September 4, 2014

The first week of school was such a whirlwind! It was wonderful seeing everyone's smiling faces on Tuesday at Visit Day. I saw a few misty eyes mixed in there, too, as parents realized this was their child's last Visit Day. On Wednesday, we got straight to work. Our first activity was a little challenging for some. The kids were in groups of 4 and they had to save Fred (a gummy worm) whose boat (a plastic cup) had flipped over. Unfortunately for Fred, his lifejacket (a gummy lifesaver) was stuck under the boat. The task was to flip back over the boat and get Fred into his life jacket and into the boat. However, the kids were not allowed to touch any of these items. The only thing they were given was a paper clip. Two groups successfully saved Fred! Check out some the pictures below of us saving Fred.

Our next challenge was to use a rubber band that had four strings attached to it, to move cups into a certain formation. All groups were successful in this challenge and had a blast!

We learned a lot about team work and synergizing with these challenges! Synergizing is one of our 7 Habits that we have learned about this year. The seven habits are rules to live by that foster independence and overall well being. They are 

1) Be Proactive: I'm in charge of me 

2) Begin with the end in mind: Set goals and make a plan

3) Put first things, first: Work, then play

4) Think win-win: Compromise

5) Seek first to understand, then to be understood

6) Synergize: Together is better

7) Sharpen the saw: Balance in life feels best. 

We have been discussing what these 7 habits mean and applying them to our daily life.