Year 1 Session 7 (6/16/21)

Hey everyone,

Happy Wednesday! I am reaching out with a few mid-week updates :)

I wanted to let everyone know how amazing your kids did today in the build a shelter challenge. We went to an absolutely beautiful area and the eagles got to work. I observed a number of things that I wanted to share. The first is that their confidence is growing in really impressive ways. From eating a bug to building a fire to building a shelter to learning how to help someone with first aid skills to building a water filter (all without a teacher I might add...) --your children are beginning to catch a glimpse of what they are capable of. They are starting to garner a collection of successes they are able to recall and build upon and leverage to accomplish even more challenges. This specific area of growth has been one of the funnest for me to personal witness. Watching them discover their callings over time is going to be amazing--because they are becoming the type of people who will face a challenge in the world to come that scares away everyone around them, but will confidently stand there alone and say, "I can do this." This was on full display today. 

This challenge was very difficult. It really stretched them in several areas such as communication, planning, delegating, leading, and working hard. It was an absolute pleasure to watch them set about creating shelters in different ways. One group nearly collapsed more than once. They couldn't agree on what type of shelter to build so they broke apart and began going their separate ways, only to come back together and compromise and create and finish their shelter with not a second to spare. This reminded me of a truth that I think we all know, but sometimes forget--that adults so often are inclined to intervene too early! But when we do, we risk robbing our children of successful moments that will over time become many of the moments that define who they are. This lesson was also on full display today.

The deep learning didn't stop there though. Some of the other lessons I saw eagles learning today included perseverance, time-management, victim vs hero mentality, team work, planning, leadership, creative problem solving, defining success, the value of reflection and learning from experience, and learning what happens when one is pushed to their limits. I will post pics to Bloomz shortly :)

Thanks for raising amazing children :) If not sooner, I look forward to seeing you all at the exhibition camp out next week. (a bit more to come on this Friday)

Lance