We went over a timeline of significant US Constitution and amendment dates. We also reviewed vocabulary terms pertaining to material we covered in government and civics, culture and society, economics, geography, and history. Ben was amenable to hearing the definitions and explanations that he did not remember or had not as yet reviewed.

Matthew and I worked to prepare him for his final exams.

We reviewed for his World History Exam touching on the major points. We discussed the Cold War and U.S. and U.S.S.R.'s post war strategy.

We also delved into key events from prior in the year.

We anticipated what could be on the test and discussed themes of the possible essay topics.

In our work together, Matthew has drafted a copy of two of the possible essay topics.

He had strong foundational ideas that we were able to bolster and hone.

While time consuming, we believe that Matthews's hard work will yield significant dividends.

We continued to prepare Matthew for his final exams.

We first prioritized the tasks ahead of us.

We then proceeded with studying for Spanish and history. His Spanish exams will end up requiring preparation for an oral, multiple choice, and written portion. His history will require preparation for both essay and multiple choice portions.

Matthew and I continued his work on his Cold War packet from his history class and discussed events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and concepts like detante.

We also briefly worked on his biology extra credit assignment.

First, Matthew and I finished his packet work from yesterday.

We then started work on a new Cold War assignment. We discussed the Russian leaders from Stalin until the end of the Cold War.

We discussed this new type of war and how it impacted countries around the world.

Matthew had a history assignment tonight. It required him to identify key figures, define vocabulary, and answer questions.

He worked diligently on the World War II assignment.

Ben read an article about Frederick Douglass and was asked to answer questions about it. The article was 2.5 pages. Ben read the first page but lost focus and asked if I could read the rest. He was tasked with answering 7 multiple choice and 3 short answer questions. Ben skipped one question saying he did not understand a word in it because "it looked weird to me, probably due to my dyslexia." He was subsequently unable to remember which word he found challenging; however I eliminated that question from the assessment. Ben was permitted to verbally respond to the short answer questions, and his responses indicated depth of understanding and good synthesis of the material. He answered 75% of answers correctly and stated that he surprised himself for completing the test because he was very tired. I commended him for his effort and perseverance.

Dutch was Absent

In today's lesson, we researched current topics in the news as they related to historical significance, geography, and interest. We focused on National Geographic articles about the findings of an ancient child grave that was discovered in Kenya. Ben found a virtual reconstruction of the remains interesting as it confirmed that the child was intentionally buried shortly after death by community members who took extraordinary care to do so. We discussed the implications of the findings. We also looked at a scientific article examining a new species of spider that has been identified and found in a fragment of endangered forest in the Everglades. This suggested the importance of preserving endangered ecosystems before we lose not only what we know, but also what is as yet to be discovered.