THE LATEST ABOUT MY CLASSES

History 6 – In History, we have finally completed going over all the introductory material and the first section of Chapter 1 (Early Humans) in the textbook! We have just learned about the differences between Paleolithic (“Old Stone”) and Neolithic (“New Stone”) Age humans, and we will be moving into the very first civilizations starting next week!

In 6^th Grade Bible, we are in the midst of studying Worldviews, answering the 5 basic questions of a worldview: 1. Questions about God; 2. Questions about the Universe; 3. Questions about People; 4. Questions about Truth; 5. Questions about Right & Wrong. The students have even taken some time to answer these questions for themselves, to start to formulate an awareness of their own worldviews! We will soon be getting into learning about different worldviews, including the biblical Christian worldview, and we will eventually do some comparing & contrasting of worldviews!

In 7^th Grade Bible, we are learning about character traits of Christ, and how we can be like Him. We just finished learning about Christ’s meekness and compassion. In the coming weeks, we will be examining Christ’s Holiness, as well as the very important teachings in His Sermon on the Mount.

In 8^th Grade Bible, we are studying the Apostle Paul’s writings. At the very beginning of the year, we did an overview of Paul’s conversion and learned about his calling to preach to the Gentile world, and why that was so important for us. We have just finished examining his first letter (chronologically), I Thessalonians. We will begin II Thessalonians next week and will then move on to I and II Corinthians, Galatians, Romans, and Ephesians throughout the year.

HISTORY - STARTED UNIT 1 TODAY!

I am excited to announce that 6th Grade History classes started previewing Unit 1 in our textbooks today! Over the next  few weeks, we will be examining the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Israel!

Here are some cool facts about those civilizations which impact our world today:

• Did you know the Mesopotamians created laws to govern people?
• Did you know the Egyptians created papyrus, an early form of paper?
• Did you know that Abraham, the patriarch of Jews, inspired the births of three major religions throughout history? (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam)

The three ancient civilizations we will be covering in Unit 1

HISTORY - REMEMBERING 9/11

Today in the midst of moving ahead with our introductory sections of our History textbook, we concluded with an 8-minute video tribute on 9/11, found on this 9/11 Memorial website.

I will never forget that day. I was in my second year at UC Academy, when we were at our Upland campus. I woke up that morning and turned on the local news, as I did every day while I got ready for school. The first image I saw as the TV warmed up was the first tower with black smoke billowing out. At that time, local anchor Kent Shockneck was speculating that a small Cessna-sized plane had "accidentally" run into the building. As I pondered that strange and confusing tragedy, I watched live as a second plane hit the second tower. My first reaction to that was, "Wow! It happened AGAIN! What's going on? Is there some sort of interference with the instruments on these planes?" And then as soon as I finished that thought, I realized the strikes were intentional.

Today I mournfully recall that day and the lives lost; I am grateful for justice; and I pray for peace.

Where were you on 9/11/2001?

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS A WORLDVIEW?

In Bible 6, we started talking today about Worldviews. We discussed how our vision changes based on the lenses we use put over our eyes. Sometimes we use sunglasses. Depending on the color of the lenses, our perception of the world is "colored" in an unrealistic way. Sometimes we need to use prescription glasses. When we don't, we aren't perceiving the world the way it really is; instead, the world looks unclear or "fuzzy." We discussed how people have different worldviews, and that worldviews are like "belief glasses." Our worldview affects how we think, react, or believe about anything we hear about or see. We will soon start talking about different worldviews, and what it means to have a biblical Christian worldview!

One of my students thought this is what "worldview" meant!

OFF TO A GREAT YEAR!

Today we had a wonderful school year dedication ceremony with all K-12 students. We were reminded of the amazing work God did for our school in 2009 when we moved to Rancho Cucamonga after the threat of being closed down in Upland, and how our enrollment has steadily increased every year, only by the grace of God! To Him be all honor, glory, and praise!