Day 32: Does it Feel Good or Does it Do Good?

If the video above does not work, click here to watch outside this site.

Assignment:  identify one example of a social or political effort to feel good rather than to actually do good (that is not identified in this video).  What actions or policies would bring about real good (good results) rather than just good feelings? 

Day 31: Political Correctness/Pressure and Scientific truth

If video above does not work, click here to watch on external site.

Science is often positioned as a purely objective search for truth through systematic means.  Unfortunately science has been a tool of politicians and those in power for centuries.  Many amazing and intelligent scientists have been persecuted or killed because the ruling elite did not like what they were discovering or teaching (Socrates, Galileo, Tyndale, Lavoisier and the thousands killed by Mao, Stalin and/or Hitler).  Science is often used as a tool of control, intimidation or propaganda by governments.  In our day, the rhetoric employed by the government on the topic of global warming or climate science has some ominous overtures.

Assignment:  watch the video and share one thing you learned that science, the media and/or your school has not told you.

Day 30: Visual Arts

Take your iTouch, iPhone or other electronic device (or your old fashioned camera) outside and take some pictures.  Try and find something unique or take your picture from an unusual perspective.  Consider flowers, clouds, close ups, unique colors, irony, contrasts, etc.  Upload or email (thwicke@gmail.com) a few of your best shots.  Pick one of your pictures and give it a name.  Write a paragraph describing it.  Give it a story (commentary or creative writing). 

A few ideas of my own art below:

Day 29: Feminism

If the above video does not play, click here for an external link to the video.

With the nomination of Hillary Clinton, the first woman to be nominated as a candidate for president of a major national party, many are focused on the question of women's rights, women's achievements and feminism.  There are some who are feeling a pressure to vote for Mrs. Clinton simply because she is a woman.  This is similar to the accusation of racism levied against those who oppose President Barak Obama (including those who did not vote for him).  Just because one does not vote for or agree with Mr. Obama does not, IN ANY WAY, make them a racist.  Similarly, just because one does not vote for or agree with Mrs. Clinton IN NO WAY makes them a close minded, women-hating, ignorant Neanderthal.  As Martin Luther King, Jr. advocated, it is possible and even commendable to judge according to the content of character and not by the color of skin or one's chromosomes.  The video above discusses fundamental tenets of feminism.

Assignment:  create a comment and share what you learned from this video.

Day 28: Reading and Writing

Elementary students: complete these two worksheets

Middle School (and Elementary students beyond 2nd grade) students:
  Write a letter to your future self (imagine yourself at age 25 as you write to yourself). Talk about hopes and expectations, what you would like to accomplish between now and your 25th year.  Tell yourself about one of the most exciting and/or fun things you did this year.  Put the letter in and envelope and mail it to:
Dad's Academy
Attn: Thomas Wicke
8670 Zircon Way
Arvada, CO 80007
I will mail it back to you on your 25th birthday (put the date and year of your 25th birthday on the back of the envelope).

High School students: 
Read Chapter 3 of Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography (click here for free online text) and make a comment about what most impressed you about this episode in Mr. Franklin's life.

Day 27: What Makes America Different?

If the video above does not work, follow this link to watch:  https://youtu.be/TiJIYdgkF9M

Assignment:  find someone who has or does live in another country (think about uncles/aunts, friends, neighbors, etc.) and ask them what they like about America that is different than the country they lived in.  Write a comment on this site about the reasons they gave.

Day 26: Importance of Journals/Personal record keeping

Keeping a journal, diary, electronic history or other personal record of your life is not only fun (to look back on in future years) but also important for a number of reasons.  Human memory has been proven to be extremely inaccurate.  We simply do not remember events and activities with the passage of time.  Remarkably, we do retain emotions but even those need markers (pictures, music, smells) to reignite past and fading memories. 
View the following pictures and try to remember the facts associate with the images.  For example, what year was this, where did the event take place, what did you eat  who was there, what other events took place other than pictured, were there any significant events at the event, how did you arrive at the event, what did you do the week following the event?

Day 25: Race relations and how we treat others (read paragraph then watch video)

We live in the world with people who are different from us in many ways:  color of skin, some are richer or poorer than us, some look differently (larger/smaller, skinnier/fatter, some can't see or hear, etc.), many speak different languages, most have different ideas about God, etc.  Getting along and treating those who are different is fundamental to the human experience (much less what is expected of us who believe that we are ALL children of God). 
Human nature (i.e. the "natural man") causes us to treat people who are different than us... differently.  Is that right or wrong?  How should we treat others?

Assignment:  make a comment/share what you learned from this video?

Day 24: History lesson through flags

What can you learn about other countries from their flags?  Watch this video and then share some of the most interesting things you learned:

Click here for video


Assignment:  Answer the following questions:
1. What was your favorite flag? 
2. What did you learn about the country from their flag? 
3. Why are symbols (like flags) important?

Day 23: Physical Education

Time for more exercise!  Pull out your Wii, PlayStation or other entertainment console and play Just Dance (or similar aerobic game) for twenty minutes -no resting!  Have fun!

Day 22: NASA Space Exploration

Take a tour and explore the solar system (click on link below):

Planets - NASA Solar System Exploration

Assignment: 
Elementary School students:  complete at least two of the following (and write a short comment about what you learned):
Middle School students:  complete at least three of the following (and write a short comment about what you learned):
High School students:  complete at least four of the following  (and write a short comment about what you learned):
    Explore 1 planet
    Learn about 1 news event
    Learn about 1 mission to Mars
    Build your own solar system

Day 21: (Elementary School) Penmanship

Print out the workbook on this site and complete 12 of the pages.  You can earn a reward of your choice (i.e. donut, ice cream cone, Slurpee, candy, etc.) if you show your careful and neat work to your parents.



Click here to open site to print this worksheet

Day 21: Is America Racist?

Assignment:  think about your school class last year (or one of them)... write the names of some of your classmates who are from different races, religions or nationalities than you.  How were they similar to you?  How were they different than you?  What is more important:  their differences or similarities?

Day 20 : Choosing to be happy (its your choice)

We usually think happiness is an emotion that just happens inside of us.  When we adopt this view, it may seem like emotions (happiness, sadness, boredom, anger, love, frustration, etc.) are things outside our control.  The truth is we, through our mental, spiritual and physical/physiological powers, are intended to control our emotions.  We control them, they do not control us!  Or at least that is the truth of the matter, even tough many people teach and act as if we can't help how we feel and our actions are simply dictated by our emotions. Rubbish!  That violates the principles of agency much less the realities of science and human experience.
Sure, emotions are powerful.  When we accidentally slam our finger in the door, it hurts, we scream and our biological reaction is to cry... all powerful and sometimes related to involuntary reactions BUT our mind, our will and our spirit is stronger than our emotions and our bodies.  At the center of this tension is choice!  It is our choice to be happy regardless of what is happening around or to you.  It is our choice to say a swear word when we slam our finger in the door.  It is our choice to wallow in boredom.  What you choose and how you act (including what emotions you allow to entertain and display) affects others and your future happiness... Yes, your choices contribute to your own happiness.  Enjoy this video:


Assignment:  think of times or situations when you have been unhappy.  What choices can you make to move from unhappiness to happiness?  Post your answers on this site.

Day 19: Literature (Harry Potter quiz)

Last week's curriculum was somewhat challenging (considering the feedback received from a college student attending a less rigorous institution than Dad's Academy) so we will start off this week with a popular quiz.  Visit this site and take the quiz.

Assignment:  post the results of the quiz on this site!

Day 18: Student's choice

Today each student is able to choose between a composition (creative writing) assignment and a zoology (study of animals) assignment.  Here is the subject matter (a picture) for either assignment/lesson:

Zoology Assignment:  using the internet or other sources (yes, contacting a zoologist is permissible), identify the exact species of rodent.  Provide it's common name as well as its scientific name.  Finally, give it your own name (i.e. "George", "Mighty Mouse", etc.). Post answers on this site.

Composition Assignment: Use the following opening sentence to create a story about this mouse (post your story on this site): 

The night stillness was punctured by Laurel's scream.  She was, in fact, screaming like the girl she is.  Gathering her wits about her like a librarian who frantically tries to pick up a spilled armful of books scattered across the floor, she composed herself and began to consider her options.
(Continue the story....)

Day 17: Are People Born Good?

We know babies and little children are innocent but this video discusses a more fundamental question of human nature.  King Benjamin taught, "the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been since the fall of Adam and will be forever and ever UNLESS he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit..."  This means that we MUST change and resist the natural inclinations/tendencies that drive our behavior (our appetites: laziness, desire for pleasure, anger, focus on what "I" want, impatience, desire for things, short-temper, looking for the easy way out, etc.). 

Assignment:  think of your own "natural" inclinations and appetites...  Choose one that you need to change and transform from human nature to godly nature.  Compose a comment about that "natural man/woman/child" trait and how you can work to change it.  Don't be embarrassed, we all have them!

Day 16: Science/Anatomy

It's your body and the only one you will get!  Better take care of it and get to know it...  Go to this website and choose one of the systems (your choice: circulatory, respiratory, muscular, skeletal, etc.) and participate in all the portions of the lesson:

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/health-and-medicine/human-anatomy-and-physiology

Assignment:
1.  Post a comment on what system you chose to learn about and record your score on the quiz at the end of the lesson (Elementary level:  Introductory quiz, Middle School level:  Intermediate quiz, High School level:  Advanced quiz).

Day 15: The Most Important Date in U.S. History?

Assignment:  After watching this video, post a few comments about what date (and event) you think is the most important date in US history?  Briefly describe why that date and events was so important.

Day 14: History

Search the internet to put the following global people and events in order from earliest to the most recent event:

Jurassic era

invention of the lightbulb

US Civil War

Napoleon

Inca Empire

Life of Jesus Christ

Minnesota Vikings play in their first Super Bowl

Wright brother's flight

eruption of Mt. Vesuvius

building of the Sphynx

Germ theory is "discovered"

Motzart lives and composes music

Genghis Kahn conquers Asia

man lands on the moon

Magellan circumnavigates the globe

the television is invented

Jamestown is established

Jello is invented

Black death

printing press invented

Thomas invents mint and chip ice cream

the population of the world is 1 billion

the population of the world is 2 billion

Solomon builds a temple in Jerusalem

Salt Lake City temple built

Hint:  make a timeline and plug each of these events into the dates on the timeline. 

Assignment:  Once you have your sequence, pick either the 10th 11th or 12th event and make a comment about it on this site.

Day 13: Physical Education

Time for some exercise!  First read through these 20 benefits of exercise:

Accomplish the following activities within the next 20 minutes:
10 push ups
20 sit ups
30 jumping jacks
run around the block once
ride your bike around the block twice (if you don't have a bicycle, run around the block twice)

-OR-
put in an exercise/fitness DVD (likely your mom or dad has one they planned to use but rarely have) and participate in the program for 20 minutes.


Assignment:
1.  take your pulse rate before you begin the exercise (write it down).  Take your pulse rate after you exercise.  Enter both numbers in a comment on this site.  If you don't know how to take your pulse rate, look it up on Google as the first part of this lesson.

Day 12: Drama

Pick one of your favorite poems, monologues or speeches and memorize a portion of it according to these standards:
Elementary school:  4 lines
Middle school: 8 lines
High school: 10 or more lines

Next, use your iPhone or other smart phone and record yourself performing a dramatic reading or recitation of the memorized work.  Finally, post this to your parent's (or your, as appropriate) Facebook account.  If you cannot decide on a piece of work to memorize, here are a few options:

The Bravest Battle

The bravest battle that ever was fought;

Shall I tell you where and when

On the maps of the world you will find it not;

It was fought by the mothers of men.

The Happy Warrior

Whose high endeavors are an inward light

that makes the path before him always bright:

Who, with a natural instinct to discern

What knowledge can perform, is diligent to learn;

Abides by this resolve, and stops not there,

But makes his moral being his prime care;

Who, doomed to go in company with Pain,

And Fear, and Bloodshed, miserable train!

Turns his necessity to glorious gain;

Tiny Little Minute                                    

Just a tiny little minute,                                                           

Just sixty seconds in it.                                                           

Forced upon me, can’t refuse it                                              

Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it,                                               

But it’s up to me to use it,                                           

Give account if I abuse it.                                           

Just a tiny little minute                                                

But eternity is in it.                                                     

 Water and Sin
All the water in the world, no matter how it tried
Could never sink the smallest ship unless it got inside.
All the evil of the world and every kind of sin
Could never damn a human soul unless we let it in.

The Ladder of St. Augustine (1858)

The heights by great men reached and kept

 Were not attained by sudden flight,

But they, while their companions slept,

 Were toiling upward in the night.

If
If you can keep your head when all about you
   Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
   But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
   Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
   And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
   If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
   And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
   Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
   And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools;

Day 11: Our Lives Our Fortunes Our Sacred Honor

Watch this video to learn about the 56 men -and their tremendous sacrifices- who signed the Declaration of Independence.


Assignment:
1.  Think about the sacrifices made by these men and write down (make comment on this site) one that impressed you.  Why did this impress you?

2.  Why were these men (and the women they were married to) so willing to sacrifice their "lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor"?

Day 10: History and Political Science -The 4th of July

As you start this weekend, take a moment to consider the amazing country we live in.  So much of what we have has been handed to us by the sacrifices of mostly anonymous people who lived a LONG time ago.  The United States and the world certainly faces a long list of challenges in our day, but it also is the country best positioned to continue to offer the greatest opportunities and freedoms to those within its borders and around the world. 

 

1776 may sound like a long time ago but in the context of world history, the US is still very young.  No other country has had such a profound impact on the world in such a short time than the US.  Consider just a handful of contributions: constitutional democracy, the library, harnessing electricity, bi-focals (thank you Benjamin Franklin for these three), the blues, gospel, Broadway and country music, television, nuclear power, baseball, the automobile, saving the free world three times (WWI, WWII, the cold war), polio vaccine,  a functioning capitalist system that has raised the standard of living for the world, sufficient food to feed the entire world, iPods/Pads/Phones, religious liberty, women’s rights, public education for all, propane, Star Wars, the human genome decoding, Starbucks, John Steinbeck, YouTube, etc.   To be sure, our civilization stands on the shoulders of prior people and their developments (thank you Greece, France and Mesopotamia) and we have had our share of struggles to improve and advance (thank you Abigale Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Martin Luther King, etc.) but in a world that was fairly stagnant in its progress between 3,000 BC and 1700 AD, there have been quantum jumps in science, prosperity, learning and society in 300 short years!  This corresponds, not coincidentally, with the rise of a country founded on some amazing principles and filled with amazing (hard working, self-sufficient, generous, religious) citizens.  That is something to celebrate… particularly that we are both inheritors of and custodians of such an amazing legacy.

 

This will take a bit of your time, but this article is definitely worth reading sometime this week/weekend: 

Our Ten Contributions to Civilization

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1959/03/our-ten-contributions-to-civilization/305144/

Here is a video depicting the Constitutional Congress's vote to adopt the Declaration of Independence:
https://youtu.be/nrvpZxMfKaU
 

For Elementary level students of Dad's Academy,  I've posted a separate video on the history and importance of July 4th and the formation of the United States. 

 

It can all feel so “big” and we can be left wondering, “how does my little life make a difference”, “how do I play any significant part in all of this”?  This is one of the most amazing parts of the social system and governmental structure that we have inherited:  the strength of a republican democracy is not in one or two individual or even two hundred elite and important rulers... it resides in each citizen.  The US will be great or not depending on the virtue and liberty that is retained in each person.  You do make a difference!  Every time you treat another person fairly, kindly and generously you contribute to the strength of the country.  Every time you keep the laws, stand for truth, exercise your freedoms of conscience you contribute to the strength of the country.  Every time you defend those who are oppressed, vote and fight oppression you contribute to the strength of the country.  Every time you retain your inalienable rights and refuse to look to the government to provide you with food, housing, healthcare or other responsibilities that rightly belong to the individual, you contribute to the strength of the country.  Any time you fail to do these things you contribute to the downfall of the country, to the weakening of the individual and the dissolution of freedom.  What Benjamin Franklin said to a common citizen (a woman) back in 1787 applies to each one of us.  As he emerged from the Constitutional Convention, she asked him what type of government the delegates had created for the nation, he answered "A republic, if you can keep it."  It is not the job of the government to keep this great country, it is "your" job.  Each one of ours. 

 

Assignment 1:  post a comment about one of the things you learned from the article or video above AND one of the ways you can keep this nation strong. 

Assignment 2:  eat a hot dog, watermelon or apple pie this weekend!

Day 10: The Fourth Of July (Elementary School)

Assignment:  Watch this video and then tell your parent(s) what makes July 4th so special.  Post these thoughts on this site.

Day 9: Men's and Women's Brains

Science can be informative and FUNNY!  Watch the following video:

(Click HERE to watch)

Assignment:
1.  Talk to your mother about the difference between how men and women think.
2.  Send and email to thwicke@gmail.com listing some of the differences between male and female thinking processes.

Day 8: Influence for good

"The aim of education is the development of character."  The whole reason you are in school (now and in "normal" school) is to make you a better person.  While facts, knowledge and grades are important, they don't matter if you don't become a "good" person who uses that knowledge to serve and improve the world.  Watch the following video:

(Click HERE to watch)

 

Assignment:

1.  what small thing can you do today to make the life better for someone else (in your family)?

2.  Do it (your answer to question 1).

3. (High School students):  write an analysis of why you think good and bad are contagious as depicted in the video.

 

Email your answers to thwicke@gmail.com

 

Day 7: Math (yes, an essential summertime arithmatic refresher)

Complete the following math assignment:

High School (complete 2 sections under "Algebra"):
http://www.mathopolis.com/questions/skills.php?year=A1

Jr. High and Elementary:
Choose one worksheet appropriate to your level and complete it:
http://www.education.com/worksheets/math/

-or- more targeted activities:

Jr. High (complete 2 lessons):
https://www.eduplace.com/kids/mw/practice/ep_6.html

Elementary (complete 3 games for 1st or 2nd grade):
http://www.education.com/games/first-grade/math/

Day 6: Social Studies

Watch the following Prager University course:

(Click here to watch)

Assignment:
1. What is the most important value to you?  How can you show it?
2.  What would make your mom and dad proudest if you accomplished in life?  How can you work toward this?

Email your answers to thwicke@gmail.com

Day 5: Creative writing

Look at the picture below.  Using the picture as inspiration, write a story of at least five paragraphs (1 paragraph for elementary level students).  Ensure that it has a beginning, conclusion, character and plot. Give it a title.  Have fun!!! Pay attention to accurate spelling and punctuation.

Email your creative writing assignment to thwicke@gmail.com

Day 4: The Known Universe

The world is a big place... or is it?  Sometimes we think we are so important; we think we know so much.  It is essential to have perspective, to see things as they REALLY are not just as we perceive them.

Click HERE to watch this video

Assignment (post your answers on this site or email to thwicke@gmail.com):
1.  From watching the video, write two statements (or questions) about things we DON'T know.
2.  What are the odds that there are other life forms (human-type, not just plant or animal) somewhere in space?

Day 3: Comics (for Elementary school level)

Read the following comics:

Assignment:
1. Now get a piece of paper and write/make your own comic strip. 

Day 3: Comic

Comics!  Yeah!  Read the comic below and complete the assignment:

Assignment (as with all "assignments", email answers to thwicke@gmail.com):
1. Explain this comic strip.
2.  Why is it funny?
3.  What is wrong with the answer "then a miracle occurs"?

Day 2: The United States and Religious Tolerance

Today we learn about religious tolerance in the United States.  Watch this video and then complete the assignment below:

Click to HERE watch video

Assignment (email answers to thwicke@gmail.com):
1. How would you answer someone if they said the US was an intolerant country?
2. What should be our (the United State's) policy about allowing Muslim's to immigrate to the US?

Introduction: Why do I have to learn things in the summer?

Why do I have to learn things in the summer (when school is out)?  There are so many reasons...  Here are ten:  

Click to watch:  https://youtu.be/ll1m-b0XvE0


Assignment 1:  Pick one of the facts and try to demonstrate that it is true (or suggest how you would prove it to be true if it would take materials and time that you don't have in 10 minutes).

Assignment 2:  Write a comment (on this site) about your favorite part of this first lesson.