Author: Marisa Palmer

The Discovery heroes kicked of the new session by transporting themselves to Ancient Greece! Each morning, they climb into their time machines and transport themselves to Acton Athens, where they become their Greek hero avatar (there is a Poseidon, a Hephaestus, an Athena…..) and don their laurel wreath headwear. This week they compared and contrasted life in ancient Athens and Sparta, and thought deeply about questions like: is it fair to judge ancient cultures by today’s mores and values? would you prefer to be an Athenian or a Spartan? and what was more important to thrive then vs today: physical strength, mental acuity, or emotional resilience?

During quest they dive into projects like creating a wax tablet and learning the Greek alphabet, creating a salt-dough map and learning about geography, or sculpting a Greek hero, as well as engaging as a group in “Socratic Smackdowns” focused on the philosophies of Socrates, Aristotle, Plato and more.

During art, the heroes tie-dyed Greek togas and are excited to start wearing them soon. During athletics, the heroes planned the end-of-session Acton Olympics. And the end of each day we read aloud Homer’s Iliad.

So far, the children are quipping, “this quest is so much fun!”

But the fun this session isn’t stopping there. They are also working to develop persuasive pitches that they will present at the exhibition, pitching their ideas for a studio pet! There is no guarantee we will purchase a pet, but we will certainly consider a pet if all heroes and guides agree on contract terms related to care and maintenance. So far, the children have been focused on researching pet ideas and developing the “logos” (facts) portion of their pitch. They’ve researched animal characteristics, habitats, costs, and care requirements. Next week with be pathos and ethos.

We are excited to see if any new furry, feathered, or scaly friends join our studio in the new year!

Finally, in core skills, we are conducting Hero-Guide check-ins on end-of-session S.M.A.R.T. goals in preparation for a new round of goal-setting in the new year. Two heroes earned math and reading badges this session! A badge requires a LOT of work, and can take as long as a year to complete! Congratulations to all the Discovery heroes on all their hard work and focused effort!

This week was exhibition week! The Discovery heroes worked hard to prepare for the final lemonade “stand-off” with the Sparks, bringing together all they had learned through this five-week entrepreneurship quest: company formation, brand and image creation, market research and calculating costs and risks.

Hero Talk

Joe McGrath, photographer, videographer, animator, and founder of NextWave Visuals, came to the studio to share his hero’s journey with the children. This is what we call a “hero talk.”

Joe shared examples of his work and talked about his challenges and triumphs as an entrepreneur. The children were especially curious about his animation work. They asked him how he does it (uses software), and how he learned. Joe learned videography in college, but taught himself animation by watching and practicing along with YouTube videos during the pandemic. He discussed how a short animated video can take a month to create, but with persistence he’s become better and better at this craft.

Asked what his advice for the young heroes is: persistence. Starting a business can be really hard initially, but it gets easier over time as you learn more and more about what you are doing.

What’s his biggest challenge: marketing and getting customers to commit.

Why did he want to learn animation: to differentiate his business from other photographers/videographers who don’t offer that service.

Who has more authority? the company or customers? (related to our question of the year): In Joe’s business, he feels he – the company – has more authority because customers need to trust him as the creator to know what looks good in the videos he creates.

Joe was surprised to learn that many of the heroes at Acton have experience running a business, too! Several of them have participated in one or more Children’s Business Fairs selling items like all-natural bath products, art, artistic goods, upcycled picture frames, and 3D-printed toy train tracks. And this week: lemonade!

The Lemonade Stand-Off

The Discovery heroes sold homemade snack mix, and fresh-squeezed plain and strawberry lemonade. They had a few days this week to create programs, set-up their stands, make and package snack mix, and make lemonade. All together, they made $84 studio bucks of profit which will now go to purchasing something for the school!

The day after the exhibition, the Discovery heroes reflected upon what went well and what did not go as well preparing for, and during, the exhibition. One area of weakness was project planning. The heroes were rushed to get the lemonade made in time for the stand-off. They lost sales opportunity by not being ready to sell when customers arrived. They would like to work on planning and project management skills – setting to-dos, deadlines, delegation and assigning specific roles – during upcoming exhibitions. What wonderful skills to be developing at such a young age!

Six-Word Memoirs

The heroes read and presented their six-word memoirs – inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s six-word story – as part of the exhibition. Often, writing succinctly, is much more challenging than writing long-form. Throughout the last five weeks, the children brainstormed creative words to use for the subject, verb, direct object, adjectives and adverbs in their memoirs. Then they experimented with theme, word choice, and structure in their memoirs. Ultimately, they seemed to capture themselves very well in just six words!

Up Next

Next session’s quest is “Experiencing History: Acton Athens.” We can’t wait!

Intentionality

A big focus this week was intentionality: doing something with purpose. On Monday, as a group, the childrens’ focus was all over the place. They played and chatted instead of doing their core skills. Discussion attendance was spotty at best. Finally, two heroes rose up and said, “we can’t take this!”

The next morning we used the I.C.E.E. framework – Intentionality, Civility, Energy, Excellence – and the children diagnosed that the studio was lacking intentionality. They brainstormed what the studio would look like and sound like during core skills if they were all intentional. And they suggested systems for discussion at the next Town Meeting to keep each other accountable and intentional.

That morning, during core skills, a person could hear a pin drop in the studio. The children were incredibly focused and excited to work with purpose. They were also proud of their ability to problem-solve, be honest with each other, and determine with each other what kind of learning community they want to build.

Learner-Led Town Meetings and Socratic Discussions

Speaking of Town Meeting, this Friday, the Discovery heroes led their own Town Meeting. Their focus was systems to reward intentionality. The first system adopted was “Checks and X’s” where the heroes will earn checks and X’s if they either show up, or don’t show up, respectively, on time and prepared for launches (discussions). The second was a promise to start every morning core skills in silence, so each of them can more easily drop into flow and focus.

Tranquility Thursdays

The children have been learning about various mindfulness techniques. Each week, they seem to enjoy it more and more! This week the heroes explored mantra meditation to help focus concentration. Other weeks, they have practiced belly breathing, color breathing, mindful eating raisin meditation, mountain meditation and body scan. While the weather is still warm-ish we plan to explore walking meditation.

Quest

This week’s quest challenge was “Costs and Risks.” The children role-played characters in “Sally the Seller” – Sally purchased supplies from the hardware store clerk to make picture frames to sell at the outdoor market. Through this role play, the Discovery heroes explored the meaning of revenues, variable costs, fixed costs, sunk costs and profit.

They also explored various concepts related to the time value of money as well as risk. If you were offered $100 today or $100 in a year from now, which would you choose? Ask your child why!

Finally, they prepared their snack mix for the Lemonade Standoff and worked on calculating their estimated profit for the exhibition.

Core Skills

Typically, the children set themselves a daily core skills S.M.A.R.T. goal, and work towards that in the morning. This week, they started setting three weekly S.M.A.R.T. goals. If they complete their goals for the week, they earn the “Friday Mystery Reward.” This practice will help them develop longer-term planning skills, and will give them the life-skill of setting their own priorities and sticking to them.

This week was the “Market Challenge” in the E-ship (Entrepreneurship) Quest. The Discovery heroes kicked off the week with a coffee shop simulation, then moved onto conducting actual market research with their Spark cohorts. They surveyed potential customers to understand how much customers would pay for an 8oz glass of lemonade. They also conducted blind taste tests to understand if customers would prefer plain lemonade or strawberry lemonade.

Next week, they will design and create their lemonade stand signs and decor as part of this sessions art exploration on art in advertising. This week they learned about Andy Warhol and made lemon pop art prints!

Core Skills: Passion Projects and Math Power Hour

This session we kicked off “math power hour” during Friday core skills. During math power hour, the children play math card and board games. Last week, they played Battleship and Monopoly. This week they played Fraction War and Sleeping Queens. Why games? Because math games have been shown to increase math learning above and beyond what happens in typical daily math lessons.

A couple of children have earned “Passion Projects” that they can work on during Friday core skills. They earn passion projects by consistently engaging in focused effort throughout the week. One child is building a website for her business fair business. Another is researching ocean life and building an ocean life display.

Montessori Supports in Discovery

To support the development of math skills, we recognize that using Montessori materials can be helpful for all children of any age to support learning in a more sensory and visual way. When children engage in Fractions War or Fractions Uno (or encounter fractions on Khan), they may utilize Montessori fraction “pies.” And to help calculate their daily and weekly freedom level points, they have the option to use cuisenaire rods or an abacus to help them add and multiply.

Physical Education

The children have been having a great time exploring winter sports! This week and last, Ms. Kathryn set up stations where the children could explore hockey, bandy and snowboarding! It was so much fun that the children requested these activities for another week, and mentioned Phys Ed as their “rose” (high) for the week!

Distracting Behaviors

One of the beauties of Acton is that children develop strong social awareness via self-governance. One challenge in Discovery has been distracting or disruptive behavior during discussions, or during less structured project time, that can make it hard for other children to get work completed. It’s been improving as children start to learn how they are impacting their friends when they act really silly during collaborative work times. Usually, it’s simply because they are excited about working with friends and excited about the project.

Today, the children discussed in Town Meeting an issue around using the reset/calm table. What’s the best way to ask a friend to separate from the group for a short time to calm their bodies and minds? Is it better to ask or tell? Is it helpful to share why you are suggesting a friend needs some calm time, i.e. what contract promise a friend is breaking? After deciding together on the best way to let a friend know they are being disruptive, and may need some time to calm their bodies, the children discussed what the consequence should be if a fellow here refuses to stop disrupting the group, and when it makes sense to re-join the group.

They will be testing this week to see if their new system works, and if they all truly have buy-in from all members of the tribe.