2024 Week 2 Newsletter 7/22-7/26

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Children head to our camp cheerfully in the morning every day. They stay positive and study hard. Their laughter, reading, and singing are the highlights of the hot July. Basketball A lot of research show that physical exercise can help children stay more focused during class. We starts a day with physical education. Playing basketball helps complex hand-eye coordination, quick reflexes, and strategic thinking. This game is team work, which can improve social skills and collaborative problem-solving. Chinese Language Arts Day 1 We talked about the earliest days when Northern Chinese lived in caves, and introduced the form of living in caves and explained the shape of the door of the cave dwellings. The students did pertinent hand experiments to explore why the cave dwellings had semi-circular roofs. Day 2 We described how and why the earliest people in Southern China lived in trees, and introduced the modern form of living in trees -- stilted buildings. The students used their imagination and creativity to design and build their own miniature treehouses out of twigs and paper. Day 3 We introduced Beijing courtyard houses, Anhui folk houses, Huizhou horse-head wall,Mongolian yurts and Fujian Tulou with the latter being a unique residential architecture in Fujian Province. Then, our students use a variety of puzzles to make the models. Day 4 We explained the special production method of ancient Chinese architecture - mortise and tenon, as well as its function. Our students learned how to design tenon-and-mortise structures and made a set of a traditional Chinese furniture called, Baxian Table, a traditional big square table for dining among eight people. Day 5 We studied the most special structure in ancient Chinese architecture -- the bucket arch and its function. Our students built bucket arch models and designed the decorative colors for the bucket arches by themselves. English Language Arts Group A Everyday we started with a choice of 3 books.Then, after that a creative activity. We did free color and trace the words. Later, we played charades with the cards. Everyone got 5 cards to act out. Group B We worked on these worksheets with a focus on certain sounds and how they are pronounced, such as slid, did, and bid. We would read aloud the stories with a focus on the certain sounds and underlining the words that had that specific sound. The students got better at it through out the week. After working, we choose book to read aloud and enjoy reading. Group C This week students applied their reading comprehension skills through practice problems in workbooks. Students wrote down grammar rules such as sentence structure and new vocab words in their notebooks. We also analyzed different texts to practice their close reading skills. Group D We read through the hot topics books and worked on 3 assignments everyday pertaining to the text. Everyone seemed competent at it and completed three tasks wonderfully everyday. Group E We worked through the same packet as last week with more of an emphasis on how to write summaries. We made a point to practice writing the main idea and how to find details/evidence within the text to support the main idea, as well as writing at least a concluding sentence. When we have time, we play the word games, such as hangman. Group F This week students learned the basic structure to writing a persuasive essay and wrote an outline for their own essay topics. They also learned the different types of verb tenses and summarized the grammar rules in their notebooks. We went through different nonfiction passages and learned to identify the main takeaways from the text. Students practiced their creative writing skills and wrote a letter to their future self. Choir The cultural class introduced choir. We learned the choral music which encompasses the human voices and offers a rich array of musical . Our students really enjoyed this class. Music Theory In the first two days of this week’s choir class, students learned to follow the conductor's gestures and expressions to better coordinate their singing. They explored various singing styles, such as solo, duet, unison, and round singing, and learned the basics of proper posture, breathing techniques, and voice control. In the next two days, students studied basic music notation, learning to identify notes, rhythms, and beats. They also understood key music elements like dynamics signs, melody, and harmony, which provided a foundation for further musical learning. Songs Snack and Lunch Maple Maze Kids and Pond Swimming Pools Volunteers