Half-way point in the Physics Sprint! And three-quarters in the Learning Design series (that’s the ninth piece out of twelve). We’ve covered Core Skills (Math, Reading, Writing), Quests (project-based learning with a narrative), Apprenticeships, and Civilization thus far. This week, I will share more about PE & Art. And the next two weeks we will dedicate to the most important, and hardest part of all—Learning to Be.

How vital is PE & Art? It depends on whose point-of-view. I recalled that for my entire Standard 5 & 6 in a Chinese Primary School, these two subjects were taken out of the schedule because it was deemed unimportant. The class teacher’s priority was as many straight As for UPSR (a major public examination), which consisted of language and Maths. Yes, besides a 20-minute recess, assemblies and toilet breaks, I sat in the class “being drilled” for an entire six hours. Nobody complained about the class teacher; she was considered to know what’s best for us. However, at the alternative end of the education spectrum,  many parents believe that these two subjects hone the gifts of inner and external expression. Academics—you need to be good enough to get by in daily life. Who is right?

Acton Academy takes on these two subjects is balance with an emphasis on execution based on the learner-driven philosophy. We believe PE & Art allows one to discover certain inner gifts. But we won’t push it to the extreme—competitive, cut-throat, or even grading “art.” We agree that these two subjects hone gifts of expression. But we see more. They provide an outlet for honing peer reviews, growth mindset, and embracing expression. Take 6-minutes to watch this video. Imagine what skills these children are learning in this discussion, and doing a similar process of feedback and re-iteration in their art.

Let’s come back to the Eagles’ daily lives. Concretely, what happens in a studio-by-studio basis?

Spark / Preschool (PS, 4 to 6 years old)

There are 60 to 90 minutes of outdoor play every day. As the studio is still new, we are exploring combination with externally coached sports to expand their routine.

Often, the Eagles are discovering themselves in every way. Many of the outdoor loose parts have some weight that requires strength and coordination to move around. Sometimes, they even combine art into their outdoor play. Alessa demonstrates how:

Such Play emerges naturally. The PS Eagles started pushing wheel this week, and it’s quite physically demanding!

Art happens naturally throughout the day. Their work time includes drawing, coloring, and there are many manipulatives for creative expression.

Elementary (ES, 6+ to 10+ years old)

There’s one hour of PE every Tuesday and Thursday, plus a few more extra “stuff”!

• Tuesday: Eagles organized their PE. Two leaders lead physical workout sets followed by team games.
• Thursday: external sports. We engage a coach or head to somewhere fun! The Eagles vote on a termly basis to decide what’s next. It has ranged from rock climbing, ice skating, and now football.
• More recently, we experimented 15-minute “short” PE on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Doing so had helped transition in better Core Skills. And many Eagles stayed around the Acton grounds to play after official hours.
• We also participate in the homeschooling network Sports Day, and many of our Eagles are a big fan of Spartan race. Oh, sometimes the families organized hiking too :))
• The goal is broad exposure and honing Sportsmanship (a precursor to character development)

  

  

Art in ES is mixed into journalling, and often project work. Occasionally, there are special art activities for festivities, such as creating lanterns before the Chinese New Year. And art expands from the material world (paper drawings, painting, crafts) to the non-material (performance art). We try to do one Art-based Quest each year too so that Eagles can go deep into one particular area of craft. Post ES and into the Middle studio (11+ years old) and beyond, this is true, except that the standards are much higher!

  

Middle & Launchpad (MS, 11+ years old onwards)

The Middle studio expands further from the ES. The difference: there is far more self-organization for MS and no daily “short PE.”

They have organized different Sports outings, but have not stuck to one area of Sport for an entire term. The motivation to move and to come to a consensus in Sports activities for teenage Eagles is hard. More so when they are used to an urban / couch potato lifestyle with varying interests and preferences. Neither do we want to stretch them until breaking point. Right now, the Eagles have a minimum requirement of fitness exercise for each Tuesday and Thursday.

We admit this is not enough, and we can do better in this front. What we want to work towards: a Guide who has an interest in Sports coaching, such that he/she can provide the base support to coach Eagles to self-organize, and identify & hone certain gifts of each Eagle.

How about Competitive Sports?

Expanded from a blog post from Jeff Sandefer:

A big high school can have a football or basketball team. It’s a fantastic experience if you are in and competing at peak levels. But consider this: In a school with 2,700 students with two Sports age group (U-15 and U-18), if you are the 14th best basketball player in your age group, or slightly below the top 1%, you’ll be sitting in the stands with everyone else. At Acton Academy, At Acton Academy, you’ll get to play. A lot. Usually against people about your level.

Unless a child is exceptional; in which he/she seek out teams within the community and pursue excellence. Our Eagles have engaged in gymnastics, ice hockey, rugby at national levels. And they do it outside Acton.

In a Nutshell

PE and Art are integral of Acton Academy. We do PE more deliberately while we pursue Art in an integrated manner. Our goal is exposure to broad interest within the limited small community setup and logistics. We are aware of its advantages and disadvantages. External supplements compensate for the disadvantages—We highly encourage families to use the broader community and external resources if their Eagles want to dig deep into their gifts!

Updates

PS Studio

Three studios in one roof. Does conflict happen? Naturally—yes. Won’t the older dominate the small ones? Not at Acton :))

The week started with an apology from three MS Eagles. They broke the water container (part of PS Outdoor Play items). Initially, the PS Eagles did not understand. It took a while, and it clicked.

“Oh no, we can’t play water play tomorrow!”
“There’s still one more container!”

The MS Eagles took responsibility and proposed a solution by bringing a replacement next Monday. Both studios settled quickly, and the PS Eagles went back to work!

This week was one of focus and self-driven (in contrast to last week’s low energy level). Why? We still don’t know. It might just be due to the better weather (less haze) this week.

Finally, we end this week with a system that intrigued me after one month. Here’s how Eagles manage to transition independently through a schedule (as if they know how to read a clock). Sandglass and color codes!

ES Studio

Physics Quest

Week Four into the Physics Quest. The ES Eagles explored structures and support. They discovered about Isaac Newton and Leonardo Da Vinci. Then, comes the “Da Vinci bridge” challenge. Do you think it is possible to build a bridge that has no glue or anything holding it together, just beams (like popsicle sticks)?

“This is too challenging!”
“Can we use strings?”
“Scissors?”
“Wait, this is not strong enough to hold the coins. How about this other design?”

Forty minutes later, “Look at our bridge; it works!!”

The Eagles tried plenty of different designs. Many failed. None gave up. One team leaped with joy when their design finally worked! Joy!

Earlier, we talked about Sportsmanship. And these traits are also exercised in Project time! One Eagle had a breakthrough:

“It doesn’t matter if we win or not, what matters is that we worked as a team this time and I’m very happy!” 

Writer’s Workshop

Imagine today is 2711. What is possible?

The Eagles started the first draft of their science fiction story. They shared their imagination and got feedback to improve further in the second draft. 

We look forward to what they will deliver on the 4th of April Exhibition!

Recycling and Saving Planet Earth

While many students went on strike and followed Greta Thunberg’s fight for Climate Change, the Acton Eagles stay in campus and came up with solutions and actions. They decided that they too can take steps to inspire change in their families and friends to save the environment.

The initiatives: toy donation drive, composting project, 4R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Refuse) posters.

Eagles are taking charge and will announce more details soon.

Social Skills Workshop

Auntie Dyani had been leading the Eagles to explore gratitude, compliments, and kindness.

On Friday, she did an exercise for Eagles to learn more about themselves by identifying what they want to change within and coming up with ways to do that. They recapped compliments, “what I like about myself” and talked about labels (good and bad) from others. The Eagles explored how some labels may be true and some not. If a negative label is true—do we accept our differences and like it, or do we want to change it? The Eagles then worked through a worksheet where they had to think about one thing they would like to change about themselves and to list down five ideas to help them do this.

Arjun’s Birthday

Arjun’s family generously brought three cakes for the entire community! What a celebration!

Happy Birthday, Arjun!

MS Studio

Physics Challenge

An imbalanced see-saw lever with an Eagle on either side. Due to the imbalance, one of the Eagle’s weight was held up by a 4:1 pulley with a bucket of water as the counterweight. Question: How much water should be in the bucket so that the system is perfectly balanced?

The Eagles applied “butt power.” They broke down the problem down from one end to another end.

Then, they tested the results.

There were no casualties. And all Eagles managed to keep their hands free in the “test.” Physics is most rewarding when the rapture of “Yes!” was in every MS Eagles’ lips, and that moment of the test was precisely that.

Sci-Fi Genre Exercise

The MS Eagles had their first role-play on Thursday. They had a sample of what they will be writing for their Sci-Fi role-playing game story.

They chose their characters’ costume and attributes. Then, they used the dice to determine their character’s fate. There were also puzzles and riddles. It’s like an adventure game unfolding. Excitement, chaos, and order if you can make it happen. Here is an excerpt after a player missed his attack battling a wicked machine:

“Elliot was ready to attack, this time he jumped over to Kit’s toolbox, took a wrench and swung it at the Mecha. The machine woke-up just-in-time and sucked the wrench into itself and it chocked, coughed and burped.”

The Eagles participated with a high level of engagement. They wrote and told stories, each of them sparked more imagination and description from each other. What sort of scenario will the Eagles write for the final piece? Come to the exhibition on the 4th April to find out!

Peer Learning Role Reversal: Can a 9-year-old teach a 14-year-old Physics?

Few MS Eagles found the Hooke’s Law challenging. While they got the algebraic equation, there is little understanding of how it relates to spring and using it in real life. One MS Eagle said: “I can explain this to my 9-year-old brother, Kaleb, and he gets it.”

So, Dr. Ewe, our MS Guide gave a challenge. Why not let Kaleb explain it to the MS Eagles?

Kaleb started by drawing each component carefully. One MS Eagle listened intently. And two more joined immediately.

“Aha! I got it!” They thanked Kaleb for the lessons. It was a sight to behold, and it stretched the Guides’ belief of how far peer learning can go!

New Council & Ra’ees Birthday

A lot of Acton Academy is about Eagles’ community life. This week, both Dhanya and Morris became the new council. It’s a milestone because the leadership is officially not among the veteran Eagles. There will be an opportunity for new exposures.

Finally, the Eagles celebrated Friday with Ra’ees birthday. Not to be outdone by Arjun’s cakes, the studios had delicious brownies!

Happy Birthday, Ra’ees!

Phew! One heck of a week!