Very often you as parents are only shown the roller coaster feelings of your child. I can assure you that progress is being made in the School of Dialectic in spite of all the “drama” . Let me share some things that we are seeing on this end.

1. Winter Court—The students worked hard preparing food and decorating. They proved once again that they have servants’ hearts as they served the Rhetoric students. I am very proud of them.

2. Math—It may seem there is nothing but grueling corrections, daily assignments, tutoring, and making your child master the skills. And, you would probably be right. The High School teachers have drilled into us that this is a very important time in the students’ math development. They must master the basic skills at this point to advance into the higher levels of math. Our teachers are working hard to make sure the weak places are shored up so they will be successful later. There may even be some who need outside tutoring, and this is certainly the time to do it. Thank you, Mrs. Robson, for your diligence. Last years’s 6th grade math scores were higher on the annual achievement tests.

3. Bible—I have been pleased with the spiritual insights of these students. They are full of thoughts about life around them and seem able to go beyond “Sunday School” answers when applying God’s Word. This quarter we finish journaling daily in the Psalms and move to Proverbs. The chapter this quarter for memorization is James two. You might consider talking about the passage with your child.

4. Process—Whether it be science, history or English, organization, problem-solving, time management, and research skills are a part of every lesson. Students must master the process; then they will be successful wherever they go. It may be following directions and keeping their science notebooks organized for Mrs. Brewer. Then again it may be Mrs. Miller who makes them write out time management plans for history projects that include supply lists and outside help that is needed. All of those steps up to the finished project are in some ways more important than the project itself. The more we make them think and write, the more improvement we are seeing.

5. American Literature Festival—The 6th grade English class will be decorating room 25 with information and centers around The Call of the Wild. The 7/8 grade English class will be completing projects over various American short stories and Amazing Wonders of North America in their science class.

Please don’t look for miracles, but do look for little steps of progress and lavish them with praise. They need it!