This week, the Discovery heroes were immersed in the Growing Curiosity Quest where the oldest heroes have the opportunity to design, plan and lead a week-long quest on a subject of their choosing. This week, a hero led a creative writing quest. She kicked off the week with inspiring launches about the essential components of a story, covering elements like characters, plot and climax.
She then challenged her fellow travelers to create their own writing projects. They brainstormed story ideas, developed story characters, and started drafting their unique tales. It was wonderful to see their creativity and imagination in full bloom as they explored the art of storytelling.
The writing quest concluded with a feedback survey, and the heroes all contributed valuable feedback on various aspects of the quest, such as what they enjoyed the most, what challenges they faced, and suggestions for future improvements. This feedback not only highlighted the successes of the quest but also offered insights into how all heroes can make their future growing curiosity quests even more engaging.
Meanwhile the Mandarin special has been going really well. Both Spark and Discovery heroes showed great interest in learning this new language. We began by going over the words we have learned so far, focusing on the numbers 1-10. The heroes practiced both the pronunciations and the handwriting of these numbers, reinforcing their understanding and recall. Next, we reviewed the characters for “sun” (日 – rì) and “moon” (月 – yuè). The heroes practiced writing these characters on the white board. Next, we watched an engaging video that introduced different family members in Chinese. The heroes learned the words for family members such as father (爸爸 – bàba), mother (妈妈 – māma), older brother (哥哥 – gēge), older sister (姐姐 – jiějie), younger brother (弟弟 – dìdi), and younger sister (妹妹 – mèimei) etc. We also discussed how these terms can be used not only for blood relatives but also for people who are older or younger than you in a respectful and familial way.
We concluded Tuesday mandarin special with another fascinating Chinese idiom story called “Bā miáo zhù zhǎng” (拔苗助长). This idiom translates to “pulling up sprouts to help them grow.” It tells the story of a farmer who was impatient for his crops to grow, so he pulled the crops up, hoping they would grow faster. Instead, he ended up harming the plants. The moral of the story is that impatience can lead to counterproductive results and that growth and success often require time and patience. The heroes were intrigued by the story!
In Civilization, the heroes delved into the fascinating period of the Renaissance, with a particular focus on Johannes Gutenberg and his revolutionary invention: the printing press. The heroes were amazed to discover how the printing press enabled the mass production of books, making literature and scientific knowledge accessible to a wider audience. They all expressed that the printing press was an important invention and they could not imagine a life without books!
In our Civilization Research this week, the heroes researched two remarkable artists: Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. The heroes were fascinated by Leonardo da Vinci, renowned for his diverse talents as a painter, sculptor, architect, scientist, and inventor. It is interesting to know that da Vinci designed many inventions dealing with water – most notably, scuba gear!
