In music class the children have now moved onto a series of classes dedicated to rhythmic and tonal memory. We began with rhythmic memory today, starting with copying simple rhythms using pats, claps and snaps. We followed that with a game called Magic Word. Elizabeth started a rhythm and when she said the Magic Word, the class joined in. After all were stable, Elizabeth started a new rhythm while the class carried on the previous one. They could only start the new rhythm when the Magic Word was spoken and so on. It was great fun and a challenge because besides concentrating on rhythmic memory, the class was doing beginning work on canons. The last exercise of the day was listening to a rhythm made up of pats, claps, snaps and steps, remembering them, then playing them on bells, claves, sand blocks and drums depending on the order of pat, clap, snap and step. This last game really worked our brains and bodies and there was much laughter, too; the perfect recipe for a great music class!
Jumping rope is good exercise and lots of fun. It uses almost all the muscle groups; lower body, calves, thighs, glutes, and works the core body as children maintain their balance. It ‘s also a popular cardiac exercise that involves hand-eye coordination and agility. Each student is at a different stage of development in jumping rope, and everyone has some part of the activity on which they can improve. We ended the week by using elastics (Chinese Jump Ropes) and had a great time with balance and working as teams.
Yesterday, the 1st – 7th grade students visited Governor Bebb to find out about people’s lives in pioneer era Ohio. We visited a village settlement quite like ones that dotted the landscape in the ear 1800s. Iside the rough-hewn cabins were all the furnishings, tools and amenities that people would have had long ago. Our interpretive guides really helped give us a sense of the day-to-day challenges, hardships and modest comforts. 
Pioneers often carried items that were essential for survival.
Even now, starting a fire at the forge enthralls young observers.
Finding shelter, making clothes, hunting and farming was hard work for pioneer families.
