3/7/16: FIRST WEEK RE-CAP

We had a great first week! My goal for the first week was to detox... It was a good sign that maybe we were accomplishing that when on Friday afternoon, after our field trip, I heard kids saying they didn't want to go home, they wanted to go back to school!!

We are working on seeing where kids are on their reading and math skills and getting them in a place where they feel like they can succeed as we help them move forward. We are also working on gathering 100-point words from our reading: words that intrigue us, amaze us, just think are cool! 

If anyone is at a dollar store and sees some fun colored/print DUCT TAPE rolls, grab a few and send them our way. We are using the tape for our different notebooks and today the kids wanted to make duct tape wallets for their JOY money. Anyone who still has JOY money to be cut out, please try to have a family cutting party and get it returned by Thursday morning. Last Monday we looked at different types of money from all over the world and did a compare/contrast: took note of how they were alike and different. We used our 4Rs of Research, Reason, Relate, Record to decide the what, why, and how to create and make our own JOY money.

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​This week, and the next 2 weeks, we will be researching various subjects, looking at THEN and NOW: when the U.S. began in 1776 and when JOY Academy began in 2016. It's a 240 year time difference! (We figured it out together!). Is there anything that has changed???! Ha! It's going to be fun. We will tie this all in to having our first JOY BOX Day. Students will Research, Reason, Relate, and then Record what they discover about then and now in over 10 different areas. We made a list today and students chose what they would be researching. When we return from Spring Break (March 21 - 25) we will pull out all of the boxes and cardboard we have been saving and start showing the then and now using the boxes. The students are pretty excited for that part!! We'll definitely need more duct tape for that.

Please mark your calendars for our first open house on Tuesday, April 12, and opening enrollment for August 2016. Invite people to come see our amazing box creations of Then and Now/1776 to 2016. And, we want to let people come and see what JOY Academy is about. That would be a great night to bring friends, family and anyone interested.

​Remember next Monday is PI day. We'll be doing Pi/Pie activities all day, along with the different types of "Pie" food for lunch. Don't send a cold lunch that day!
Thanks everyone! Let the JOY roll on... 

-- Connie