by Bonnie Nettles, lead teacher

We are off to a great start at

Marian Hope Academy! The

students are getting used to

this new and different sys-

tem of schooling, and the

staff continues to make

small adjustments as we fine

-tune things. The kids

are learning how to use the

binder system

and homework

folders. Thank

you for your pa-

tience and

grace. I am

blessed to come

to "work" everyday and watch

my students' eyes light up with

new knowledge and under-

Volume 1, Issue 1

September 2013

CHRISTIAN ACADEMY FOR CREATIVE LEARNING

by Angelia Hudkins, Math

Horizons Math Book 2 stu-

dents are working on ordinal

numbers,tally marks, numbers

before and after 5s and 10s,

place value, basic addition

and subtraction. Horizons 3

students are working on writ-

ing numbers in standard form,

place value, addition facts

having a sum equal to a given

number, ordinal numbers, ad-

dition with carrying, double

digit subtraction, time, esti-

mation, regrouping for sub-

traction, money and multipli-

cation readiness. Horizons 4

students are working with sub-

traction properties, fractions,

money, time, division, making

change, word problems and

ordinal numbers. “I like the

sequence and how it reviews

concepts.”

Off to a new start

Math Class : Add i t up , make i t coun t

Marian Hope Academy

Inside Science, History 2

Inside Music, Spanish 2

Inside Latin 3

Inside Healthy Eating 3

The Mission 4

Inside this issue:

MHA’s star offer-

ings for students:

Simply Music

Latin and Spanish

Logic

Sketching and drawing

YES Fitness

by Maribeth Samenus-

Chambers, Lang. Arts/Latin

The general media culture lacks

in its ability to convey moral

goodness, beauty and truth.

Roots for good readers, writ-

ers and speakers don’t lie in

the depths of Sponge Bob

Square Pants. Students who

are read to frequently with

books of depth, with moral

stories of the Bible, of Greek

and Roman warriors, of

knights in shining armor, of

Crux of language: c r a ck o p en t h o s e b o o k s

classic Aesop and Anne of

Green Gables, these stu-

dents become masters of

the language, excellent

writers and speakers in

their field. Parts of

speech, phonics, spelling,

reading comprehension all

are forming a solid ground

for building. *What most

influences our kids in the

way they speak, write,

read? Media, peers and,

lastly, the family.

Take back the impact

you have on your kids:

read aloud classic

books; think about

what you put in front of

them. Does it build

solid Christian youth?

Choose your books

well, cut back techno

gadgets, and READ!

My hope is for our students to discover and become the “creative genius” God created them to be. I desire for our chil-dren to receive a deep educa-tion; love to learn; be self-learners; be able to critically think, evaluate and problem solve; be strong in verbal ex-pression and defend view-points diplomatically; have strong written language skills; and always present themselves with Godly character.—Angie Knight , CEO, founder of Mari-an Hope Center and Academy

standing. The best is

yet to come.

by Bonnie Nettles

Our science curriculum for

2nd-5th grade parallels history. We

are studying the things God created,

starting with the human body.

Already completed are the

following body systems: skeletal,

muscular, digestive, and respirato-

ry. You have likely heard all about

the chicken bone experiment, which

was well- received. The first quar-

ter will be rounded out with the

heart, the respiratory system, and a

unit on cells. We will be building

model cells out of floral foam hemi-

bow. History projects can be

viewed when you come for

parent/

teacher

confer-

ences in

October

(Oct. 21-

22).

The history curriculum is rich in

scripture and character building, said

lead teacher Bonnie Nettles. Second

through fifth grade history began

with Creation and continues

with Adam and Eve, Cain

and Abel, and Noah. The

class is building a mini ark

with pairs of animals of

clay and a backdrop of the

waters and a rain-

Kindergarteners have been learning greet-

ings, colors, numbers, basic shapes and some body

parts. We sing songs and play games; it's simply

amazing how naturally they pick up new words and

phrases.

The older kids have been learning greetings, how to

introduce themselves, simple expressions, colors,

numbers and shapes. We will be following an innova-

tive Spanish curriculum that uses music, games, role-

play, literature, art, and culture. The Sonrisas Spanish

Curriculum combines methodologies such as the Nat-

ural Approach, Total Physical Response, Waldorf

Methods, and the Multiple Intelligences Approach.

The program is designed to engage students with

Spanish in a fun, natural, and useful way, perfect for

MHA’s educational vision!

P A G E 2

spheres and whatever bits and bobs we

can use to make the cell bodies. If you

have floral foam or embellishments lying

around, send them. We will use them!

foreground, perspective,

and profile. They will be

choosing their favorite

drawing to color and

post on Artsonia.

Students grab their sketch books and

head outside in search of something

to sketch. Parent volunteers and

teachers assist the students at times,

but many times a branch, a tree

trunk or a weed has

caught the child’s eye,

and they move quickly

into sketching. Stu-

dents are working on

pencil drawings and

learning sketch ver-

nacular: vertical, hori-

zontal, curved line,

M A R I A N H O P E A C A D E M Y

Unwrapping History

With Pencil in Hand

God’s natural Science: Creation

SIMPLY Music,

with Mr. Robert Relly, is an Aus-

tralian-developed piano and key-

board program that offers a

‘playing-based’ approach. This is

founded on the premise that every-

one is musical. Students immerse

themselves in a lesson each Mon-

day, and practice at school daily.

Hola from Ms. Marcela

of words on which hundreds

of English words have been

built. This will help our stu-

dents’ vocabularies grow

steadily and securely.

Sprinkle in some Latin gram-

mar, vocabulary and history.

We have discussed aque-

ducts, the Coliseum, early

Christians in Roman times.

You may have heard some

“Oremus, mater/pater” (Let

us pray, mom/ dad) or

“Cogito, ergo sum” (I think,

therefore I am). Students carry a re-

view sheet with words and phrases to

by Maribeth Samenus-Chambers

Students dove headfirst into

classical Latin. By week three, they had

completed a movie of sorts titled “Cur

Latina.” Why Latin is a good question:

it’s the basis of English and the Ro-

mance languages.

Students are memorizing 100 Greek

and Latin roots this year. In addition to

our language arts program of reading,

writing, spelling and grammar, we are

working with the underlying structure

study with parents-- just 3 minutes or so

and they are on their way to building a

superb vocabulary.

High-fiber foods also were highlighted,

foods that aid in digestion and elimina-

tion, as well as help one feel full longer.

Kid-friendly healthy foods are surpris-

ingly easy to add to the day. Fiber-kick

a handful of fresh berries into pancake

batter or onto a bowl of cereal.

Romaine and broccoli are both

great sources of fiber; a side salad will

by Christi Hodill

The first week of school, we talked

about non-dairy, calcium-rich foods.

Students made kale chips the first

week! Dark, green leafy vegetables top

the list, along with broccoli and bok

choy. The students took home recipes

for you to add more calcium-rich foods

into your diet.

kick up the fiber – sprinkle nuts and

dried cranberries on top to add more!

Protein for breakfast preps the kids for

a great day! You can find good plant

protein, along with meat —quinoa, al-

monds and other nuts, dairy products,

and eggs.

P A G E 3

Why Latin?

Cooking Class offers a foundat ion : Building Blocks

Yellow light foods are in neutral

territory, but best avoided: packaged

applesauce, veggies with ranch dip,

homemade chicken with rice with

cream of “whatever” soup.

Go green light foods in the

lunchbox. Eat all you want in this

group: fresh fruits, vegetables, lean

proteins from grass-fed, nuts, seeds,

fresh guacamole, hummus, hard-

boiled egg, leftover grilled meat

from last night’s dinner, unpro-

cessed wholesome foods.

Red light foods are to be

avoided: anything processed,

juice boxes, fruit cup packed in

syrup, hot pockets, high fructose

corn syrup-laden. Say “NO” to

packaged bakery items: Moon Pies,

Little Debbies, and the like.

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

Where does your lunchbox food fall?

Red light Yellow Light green light

notes on Nutrition: Watch the intake

by Angie Knight

I love teaching children the importance

of God’s great and amazing food. Diet

can make a tremendous difference in a

child’s behavior, attitude, health and

overall brain function.

It is my hope and prayer to revive the

love of cooking and help our students

respect and appreciate the foods God

put on this Earth. We have a nutrition

and cooking class Friday; this month,

we introduced the Green Light, Red

Light and Yellow Light foods. Green:

Go, eat all you want! These are God’s

pure foods, preferably organic produce,

nuts, non-GMO organic grains. Yellow:

go slow. These foods probably won’t

hurt but won’t nourish like green light

foods. And Red means STOP: do not

eat. These foods have high fructose corn

syrup, preservatives, artificial flavors

and colors, and other harsh chemicals.

The students

graphed a typi-

cal day’s meals

in Red, Green

and Yellow;

they will be

bringing these

home soon.

Please talk with

your child about

what they are

learning as it

can have a positive impact on the family!

Marian Hope Academy is a community school fo-

cused on the roots of Christianity. We believe in

salvation through Christ Jesus. We believe in the

Father, Son & Holy Spirit. We believe the Holy

Bible as the inspired Word of God. These core

beliefs help us recognize that we are all part of the

body of Christ. We do not promote the doctrines of any

one church or denomination, but rather focus on the core

beliefs that Christians share.

Oakwood Baptist Church 7600 Lee’s Summit Road Kansas City, MO 64139 Angie Knight, CEO Marian Hope Center 816-588-3782 Christi Hodill, MHA secretary 816-795-7307

of self-creativity. We desire our stu-

dents to be confident, competent, self-

determined and demonstrate inspiring

work ethic.

To provide the highest quality of edu-

cation, it is important we maintain a

low teacher-para/student ratio no higher

than 1:10. We will provide daily oppor-

tunities for one-on-one learning, large

group activities, and pairing of differ-

ing developmental levels. Specialty

therapies also will be coordinated

Marian Hope Academy embraces a

classical Christian philosophy as the

curriculum foundation. With that, how-

ever, we believe that children are creat-

ed “uniquely special” and, therefore,

learn in “uniquely special” ways.

We are not an academy that focuses on

a “cookie cutter” curriculum but rather

one that desires to build appropriate

curriculum to meet and challenge the

level of each child. Varying teaching

strategies and experiential learning

activities will be incorporated into each

child’s curriculum plan. We are blessed

to have a remarkable committee of ded-

icated educators, parents and therapists

eager to help each student in our acade-

my become the amazing person God

created them to be and to achieve their

God-given potential.

Our goal is to create a Christ-like com-

munity academy that excels in problem

solving/critical thinking, oral and writ-

ten language, missions and Godly use

through Marian Hope Center as needed.

We will provide weekly opportunities for

Art, Music, Fitness, Cooking, Latin, Oral

Communication and Drama/Presentations

and other stage opportunities to verbally

communicate ideas and information. We

will additionally coordinate field trips and

a monthly mission outing. The students

will also take on responsibilities to foster

work ethic, organizational skills and

cleanliness.

Most importantly, our academy will be

governed by the love of Jesus Christ.

Your children will receive daily prayer

and devotion. We want the Bible to come

to life for our students and for each to

know how much God loves them. “And

may you have the power to understand, as

all God's people should, how wide, how

long, how high, and how deep His love

is.” ~Ephesians 3:18

In His Service,

Angie Knight,

CEO/Co-Founder

of Marian Hope Center

Christ ian academy for creative learning: On a mission

Experiential learning emphasizes the learner’s

perspective. Where conventional learning takes place outside in, experiential learning grows the student

from the inside!

MARIAN HOPE ACADEMY

www.marianhopecenter.org

Upcoming October events

Oct. 4 — Field Trip to Burr Oaks

Oct. 8 — MHC Health & Nutrition Conference for parents (St. Joseph

Medical Center)

Oct. 18 — Grandparents Day Celebration/Field Trip Deanna Rose

Oct. 21-22 — Parent Conferences

Oct. 21-25 — NO SCHOOL

Oct. 25 — Trick or Treat for Health at YES! Youth Fitness (a fund-raising

event for our PE program)