Throughout this month the concept of connections permeated our study. We examined connections between the systems of our bodies and the way the parts of these systems work together. We learned about how good food and exercise are connected to our health, and we also learned that staying connected to God daily through His Word and prayer will help us to lead lives that are more joyful, focused, and connected to the purpose God created us to fulfill.

In Math, we saw the connection between our efforts to remember key facts and use strategies to solve unknown ones to our successful completion of word problems and challenges. Writing, especially for our older groups, connected our feelings and the conventions we have studied, as editing our work for better word choice, voice and error-free punctuation connected to get our writing message to ring through clearly. Our younger students learned to connect letters to make digraphs and to build words and then sentences using all of their spelling knowledge.

In Social Studies, our older group has been immersed in the connection of groups and their beliefs to the early development of our country. They have witnessed the connection between early leaders and their faith in God that led to the formation of our country, as well as to progress over time toward the path He would have us to take. As they examine some of the challenges faced by settlers moving to different parts of our country, all students will be drawn into a study of landforms and topographic maps. In Florida, students need to use their imaginations to "explore" mountains and valleys.

We encourage any students who have hiked in mountains to bring pictures of their adventures to share and we anticipate a few virtual trips as well. Salt dough landforms, and even a salt dough map will give students at all levels a chance to see the different landforms in the United States, identify our major mountain chains, and to apply what we have learned about measurement in a practical, useful way! We are excited to immerse our students in this messy, but meaningful activity!

 In our Piano classes we have made so much progress. Our young pianists have a great working knowledge of piano geography and our older pianists are making beautiful music reading music in the treble And bass clef.

We are joyfully working on our material for Graduation Night in our Voice/Acting and Piano classes. In our voice/acting class we are putting the finishing touches on our script for our performance. We are excited to share with our families a mixture of some old hymns, praise & worship pieces and some of our "Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music.

This month we have made huge musical strides in piano lessons! We are now able to write in piano note fingerings for all ten fingers, which is a very helpful skill in preparing music for a performance. We have also been making great progress with ear training, by singing back notes that are played on piano! I am so proud of how fast we are learning.

In celebration of Earth Day, our Explorer Elective will be filled with plants, flowers, gardens, and all things nature! Students will go outside and immerse themselves with different textures in nature, making this a multi-sensory project, while celebrating God's creation of our beautiful Earth! Students will collect different objects from outside and observe the characteristics, while practicing number sense and phonics!

The students have been working on their leaps since the beginning of the year. But we have made it to a point where we have our chassé step jeté looking great! All of the students have their names displayed on a card that proves they have their leap that will be put up on the wall in the ballet studio! We are continuing to get these leaps even higher to put into our ballet dance that will be in the recital coming up in May. The students have been working hard to remember the choreography of the ballet version of Thank You, Next from Ariana Grande.

This month has been fun and full of new choreography and learning! We have been rocking around the clock and getting ready for the Let's Glow Into Spring, Recital in Tap and Musical Theater/Drama class!

On the other hand, we were also working on the Lyrics of the song, because they will not only be dancing on stage but will once again have the challenge of dancing an entire choreography while singing.

In addition to practicing our number for the recital, we introduced one of the best-known variations of the tap step "Crawl" and to help them to remember the 8 counts of this variation, I taught a fun trick that they now love to use: “Bibidi Babidi Boo YOU”. Why?, because If we divide it into syllables metrically it would sound like 8 counts Bi-Bi-Di-Ba-Bi-Di-Bu-You, FUN right?

This month has been a month of learning, so what’s left of it will be dedicated to learning THE LAST 30 SECONDS of choreography that we still have to learn, therefore April will be focused on the practice and cleanliness of the dance, to make their talents shine at the optimal level. The students have really come a long way during this Tap and Musical Theater/Drama journey, and what better proof to demonstrate how much they have learned than on stage, in our upcoming Recital, Let's Glow Into Spring!

  This Little Light of Mine…I’m Gonna Let it Shine!

Throughout this month, we learned so much about Jesus. Through artwork and role play, games and songs, we followed His steps, read His parables, and learned to look at people through eyes of love. We could see God’s design for us in the way He “knitted” each of us in our mother’s wombs, each with unique traits, gifts, and personalities. We watched changes occur in the closest followers of Jesus as he molded them into Christian leaders, and through this, we witnessed the power of a close walk with Him. We learned that even though we are flawed human beings, we can be made new through Jesus and allow His light and love to shine as we live in a way that reflects our faith in Him. Holy Week gave us time to focus on those days before His crucifixion and rejoice in the sacrifice He made willingly for each and every one of us.

This month we will follow His disciples after Jesus ascended into Heaven. We will watch how they were image- bearers of Christ and how they courageously shined His light into even the darkest of places.  As we work to complete our Jesus journals in April, we will watch as the disciples are transformed into apostles who carry word of our Messiah and Savior to faraway places, building churches and nurturing new believers. By the examples and words of scripture penned by these first Christian leaders, each word inspired by God, we can know how to let our lights shine for Him.

We will also learn more about keeping our light burning brightly by studying His Word and talking to Him often, and how this nearness to God can help us to recharge and renew when times are difficult and we are weary.  Paul will be central to our study as we watch his total commitment and love for God. Our students love the story of the Saul-to-Paul transformation and relish acting out specific scenes. This month will be a dynamic mosaic of incredible learning, sweet faith, and amazing fun! 

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