he can be last. What a blessing each day to hear and learn about Jesus from our young heroes!