Butterflies and Mastodons

Cassandra in research mode...

by Lily Mason, 4th Grade


One day we were going to have a field trip to the Nature and Science Museum in Denver.  When we got there we had lunch.  Then we went to the IMAX movie theater at the museum.  We watched a movie called Flight of the Butterflies.  It was awesome!  The next thing we did was go with our group and look around. My group went to the space place first then the gems and minerals.  The next thing we went to a special place that was the Mammoths and Mastodons.  It was awesome!  My favorite thing was the saber-tooth tiger. I took a picture by it. Then when it was over we went to the animal place. Then we went to the dinosaur place.  Then we went to the gift shop.  The things there were way overpriced… On the way home we went to Wendy’s.  I hope to go again!



by Misty Burdges, 4th Grade

The authors (right and center) with Kadyn. 

The 4-6 field trip was SO MUCH FUN!!  First we drove there. I rode with my dad, Lily’s mom, Lily, and Dezi.  We had so much fun in the car!  It took awhile to get there.  When we got there, my dad and I forgot out lunch, and bought pizza, a pretzel, Mtn. Dew, and root beer.  We saw Mammoths and Mastodons, Wildlife, and rocks and minerals.  We watched a movie at IMAX.  It was about butterflies.

Tori captures a moment overseen by a ? (big bird!)

Three butterflies came out of nowhere and popped in my face!  We saw lots of things.  A security guard came up to me and asked if I was a superstar!  He asked me to give him an autograph!  …Stuff at the gift shop was expensive. On the way we went to Wendy’s. The trip to the Denver museum was fun.

Reality Discipline

Looking for a challenge in life?  Here's one:  get yourself put in charge of helping one or more young humans grow up to live meaningful lives and be responsible, confident, stable, able contributors to society and culture.  Oh wait, that's called parenting!

It is a challenge, isn't it?  Certainly one of the most challenging elements in our parenting is discipline: babies just do not arrive knowing right from wrong, how to respect others, how to share, how to wait patiently, how to develop purpose and vision for a meaningful life - in fact, it can be safely said that babies arrive and begin to grow up with a firm two-part belief system: "it's all about me," and, "I want it now!"  So inevitably parents are challenged by the need to discipline in the finest sense of the word:  to disciple, to instruct, to guide, to correct, and to challenge our children that the best things in life usually require diligent effort and perseverance to achieve.

So the need to discipline is obvious, but how do we do it?  What approaches and methods are effective? What discipline contributes to abundant life in our kids, and what kind of discipline mistakes should we avoid that might tear them down?  We should admit right now that this subject is way too big for just one article, so our purpose here is to provide some overview and a beginning collection of links to help our thinking as parents.

Discipline does not occur as a separate element apart from other elements of being parents; in fact, it is essential that we recognize the integral nature of our discipline practices within the overall context of our parenting.  Parents who are concerned with their effectiveness are probably working at developing at least the following essentials:

• Parents view their roles as Moms and Dads as one of the most important roles of all. Parenting is not an "after-thought" that happens in the leftover bits of time found here and there, but is an integral, cherished, and vitally important part of who I am as an adult with children.  
• Parents have a vision: they are aiming to help their children develop a particular set of ethics, a particular kind of vision, a particular understanding of what makes for an abundant life.  From a Biblical perspective, this would include teaching our children Biblical morality, emphasizing the importance of loving God and caring for our neighbors, deferring to others, sharing our resources generously, being good stewards of our time and our abilities, viewing the world and all it contains as God's, and developing a vision for life that is bigger than our own narrow desires.
• Parents make developing an affirming relationship with each child a bigger priority than correction.  There is an acute awareness that rules without relationship leads to ruin. Parents invest in being students of their children:  what unique elements of God's image does each child bear? What talents have they been given?  What interests? What abilities? What enthusiasms? 
• Parents work at developing a strong sense of family identity.  What does it mean to be a "Smith"?  What common ground does each member of the family share with others?  In addition to studying each child, parents are studying the family as a whole: where are we healthy?  Where do we need to develop more?  What kind of family are we becoming?
• Parents make it a priority and a privilege to enjoy their children and and their family life.

As parents continue to develop  healthy foundations, discipline becomes easier and more natural, and specific techniques can be used to great advantage with each child.  In his book, Have a New Kid by Friday, psychologist Dr. Kevin Leman recommends an approach he calls "Reality Discipline."  Others have labeled similar ideas "natural consequences." The basic premise is simply that the world in which our children are growing up has real consequences for wrong and selfish actions and attitudes.  Employers do not retain employees who cannot be trusted, or who are lazy.  Relationships are troubled when people are selfish, or fail to tell the truth, or try to manipulate to get their way. Difficulties multiply for those who are motivated by greed or misplaced ambition.  Those with a lack of concern for the well-being of others who violate other persons or their property are imprisoned.  In short, God has made the world and we humans to function in certain ways that lead to health and well-being for our communities, and when we fail to function in that manner, we experience the consequences.

"Reality Discipline" features some specific ideas and techniques, but centers around the thought that parents should allow their children to simply experience real-life (or similar and appropriate) consequences for their actions.  Reality Discipline helps parents avoid threatening, yelling, or manipulating.  It does not require a battle of the wits, though it does sometimes require quick thinking and creativity.  It also has the advantage of linking to and teaching about real life.

Disciplining our children well is a big subject, with many books and articles "out there." Here are some links for further thought on "Reality Discipline" and some related ideas:

• To get some more insight into Reality Discipline, click here for a series of articles from Focus on the Family that give an overview of Dr. Leman's book and some ideas for implementation in your family.  
• To learn more about Dr. Leman, or to acquire your own copy of the book, click here.  
• For a free video series on YouTube featuring Dr. Leman, click here.  
• For a short personal example of how natural consequences proved effective in our family, and for some Scriptures connected to parenting, click here. 
• For some creative thoughts on the application of natural consequences and ideas from other moms, click here. (This site, Not Consumed, also features a number of articles and perspectives from single parents.)
• For some ideas oriented toward different ages, and some perspective on guarding against unsafe natural consequences, see the Search Institute's Parent Further website here.

As you can see, there is an abundance of readily available help from Scripture, from fellow parents on the journey, and from professionals for thinking about how to structure our discipline so that the corrective and guiding part of our work as parents contributes to our joy and to our children's well-being.   Each of our families is different, each child is different, and we each need wisdom as parents to do the task well.  What a blessing for us that when we need wisdom, we can ask - "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."  (James 1:5, NIV)  Here's to joyful parenting, discipline and all!

EMH Students Explore Climbing, Life in Moab

Becca on a ridge

“How much do you trust God? Really trust Him?”

Four high school students recently faced that question in a very tangible way. Ekklesia Mountain High's rock climbing course in Moab, UT, offered six days of challenge, not only in learning rock climbing and basic canyoneering skills, but also in the topic of trust.

EMH Director Ben Little shared his insights: “During the rock climbing sessions, the theme of trust was put into real practice when students had to trust the rope and trust their belayers to hold them.”

Like when they rappelled 185 feet into the inside of a stone arch. Or accomplished a multi-pitch climb, higher and longer than they ever thought they could go.

“We had a lot of variety in our climbing,” said Mr. Little. “We ascended desert spires. We descended into deep canyons. Some students were really afraid of heights or other aspects of climbing, and through the week they were able to overcome that. We used rock climbing to discuss real life: what does it mean to let go and trust God with our lives?”

Micah rappelling into the dome

The experience was formative for several of the students, who opened up and talked about difficult struggles from their past and the healing God was doing in their lives. And as they discussed the challenges of trusting God, the students and staff were able to pray for each other and support one another as they learned to trust each other more.

Senior Micah Ritschard did the Moab course last year, but this year he conquered new challenges. He was able to “lead climb” for the first time, ascending a route while adding protection to the face of the route, without the advantage of a pre-placed anchor above. “Lead climbing may be one of the craziest things I have done,” Micah said. “I just had to keep moving to not let it get to me.”

Becca takes a study break.  School continues "on the trail" for EMH students

And it didn’t get to him. By the end of the week, Micah’s skills and confidence had grown so much that he was able to set up climbs for the group—a big accomplishment.

“We talked about ‘reckless abandonment,’” Mr. Little added. “Instead of holding back or trusting only part way, we want to be ‘all in’—really stepping out in faith the way God calls us to live.”

And of course the desert held other challenges besides rock climbing. Just ask Tori Housenecht:

“Rock climbing was easy. The snakes are what you should watch out for.”

Marielena and Tori "on the edge"...

To see more pictures from the 2013 Moab course, visit the Ekklesia Mountain High Facebook page here, and click the rock picture right under the top banner picture.  

Ekklesia Mountain High (EMH) is a wilderness program of Darren Patterson Christian Academy offered to high school juniors and seniors that integrates approximately 40 days of wilderness adventure and training plus an international mission trip into the school year. For more general information about EMH, please click here.  

And Marielena starting down...

And Tori on rappel.

"Aim to Serve" Gets Good Start

Good food, great testimonies, and fun door prizes marked the kick-off dinner held on Monday, April 15, 2013 for DPCA's Aim to Serve spring fundraising event.  The DPCA school board prepared a spaghetti dinner for all, and Jake White, Hawk White, Becca Wade, and Keely Campbell each briefly shared things they were thankful for and appreciative of as DPCA students.  Parent Gene McManamay shared his testimony of the impact DPCA has had in his family, mentioning the support the school community provides, the deep positive impact of Christian teaching on students and parents, the help the financial aid program has been, and the importance of developing our students' Biblical world view.

Snapshot of Aim to Serve Progress on April 18

Aim to Serve has two components this year: a Clay Shoot team competition and fundraiser on May 5th, and a Serve-a-Thon for DPCA students on May 13th.  During the Serve-a-Thon, students will be out in the community collecting cans for the Arkansas Valley Christian Mission.  Participants in the events are sending emails to friends and family to solicit sponsorships, and all donations can be made directly online or through the mail.  The focus of this year's event is the Tuition Assistance Fund, which is used each year to provide financial aid to families who desire a Christian education for their children but need help with tuition payments. If the fundraising goal of $25,000 is exceeded, a secondary goal will be the purchase of "smart boards" for some DPCA classrooms.

To learn more about the Aim to Serve event, or to support DPCA in this endeavor, please click here. Aim to Serve information is also available at the school website, www.dpcaweb.org, and then by clicking the Aim to Serve button on the right.

April, er, Showers?

Wow! We've had some amazingly beautiful scenes around school this morning and a few days ago.  Check out these pictures!

Esophagus!

 by Mr. Curro

The subject of biology is active, alive, and applicable to the lives of every student, young or old. Teaching biology this year to twelve vigorous 9th and 10th graders has been a great caper. During my planning process for teaching biology class, I am always thinking of creative and engaging ways to draw the students into the subject for the day. While teaching the unit on human digestion, the class was specifically focusing on the first two steps. The class were very familiar with the first step: chewing our food in our mouth to break down any substance. However, I desired to demonstrate the second step: where food is swallowed and travels down our esophagus with the help of a process called peristalsis. In order to provide a hands-on way of teaching this concept to the class, students were grouped together and given the challenge of getting a whole banana, which represented the food we eat, through a narrow, flexible, clear tube and into a bowl representing the stomach. As the class began the adventure most groups were skeptical of success, but as they explored how the human body accomplishes the task their imaginations moved into action.
The challenge began to become extremely messy as bananas were squished, smashed, squeezed, and liquefied down the tube. Mimicking the process food undergoes when it enters our body the students used their problem solving skills to reach victory. Even though students had banana in their hair and clothes the demonstration and biology class for the day were a great success.