You Make Me Feel Like Dancin'

The Student Council is in charge of GIFS prom. This year they decided to have it at an outside venue. Once they learned that they did not have enough people attending to rent the venue, the middle school was invited to prom, too. Daisy was excited. Her friend Joanne came home after school to get ready together.

MinSeo, the hairdresser that is right beside our apartment, did Daisy's hair for her.

We bought a suit for Zekers, and he sure did look sharp.

Except for that eye patch.

Zeke was ready and waiting, while Daisy was still getting ready.

Finally ready! And she aged about 5 years in that dress.

What happened to my babies?! Wasn't it just a year or two ago that we were taking trips to the park and reading bedtime stories?

I'm proud of the grown humans they are becoming.

This is Joanne and Kelly, the 7th grade girls.

This is a mixture of grades. Donovan is in Daisy's class, Jae, Harry and Mathieu and in 9th, of course Zeke is in 10th, and Aaron is a 12th grader.

The school drove the kids there in a bus, which was convenient.

The venue was at Jinyangho Lake, where I just went hiking the week prior.

These are the 7th and 8th graders in attendance. 

Daisy's first KBFF, Susie.

middle school

10th grade

This is the whole group that attended, grades 6-12. 

Dinner included a lot of fancy Korean dishes.

🎶 You make me feel like dancin'. 🎵

[June 3]

Gaming: Eli's Exhibition

As part of the Primary Years Program in the International Baccalaureate Program, 5th grade works on a year-long project that culminates with a presentation at the end of the school year. The 5th grade lost several kids this year when a bunch of the Indian families left due to a contract ending, so it is just down to these four boys.

Radin, Eli, Charlie, and Nic

Lijee and Radin chose to research gaming and children, citing the positives vs the negatives. This topic is not surprising. The majority of Eli's writing since he started school has revolved around gaming. His kindergarten teacher spent so much energy to no avail, trying to persuade him to chose other writing topics.

The students first practiced presenting with their classmates, the 2nd/3rd grades, and the 6th grade. The grand finale was presenting to the parents and a few administrators. You could feel the anxiety in the air and visibly see their stress.

They all gave a slide show presentation and speech.

Throughout their research, they followed a line of inquiry, which is a fancy way of  saying addressing a set of questions through reading and research. It begins with a vague idea of which subject and topic you may be interested, and ending up as a clear and focused research question which guides the rest of your inquiry and shapes your final essay.

I was impressed that my boy used note cards and talked to us, instead of just reading from a paper.

Lijee and Radin talked about the history of gaming, how they have evolved, how they are appropriate, and how video games effect people.

The conclusion: video games can be good and bad. Use appropriate discernment regarding age levels, limit playing time, build communication with your gaming teammates, sharpen your multi-tasking skills, and enjoy your gaming experience. 

An art component was added. 

"This represents addiction and how people will do anything to play. The controller represents video games, the mound represents challenges to get to play video games, and the people on are trying to get to play video games pushing people to get there first. Leaving everything else out of the way."

There was a collective sigh of relief amongst the boys once the presentations were finished.

We are proud of Eli's project and the hard work and perseverance he put into it.

 

[June 3]

Make A Joyful Noise

Finally, after missing numerous scheduled concerts that were captured on video and emailed to the parents instead of viewed in person, we were allowed to attend one live! That's right, they have been cancelled since 2020, because, Covid.

Zekers does not have music class this year, but he was able to attend. Look how pathetic his eye patch was.

My little boy sang several songs with just the 4th/5th grades, as well as with the entire elementary.

Eli also played the recorder. 

The 7th and 8th grades performed for Class Band. Daisy sang a duet with Joanne to When I'm Gone, AKA The Cup Song, while Aum, Jae, and Donovan played cups, Kelly was on the ukulele and Anirudhh played the keyboard.

I haven't heard her perform on stage since we were in MusicPraise. I forgot how good she sounds.

[June 2]