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Week 3

Here's a recap of what we learned about last week:

Charles Montesquieu outlined 3 species of government: Virtue, Honor, and Fear. Our founders believed that building a government founded on virtue was paramount, so they created a government with 3 equally powerful branches (legislative, executive, and judicial) with different stewardships, which in turn created a system of checks and balances to prevent any branch from becoming more powerful than the other 2. Time has shown, however, that this carefully orchestrated system is heavily dependent on the virtue of the people and the representatives they elect. When the executive branch begins usurping power through executive orders, the judicial branch begins practicing judicial activism by legislating from the bench, and the Congress does nothing to stop either one, we see the system of checks and balances go by the wayside, and the people lose their liberties. Fortunately, the founders were wise, and took precautions for such times, but we the people are the only ones who can restore the order of the original Constitution by exercising our unalienable rights and being virtuous ourselves.

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls would be necessary." -James Madison, Federalist Papers, No. 51
                                                                                         

Assignments:

OPINION PAPER: Is it better to have a man of faith in office with a minimal education, or a man of knowledge with minimal faith and questionable character? Please use facts and examples to support your opinion!

NEWS DESK: Please be prepared to share a recent news story relevant to what we've been studying in class.

DEVOTIONAL: Taylor, will you please do the honors this week?

CONSTITUTION JOURNAL: Article 1, Sections 6-10.

READING: Since you didn't receive your Fifty Five Fathers books, yet, we will give you an extra week to complete the reading. The new deadline and book discussion date will be March 2nd, and Paige will be leading our discussion. There will also be treats for those who have read the book!

HERO REPORTS & PRESENTATIONS: Y'all are running out of time to sign up for your hero reports/presentations. I've only heard from Lucy on this, so the other 6 of you need to choose someone ASAP! Last day to sign up is February 23rd.

Dates to Remember:

March 24th - Air-soft gun battle. 10am, my house. Bring an air-soft weapon, eye protection, boots (my property is very swampy), and a sack lunch. Siblings 12 and up, and parents (dads, especially) are welcome to join in the mayhem. We'll have snacks and more fun than you can probably handle!

April 13th -

• Thomas Jefferson's birthday! Leadership class is planning some special celebratory activities in honor of our great mentor, one of which is a Declaration of Independence reciting contest! Brush up on your memory of this document for the big day for a chance to win a prize!
• Constitution Bowl! We will be combining with FILAP for our big competition! More details about the time and place are to come...
• Hero Reports are due. A 2-4 page typed paper with bibliography attached. Any questions, please see me or Mrs. Brennan.

See you all tomorrow! -Mrs. H.

Week 2

Sorry to be so late with this post, but my internet connection has been crawling with all the snow. (Yes, I have limited internet where I live--sort of like dial-up, which none of you are old enough to remember.) I am going to brag, however, that we got an epic 13 inches of snow at my house, so I won't complain too much about the internet. Anyway, here's a brief rundown of assignments due Thursday:

• Reading: Fifty Five Fathers if you have a copy. If you ordered yours at the beginning of the semester, you should be receiving it on Thursday.

• Opinion Paper: Write a debrief of the simulation we did in class: What did you learn about the founders? What did you learn about yourself? How are you going to change because of the simulation? *Remember to use facts and examples to support your opinions!

• Constitution Journal: Article 1 Sections 6-10. This is actually this Thursday's assignment that I accidentally gave you a week early, so if you need time to catch up, Cha-ching! you got an extra week!

• Be thinking about who you want to research for your Hero report. You can sign-up anytime between now and February 23rd.

**I'll be handing out a study guide to each of you for the Constitution Bowl this week. Many questions will be taken directly from this guide, so use it wisely!

**The annual Key of Liberty vs. Sword of Freedom/Hero Project air-soft battle is now officially scheduled for Friday, March 24th at 10am at my house! Woo-hoo! Put it on your calendars, and start gathering your gear, including an air-soft gun and eye protection. Ammo and snacks will be provided.

'Til Thursday, Mrs. Hellyer

Semester 2 Week 1

First of all, AWESOME job to all of you on your presentation! I may be a little partial, but it was definitely the BEST of all the parent night presentations!

Now...our deep dive into the Constitution has begun! Get ready for some serious scholarliness!

Each week you will have a Constitution journal assignment in addition to your opinion paper. Completing the journal will be a huge help in preparing for the Constitution Bowl. If you complete your journal, a special, and yes, FUN, field trip awaits. I really want to take everybody on this excursion, so please get it done!

Here are this week's assignments:

• CONSTITUTION JOURNAL: Preamble and Article 1 Sections 1-5 (*Bring a dictionary to class if you have one.)

• OPINION PAPER: Why is America different? How is the American government different from nations now and in the past, and why have we lasted so long?

• READING: Work on Fifty-Five Fathers by Selma R. Williams. If you don't have a copy, DO NOT wait until the last minute to get one! I would like Paige to lead the discussion on this book, which will be on February 23rd. Please read "Steps in Leading a Colloquium" in your binder to prepare. 

• Be thinking about who you want to do your Hero Report on. We want everyone to sign up by February 23rd.

I apologize to any of you who did not get to pass off award requirements last week. We will definitely make time to do that this week, so please bring your stuff.

See you all Thursday! -Mrs. H.

Week 15

We had a fun field trip to the capitol last week, and I hope you all learned a little something you didn't know before. I wish we could have stayed longer and done the 3-hour tour (when I was a kid, the school tour included getting to climb the narrow staircase into the rotunda!) but since we couldn't, I encourage you all to go back with your families, do the full tour, and maybe even attend a legislative session so you can see governance at work. You'll appreciate the legislative process more after we study the Constitution this semester!

Okay, let's talk parent night! It's crunch time, so please be sure you are COMPLETELY prepared for Thursday night. That means speaking parts (practice at home to make sure it's about 1-minute long), your costume, and any props you are using. At the end of our "Heroes of the Revolution" presentation, I would like all of us to recite in unison the following excerpt from the Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness...And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge our Lives, our Fortunes and our Sacred Honor.

We will be rehearsing this during class this week, so please get this memorized for Thursday...it should be SUPER easy after all the memorization you've already done!

Other Items of Note:

• We'll be discussing Freedom Factor on Thursday, so make sure you have it completed! I'm excited to hear what you all think of this book! Taylor has been assigned to lead our discussion, but everyone needs to come prepared with one or two questions and/or comments to share. (Our next book will be Fifty-Five Fathers by Selma R. Williams which we will discuss on February 23rd.)

• If you've completed your Heritage Award requirements, please bring your completed project to discuss with me or Mrs. Brennan on Thursday.

• If you have a dictionary at home, please bring it to class, as we will be beginning our Constitution study this semester. Also, make sure you bring a notebook and a writing implement every week! Exclusively for scholars who complete their Constitution journals, there will be a special reward field trip at the end of the semester!

• Last but definitely not least: we will be having an air-soft gun battle against the Sword of Freedom class in the spring. You'll want to acquire an air-soft (not bb) gun and eye protection to use for this super-fun, annual event. There will be more details to come, so stay posted! 

That's all folks!  -Mrs. H.

Week 14

This week we discussed the price paid in full: the cost at which American liberty was purchased. I'm sure you've all heard the cliché "there's no such thing as a free lunch." (I often use a variation of it with my own kids!). Country singer Toby Keith has a famous song with the line "Freedom don't come free." It's a well-known fact that anything worth having takes work to earn it, and the colonists prized their liberty above most things in this world, clearly, or they wouldn't have risked their "lives...fortunes...and sacred honor" to achieve a free and independent nation. What are the things in your life that are so valuable that you would willingly give up everything else to have or preserve?

Items for this week:

 

• This week you all need to put the finishing touches on your parent night presentations, costumes and props. If you need to borrow anything, please let me or Mrs. Brennan know right away so we can help acquire items.

 

• I'm assigning devotional to Ethan for January 26th, since we won't be in class on the 19th.

 

• Thursday January 19th is our field trip to the capital. PLEASE ARRIVE AT CO-OP BY 9:45 am so we can leave promptly at 10:00. (This goes for me, too!) We will get lunch on the way back and we will return in time for third hour classes. Please make sure your parents are informed!

• If you are close to memorizing the Declaration of Independence, we will let you continue trying to pass it off until class ends on the 26th. Mrs. Brennan has promised an awesome prize if Taylor, Reina and Paige can get it done!

Don't forget to read Freedom Factor and have it completed by the 26th.

*A note about parent night: Please make sure your family brings a dish for the potluck dinner. Families are requested to sit together, so please no running off to be with your friends. Also, please be respectful! No talking during presentations, and no milling around the building. Give the same attention and respect to others as you would want others to give you! We are representing our school to our visitors, and we want them to have a good and memorable experience!

See ya on the flip side!

-Mrs. H.

Week 13

Welcome back! It was great to see all of your smiling faces again after Christmas break! This week we got to learn about how the hand of Providence guided George Washington to a glorious victory at Yorktown, VA, which finally brought an end to America's war for independence...or did it? We'll learn next semester about the troubles and triumphs that faced the Americans once they were left to fend for themselves...

Thanks to Leila for leading our book discussion this week! I hope you all enjoyed the George Washington book, and that you were all able to find qualities in him that you would like to cultivate in yourselves. On that note, I've modified the question a bit, but your opinion paper assignment this week is:

What qualities of character did you discover in learning about George Washington, as well as the Americans who supported the Revolution, that you would like to emulate in your life?

Here are your other assignments this week:

Reading: Freedom Factor by Gerald Lund needs to be completed by January 26th. I would also like to assign Taylor to lead our discussion for that book. PLEASE get this finished! It is always one of the favorites for Key of Liberty, so I know you will all love it...even you, Lucy!

Parent Night: Please finalize your 1-minute presentation for parent night and work on your costume. Bring your speaking part (and your costume, if you want) to class on Thursday so we can do a practice run through to make sure our timing is right, and that our presentation will run smoothly. And please remember to invite your grandparents and/or other loved ones. We want to put on a great show and really "wow" our families! (January 26th 5:30-8:00, potluck dinner will be provided.)

Award Requirements: Finish as many as you can! Next week, January 12th is the absolute LAST day to pass them off!

Field Trip: We're going to the capital on January 19th, so make sure to be at co-op by 9:45am! We'll be back in time for 3rd hour classes, and we'll stop and grab some lunch on our way back.

Have a great week!

-Mrs. Hellyer