Week 5

This week we talked about the powers of Congress (Article 1 Section 8). There is a TON of information on this topic--specifically how these powers have been distorted from their original intent--but unfortunately, we only had a short time to go over all of it! If you want to know more, I recommend doing some research on the expansion of the powers of Congress, online or by reading parts of The Making of America by Cleon Skousen. There's lots of good info out there, it just takes a little looking!

This week's assignments:

Opinion Paper: Does Congress have too much power or not enough?

Constitution Journal: Articles 3 & 4   **Tip: Try counting all the clauses you would have to journal about, then divide that by the number of days until the next class. Use that number to determine how many clauses you will work on each day. This will help you spread out the work, and keep you from getting behind. And please, please, ask your parents for help if you are struggling! I know this can be difficult work, but I also know that you are smart and hard-working enough to do it!

Keep studying for the Constitution Bowl, and start reading The Great Little Madison if you haven't yet.

See you all Thursday...and there may be TREATS for those who do their journaling!

-Mrs. Hellyer

Week 3

This week we had a great discussion about Montesquieu's 3 principles--virtue, honor and fear--that are required for the success of the 3 forms of government--Republican, Monarchial and Despotic. We also learned that when men cease to be virtuous in our own government we see the usurpation of legislative power by the branches (executive and judicial) that were never intended to have it.

Upcoming assignments:

• This week's opinion paper is: 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?

• Your Constitution journal assignment this week is: Article 1, Sections 6-10 (**Remember that this optional assignment comes with a special field trip reward!)

• Our next book discussion will be February 25th, on Fifty-Five Fathers by Selma R. Williams.

Don't forget to work on your Award requirements...we know you have a lot to do, but we really want to see you all earn your ribbons! Just think of how much more informed you'll be about the history of our nation's founding than most kids your age by the time this class is finished! In fact, you'll know more than most Americans! Yes, that's sad, but true; but you all are the ones who will be able to preserve and protect this nation for the next generation!

Here's a link to the Article 5 Project that we talked about in class--the "safety net" for the states, built into the Constitution for when the federal government gets carried away:

http://www.conventionofstates.com/

Please read through the website and watch the videos...they're very interesting and informative (and they give you a little hope that we really CAN restore the Constitution to what our founders intended it to be).

Keep up the good work studying that CB study guide, because we'll have a quiz or practice each week. There may even be candy involved!

Carry on, scholars!

-Mrs. Hellyer

Week 2

I hope you all had fun doing the sovereignty simulation in class, and thank you to Teacher Isabelle for putting it all together! It was very interesting to see your different personalities emerge in this mock "stressful" situation. Who knew that the usually calm, quiet Tillie would want to be president, or should I say...dictator? Hmmmm...

A few reminders:

• If you haven't already, select a person about whom to research for your Hero Report by this Thursday (2/11), and get your selection approved by myself or Teacher Isabelle. The person must be someone who has promoted the principles of freedom and liberty, and NOT be George Washington or John Adams. That's it. There are like a million+ people who fit those criteria! The actual reports are not due until April 14th, but this will give you time to get some research done early.

• Opinion paper this week: Write a debrief on the simulation. What did you learn about the founders? What did you learn about yourself? How are you going to change because of the simulation?

• Keep working on your Constitution journals. We're still working on the preamble and Article 1, Sections 1-5. If you have questions or need help, please ask! (Trust me: someday, you'll thank us for pushing you to do it!) *Also, if you do all your journaling, there will be a special field trip to the capital (or possibly a museum--we'll talk it over in class)--for those who complete the requirement--involving ice cream!

I think that's it...if I forgot anything, let me know! Thanks guys, for being good, hard-working kids: it makes teaching this class fun for us!

-Mrs. Hellyer

Week 1

Second semester has begun! Here's a recap of the things we went over in class on Thursday:

Hero Reports: You must choose (and have approved by either myself or Teacher Isabelle) the name of a person you would like to report on by February 11th. The person must be someone who has promoted and/or fought for the principles of freedom and liberty, and can be from any time period and any place in the world (but it can't be George Washington or John Adams, since we've already discussed them). Papers must be 2-4 pages in length, and will be due April 14th. You will also have to give an in-class presentation about the same person; we will sign up for presentations in the near future, and will begin presenting on April 14th as well.

**Teacher Genne suggested that you check relativefinder.org to find out if you are related to any of the founders, then report on that person (bonus: family history work!).

Your opinion paper question this week is:

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

I strongly encourage all of you to look through your award requirements for this semester, and plan to get them done in a timely manner, so as not to leave them all for the last week of class. Remember also, that you can still pass off the Heritage Award requirement from first semester, but all other awards have expired.

Please remember to respond to Teacher Amber ASAP about which of your family members will be participating in the Constitution Bowl, so that person can receive study guide information.

Congratulations to all of you for completing ALL of the writing assignments...not many Key classes do that, but then, you are a pretty exceptional group! Keep up the good work, and contact me, Teacher Isabelle, or Teacher Amber if you have any questions/concerns.

-Mrs. Hellyer

Week 14

Great job to all of you for all your hard work during first semester...we're half-way done! Also, you all did really well on your recitation of the Declaration of Independence at parent night. I hope your parents are proud of you, because your mentors certainly are!

This Thursday is the first day of second semester, and thus begins some new projects and new material to study. We will be discussing the book Freedom Factor by Gerald Lund, so make sure you have it read BEFORE class. Each of you also please come prepared for the book discussion by bringing a discussion question with you. If you need help coming up with a question, please read the "Steps in Leading a Colloquium" page in your binder. The rest of the semester's book discussions will be led by the scholars, so keep that in mind while reading the books.

Here is the reading list and due dates for the rest of second semester:

• January 28th - Freedom Factor by Gerald Lund
• February 25th - Fifty-Five Fathers by Selma R. Williams
• March 24th - The Great Little Madison by Jean Fritz
• May 5th - The Proper Role of Government by Ezra Taft Benson (available free online)

A few changes this semester will be that Mrs. Brennan (Teacher Isabelle) will be joining us as the second co-mentor for Key, and Teacher Amber will be our Constitution Bowl coach. We'll hold Constitution Bowl (CB) practice the last 20 minutes of every class period, and because our bowl will be held early this year (March 31st), we will hold off on presentations until after the bowl. The good news is that you'll only have to give 1 presentation each this semester! Woohoo!

So, enjoy the rest of your week, and rest up...next week we dive right into the Constitution study, and we have a lot of hard work ahead of us!

-Mrs. Hellyer

Battle Week

Thank you all who attended the Battle against Sword of Freedom this week. Even in the rain you all showed up and fought hard. You all seemed to enjoy yourselves. I will have the photo of the epic standoff soon. (Thank you parents for bringing kids out. Because we are all spread out this means some people drive a long distance to make these events happen.)

This week in class we had TWO students pass off their Declaration Memorization Requirement! 

Congrats Emma and Isaac! 

We still have some kids that need to get their requirements signed off through us. We know you all can do it, put in the hard work for the next few days. We did find a few things that did not match up from the student manual and the mentor manual, one being the Heritage Award. With the error found, we are extending the date for check off of the Heritage Award Requirement. The date will be announced this week during class. Do not let this catch up to you however, second semester has its own list of sign offs.

We are preparing for Parent's Night and everyone got their parts. All paragraphs need to be memorized for our class presentation. The exception to this rule are the King's injuries. These (only the King's Injuries) presenters are allowed to have an index card to help them. I do however challenge those presenters to try to memorize their parts. 

Here is each part and the presenter...

Statement of Course: Hannah

Statement of Truths: Tillie

Statement of Secure: Micah

Statement of Destructive- Ethan

Statement of Prudence: Isaac

Statement of Train: Isaac

Statement of Patient: Hannah

Statement of History: Gabe

Injuries 1- Emma 

Injuries 2- Tillie

Injuries 3- Ethan

Injuries 4- Zane

Injuries 5- Zane

Statement of Petitioned: Zachary

Statement of Tyrant: Emma

Statement of Wanting: Gabe

Statement of Appealed: Eliana

Statement of Acquiesce- Eliana

Statement of "We the Rep": Micah

Statement of Support: Zachary

Also for Parent night, I was thinking it would nice, if we can all try to dress like those who signed the Declaration. I know we don't all have the outfits readily available however at the very least a pair of black pants and a white button up. If you have more, PLEASE feel free to plan to dress this way (do not feel like you must go out and buy anything). I believe this will make our class presentation that much better.

Please also do not forget any of your class presentation visual aids, opinion papers and anything else you would like to have out for our parents and other family members to see. You all have accomplished so much this semester, use this night to show off your hard work. 

We do not have an opinion paper this week however I did give out some homework... YEP I SAID HOMEWORK. Please watch the State of the Union address. My hope is that you find the time each year to put in the time to hear what our President has to say. Remember it doesn't matter who is in office, we need to respect the position. 

Here is a direct link https://www.whitehouse.gov/sotu 

We do have a speaker coming this week. I think you all will enjoy this. Following this presentation, we will do a run through of our Parent Night and allow for a few more sign offs. 

Thank you all for the Semester, please if you remember anything, just remember you do have a voice and YOU all can do something. You are our future leaders and we see so many bright and positive things in you. 

If you guys have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me. 

Thank you,

Teacher Amber 

Week 12

We had a great first week back from Christmas break! I hope you all enjoyed learning about the Battle of Yorktown and the Treaty of Paris, and setting up the siege on the big map...it sounded like you all had fun!

Next week is our last week of regular class, and thus the last week to pass off award requirements. Teacher Amber and I KNOW you can all get that Heritage Award if you work really diligently this week (we completed ours for training in only 2 days)! Also, practice like crazy memorizing the Declaration (give it 30 minutes a day--in smaller increments--and you'll have it made).

Your Opinion Paper this week is: What would you be willing to do to pay the price of freedom?

If you have any missing papers, this is the week to get them finished and turned in, in order to earn your ribbon.

Presentations this week are:

Tillie: Fashion of the Colonial Days

Zachary: The Role of Spies in the Revolution

 

Dates to Remember:

• January 14th - Last day to earn Award ribbons
• January 15th - Key vs. Sword Battle at the Hellyers' - 10:00am to 1:00pm
• Bring a sack lunch, an airsoft gun if you have one, and eye protection
• Wear a rainproof jacket and boots
• January 21st - Parent night at Bethlehem Lutheran Church at 6:00pm. This is a potluck dinner and each student is encouraged to bring a dish from the time period being studied (labeled, please). We will be showcasing what we've learned this semester, so bring any visual aids you have made for your presentations, and maybe your best opinion paper to set out for display; and be prepared to recite the Declaration of Independence!

If you have any questions, you can post them to the blog, or email them. Keep up the good work, and we'll see you all Thursday!