Weekly Updates

Preschool / Spark Studio (PS) Update

Dream Homes & Collaboration

This week, as part of the Architecture Quest, the PS Eagles designed the layout of their Dream Home. They then set out to build their Dream Home with cardboard boxes, putting their imagination and creativity to work.

It was a beautiful sight to behold. We saw collaboration, deep engagement, exploration and scientific experimentation in the midst of physical messiness and creativity.

One of the best moments was watching an example of collaboration at work. Deciding that two sets of brains and hands was better than one, two PS Eagles collaborated to build each other’s Dream Homes together. They worked on Eagles A’s Dream Home first, then moved on to work on Eagle B’s Dream Home. They took turns to lead, negotiate and give and take instructions and leverage on each other’s strengths and ideas. This collaboration went beyond their Dream Home work time when they decided to pull out a craft book and explore it together, making the art and craft projects detailed in it. They even called other PS Eagles in to join them.

Collaboration in motion. 2 PS Eagles exploring art and craft projects together.

Some PS Eagles created their own pencil holders and returned the plastic ones to the Guides stating that they didn’t need them anymore, they had created their own!

Exploring & Experimenting

Every project is a chance to explore and experiment and, after they had completed the Dream Homes, two PS Eagles decided that they wanted to protect their homes. They came up with the idea of pouring glue into paint to paint the walls. Eagle A said, “It is a trap! Anyone who touches my Dream Home will get his hand stuck on the wall! Hahahaha!

The idea was contagious and soon other PS Eagles were mixing glue into paint to paint the walls of their Dream Homes. This then evolved to other forms of experimentation.

What happens when I mix paint and glue together? More glue! Stir, stir, stir.

I’m mixing glue with purple paint because purple is my favourite colour.

This PS Eagle was working on something that switches on and off. He finally revealed that it was a TV!

The TV was too big to fit into the room so some modification was needed.

Welcome Mr. Daniel!

It’s always nice to welcome fresh new energy into a Studio, and this week the PS Studio welcomed Mr. Daniel into their community! Mr. Daniel joins the PS Studio from the MS Studio and is pumped to share his own view of life with the PS Eagles. The PS Eagles, in turn, are all very excited to say hi to a new friend and work with him as a productive and happy family.

Elementary Studio (ES) Update

Art Challenges

The ES Eagles got creative with their fingers and discovered a new type of art … the Zentangle. The finger painting got messy, but was rewarding. Some of the resulting artwork came with a backstory … like the dancing rainbow banana!

A Zentangle is doodles consisting of tangles of lines. The ES Eagles really enjoyed doodling away and were amazed at the beautiful creations that they came up with. Some of the Zentangles had hidden objects in them – some intentional, some unintentional.

Writer’s Workshop

The ES Eagles were challenged to ‘Tell a Story’ in this Writer’s Workshop with the prompts:

* Tell a story of a crime-fighting snail.

* It turns out that zombies are actually misunderstood. Tell the untold story of zombies and why they aren’t actually villains. Write it from the perspective of a zombie.

* Tell the story of your first pet from the perspective of the pet.

The ES Eagles are really getting into the flow of writing every other day. Here are some of their writing pieces:

Hello, my name is Coco. And surprisingly my handwriting is really good. I’m a mom, a cat mom. I have a white kitten with black striped on it. I live by the swimming pool in Menara Hartamas Apartment.

Everyday, there are two men who come to feed me and my kitten and there are also two children who come with their mom to feed me and my kitten.

One day someone took my kitten away. I was sad to see it go but I was also happy to know that it will get a home. A few days later, the children and mom took me in.

They gave me a home and it was kind good actually. I missed my kitten and I was wondering if she was OK but I was happy and I liked my life.

~~~~

Brains! We want brains so we can be smart like humans.

We can help with these things.

Us zombies can help with a lot of things like cleaning and working.

We can help with war a lot because we don’t die.

And we can plant bombs in enemy bases easily too.

It’s not fair that the humans can get cash and gold.

We zombies want to be rich and buy stuff.

So, we zombies really want to help and be a part of the community.

~~~~

Zombies don’t really want to kill you that’s a myth, what are real about zombies is what I’m going to tell you …

First, they are kind but they don’t know what to do without a brain so they had to eat and kill humans to get a grain but other humans have weapons so, they just got killed instantly.

Secondly, a scientist may have use some humans as test subjects so, the scientist may make a mistake on it and, BOOOOOM!!!! The humans turn into zombies … So, if the zombies come close to you, they are trying to tel you that they want to see the scientist that has made us into zombies, could he turn us back into humans? But, the humans just ‘scram’ or kill the zombies.

In some movies, you will see the person pats someone’s shoulder so when that someone turns around, then it would maybe be a zombie that’s in disguise, so that reason why the zombies disguise as humans because they want to practice being a human. Again, the humans just ‘scram’ or kill the zombies.

~~~~

Hi, I’m Johnny and I’m a snail. Let me tell you something that save my life …

I was with my family and it was dark. I wanted to go out and explore. So I went out and saw a shadow of a human! I went back inside my house and went to sleep. The next morning I woke up and heard a human say, “I will get that snail and eat him! His slime trail will lead me to where his house is, then I can eat his family too!” I was scared. I went out when I knew the human wasn’t there. I went to my friend’s house. I told them what will happen to me if they didn’t help. They all agreed to my plan. I went back home and my friend followed. I went all over the place and so did my friends. A few of my friends went away from us then back again. At last, we reach my home. My friends went back and I waited at home. After a while, I heard the human. “Why is there so many trails of slime?? I can’t find a way! Oh, I’ll just give up. There are so many other snails in the world!” I was so happy!

Wow, I was really a crime-fighting snail, no?

~~~~

There is a snail that fights crime. He doesn’t have any name but people like to call him Super Slug.

Even though snails are small and slow, this doesn’t stop Super Slug. Super Slug can actually run super fast and turn gigantic. He can also fling sticky stuff at the enemy.

The reason why Super Slug has these powers is that scientists were trying to make a potion that could make you prone to any virus.

The scientists used slugs as their test subjects. With the mixture of the new ‘vaccine’ and the virus, the slug turned to becomes the size of a human and could become really fast.

The scientists tried other slugs, but when they were given the vaccine, they instantly died.

Scientists think that her immune system was stronger than normal snails. Now, Super Slug stays in a little habitat in the science lab. Whenever there’s danger Super Bug senses it with her super antennas and sets there in a zap.

Gratitude Challenge

The Gratitude Challenge of the week is dedicated to mums. The ES Eagles took some time to think about all the special memories they share with their mums and what makes their mums so special. They wrote a short note to their mums to thank them for everything.

We are excited to be back in our ES Studio next week! We look forward to seeing everyone in person again. Thank you to all parents for serving as Guides and Buddies over the MCO period.

It’s the little things they will remember.

Middle Studio (MS) Update

Day 1

After 4 months of being away physically, the MS Eagles were excited to be back. They had a Kung-Fu Kick the Coronavirus Ceremony to show it what they thought of it.

This was followed by a drink sharing session and a discussion formatted after the 36 Questions game. Surprise, surprise … the topic was 36 Questions to Falling in Love!

When asked how they felt to be together again, they said:

“We feel more open.”

Programming the Guide

Next, they programmed their Guide (Mr. Jia), so, yours sincerely is working hard to be funny and open-minded while upholding guardrails and a mirror for them to be constantly in reflection mode.

When you get something new, you have to program it.

Soon, the MS Eagles will get into a good workflow, but the struggles from the long MCO persist. One Eagle sighed after lunch, “I’m feeling tired.”

The day ended with the MS Eagles thanking Mr. Daniel as he transitions to Guiding the PS/Spark Studio. Mr. Jia asked for feedback on what he can learn from Mr. Daniel. The MS Eagles shared: “You can aim to be funnier!”

Thursday PE had the MS Eagles experimenting with the large freeplay materials in the upstairs playground for some random fun. It may sound childish, but, once you get into it, it’s a great stress reliever and creative outlet.

Playing with childish things gives them the chance to let loose.

Owning the Studio

In reality, the MS Eagles have matured a lot. They gave the Guide feedback, and it set the stage for creating the tools for them to manage and lead all their future Launches. They want to own the Studio, and they are ready.

Taking their Studio and themselves seriously.

Apprenticeship

It is exciting that a few MS Eagles are preparing for Apprenticeship with a physical race track that is updated after every Challenge. 3 years ago, the idea of launching into Apprenticeship sounded daunting. Now, many of the MS Eagles feel like it is just another natural process to figure out opportunities, email potential employers and speak directly to them. The MS Eagles have become level-headed.

Friday Townhall

Friday Townhall started off simple, but the MS Eagles soon dived deeper into a serious discussion about accountability. The question of, “Shall we have Fun Fridays?” led to a deeper discussion into the purpose of Fun Fridays, and the idea of work, motivation, and accountability. The MS Eagles were asked, “What is Acton about? Are we upholding standards? How do we keep each other accountable?” They were willing to be courageous and speak the truth.

A Bright Future

There’s a bright future ahead for this bunch. Here are some musings from Mr. Jia:

“4 years ago, in July 2016, I met many of these Eagles for the first time at the Design Thinking summer program. Many were shorter or, at most, as tall as me. Now, most of them have caught up to me and some are even a full head taller. They have grown in their thinking, too. It’s amazing to see them mature and take responsibility, I admire their courage and calm-headedness, and the bonds that they have formed together.

With that growth, we are finally starting Launchpad on 2nd September. Five MS Eagles are slated to enter, provided they draft their Badge plans. We look forward to their further growth.”