Session 4, Week 6
Two weeks ago my family stopped by a historic fort built in 1867. As we walked through the daily life of the adults and children in that time period, we were all struck (again) by how hard people had to work just to survive. Driving home we reflected on the relative ease of our daily lives. Once again, I was struck by the thought that because our children don’t “have” to do hard things physically to survive, I want to provide opportunities for them to learn to do hard things. So to wrap up our Session 4, we revisit our session question which can’t be asked enough “Because it’s fun to do hard things… but why?” by looking at the fun and hard things your children do.
In the Spark Studio as we have been exploring the evolution of science, we have been pondering the question: Why is it fun to do hard things?
It’s fun to do hard things because we gain skills that help us on our journey.
{H(how) R(are) Y(you) D(do) E(ing)}
It’s fun to do hard things because we create things that we are proud of.
And it’s fun to do hard things because we make discoveries.
This session’s theme song says, “Everything we learn is like a little puzzle piece, that helps us understand the universe and do amazing things.” We related these lyrics to a mystery puzzle, and started collecting puzzle pieces for completing challenges. Early on heroes all had guesses about what it could be, but just like scientists that don’t have all the pieces. It was not unanimous. Everyone was just making their best guess based on what they could see.
This week when the last piece was earned, there was a wave of cheering that moved through the studio. The excitement of all the hard work adding up and being so close to the answer motivated many to gather and work to put the pieces together…
Another wave of excitement moved through the studio when the puzzle was completed… and we continued debating and analyzing the picture even after it was completed.
A few great quotes from Spark heroes this session showing how they feel when they work hard: “I’m feeling good about myself.” “I worked SO hard today. It feels good!” “Math is so fun!” “I did a lot of language today and it felt good inside when I finished.” “I’m so tired, but this is really fun.”
One final reason it is so fun to do hard things is the sense of pride and accomplishment that comes when you teach someone else your newly learned skill. Exhibition is filled with excitement as heroes show their parents and grandparents their accomplishments.
In the Fire Studio we are doing so many hard things!
Grit is one opportunity for both the FS and the MS to practice doing hard things. First, we are practicing punctuality. Part of completing grit for the day is being on time. Second, we are practicing doing hard things physically. Grit is 3 minutes long. Short enough to not feel overwhelmed, long enough for it to take grit to complete if you are really pushing yourself. Third, we are practicing follow through as we record each day what we do. Our FUN end of session final grit challenge is not an expectation for all heroes, it is the positive consequence for those heroes who have chosen to practice those three skills at least 80% of the days they were at school. For some heroes the fun is in doing grit while for some the fun comes after grit is over!
Part of every learner driven community – and probably most every community for that matter – is a break down. Being part of a learner driven community is a lot of fun. Trying to build it back up is HARD work!
As our session came to an end, so did our Energy Quest. Watching the inquisitive nature of these heroes throughout the quest was amazing. When they get to a bump in the road on their journey they are learning how to lean into discomfort, and be patient with their learning and growth. Heroes have made comments this session like:
~ “I never knew this type of thing existed before, and I’m so glad I got to research it!”
~ “It took me a really long time to understand how to do this experiment, but I figured it out and it was so cool!”
And it was so fun to see the energy and excitement of the heroes showing us their experiments at Exhibition.
Exhibitions are also a time to celebrate badges! Several heroes earned the first badges of the school year. It was all smiles and cheers while they were awarded their badges…
But guides, parents, and fellow travelers know that behind the exciting celebration was a lot of grit, some roadblocks, and even a few tears. When it comes to strengthening core skills and building life skills, doing hard things isn’t always the cheap definition of fun–easy entertainment or endless thrills. But doing hard things is the kind of fulfilling fun that heroes are learning to savor from the earliest years of their journey. For example, one hero thought he had earned a heroic habits badge, but then found he had miscounted the days and wasn’t eligible yet. With a little encouragement from an ally, he worked through the disappointment a few more days and enjoyed the accomplishment even more when he was truly done. Another hero put in extra Beast Academy hours in the evenings and weekends to reach her Half-Way Mathmind Badge a little ahead of schedule. That momentum is launching her into the second half of the year with confidence. Watching their friends earn badges at Exhibition has motivated many fellow travelers to keep putting in the hard work on their own badge journeys. And of course, working together with their CHOICE friends adds an element of fun to even the most difficult challenges heroes face on their learning journeys.
In the Middle School the heroes do hard and fun things daily. Just being 12 and 13 years old is hard and fun every day! They do it well usually offering grace to themselves and others. They are a remarkable group of young people navigating a challenging time of life.
While giving verbal Character Callouts to one another is a natural and exciting thing to do for the Spark heroes, as heroes get older it somehow gets more challenging. It can be hard to get the ball rolling in the MS when we sit down for character callouts. But once it’s started, it is lovely to hear what they recognize and share about one another.
Both MS & FS heroes are working hard preparing their talents for our fundraiser Comedy Night. As Marcus came in to meet with the heroes again this week it was definitely fun! As one hero said “He isn’t even trying to be funny, but he is funny!”
As exhibition time rolled around, the MS heroes definitely had fun creating their chemistry exhibition demos which included things such as carbonating root beer with dry ice, exploding ketchup bottles, flower-petal dyes, small bombs, and neutralizing very strong acids and bases. The hard part came in the tasks of planning ahead, organizing time, and executing the demos with technological and other logistical glitches.
Parents might think holiday gift exchanges are only hard for us as we do the driving and often the purchasing. But watching a gift exchange helps me recognize it can be hard for the heroes as well, and recognize it is totally worth it! Sometimes it is hard to think of a gift to give (especially if you are a boy giving to a girl and vice versa). Watching the heroes think of others, seeing the thoughtful gifts that are exchanged and listening to them express gratitude to one another is so fun for all of us! The sincerely appreciated block of cheese might have been the highlight gift today 🙂
With the end of session approaching there is a flurry of hard work. Hard work paid off in a free day for some heroes who had met all their session goals. They had a lot of fun together celebrating!
The Middle School voted to do a deep clean at the end of every session. I will repeat that – the Middle School (a group of 12 and 13 year olds) voted to do a deep clean at the end of every session. How awesome is that? It was even more awesome watching them clean under desks, in corners, behind couches, around garbage cans etc They know how to work hard! Whether or not they would say it is fun, I don’t know. But it must feel good to them on some level or they wouldn’t have voted for it!
One thing the heroes will not vote for is more reflection time. There is a decent amount of moaning and groaning as we begin (and continue) the process. It is hard to reflect on past goals and feelings and then put them into verbal or written words. The problem is that so much good comes from reflection, we just keep doing it! Also, the hope is that as time goes on the heroes will build a habit of self-reflection that will bless their lives.
We ended our session reflections filling out challenge donuts and “passion” donuts (think of the challenge donut and replace the “comfort”, “challenge” and “panic” zones with “I like it”, “I love it”, and “I don’t prefer it” zones). We explored the overlap of the different zones. Heroes recognized that their greatest joy comes from the overlap of the “I love it” and the “challenge” zones. Doing those things they are passionate about, that are also challenging. We are striving daily to create those opportunities at CHOICE. Looking further, heroes also admitted that accomplishing things in the “I don’t prefer” and “challenging” zones also brings joy; joy from completing something hard. Light bulbs went on all around as they answered the question themselves “because it’s fun to do hard things…but why?” Heroes recognized that for many different reasons it truly is fun to do hard things! And they are getting better and better at doing them every day!