Ben reviewed material from both text and media. He demonstrated an understanding of the causes, course, and consequences of the American Revolution and the founding principles of our nation (SS.8.A.3 in the Florida standards). Ben was engaged in watching a supplemental resource and demonstrated good comprehension. He answered questions and commented on-topic and insightfully with regards to issues raised, demonstrating thorough and accurate synthesis of the material.

We briefly reviewed the circumstances leading to the Constitutional Convention and the replacement of the Articles of Confederation. Next, Ben listened to a video about Washington and learned the distinction between formal and informal authority. We reviewed some of the personal characteristics for which Washington was known. Ben brought up the fact that he was also a slave owner, at which point we reviewed opinion from fact and discussed one of the most controversial issues confronting the delegates - that of slavery. Ben was interested to learn that 25 of the Convention's 55 delegates owned slaves. Therefore, whether slavery was to be regulated under the new Constitution was a very controversial issue. At this time, we reviewed the Three-Fifths Compromise between the Southern and Northern States. As an interesting connection between art and history that I hoped might pique Ben's interest, I showed him a video about the Lascaux cave paintings. He found it interesting. His overall take-away was that we should not open these exhibits to the public as the presence of visitors create carbon dioxide and humidity that damage the paintings, which resulted in its closure.

Ben was given a study guide and was asked to read it out loud. As he was reluctant to read aloud, Ben was asked to highlight the most significant facts. When queried, Ben was able to answer some questions pertaining to what he had read. We then watched a video about the making of the Constitution. Ben was very attentive and focused while watching it. He often interjected with his opinion on the material being discussed and it held his attention and interest.

The session began with questions about the freedoms we have as citizens in America. Baylie read from the text about the Indus Valley civilization and the impact of pagan religion on the peoples of that culture. Baylie and the instructor compared and contrasted their way of life with the American way of life. Excellent discussion and session. Great thinking, Baylie!

We started discussing the Framers of the Constitution - the main Founding Fathers, who helped draft the Constitution. They were: Adams, Jay, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison and Washington. After a few minutes, Ben complained of experiencing intense stomach pain. He said he was unable to work or to sit comfortably, and spent a lot of time in the rest room. We complied with his request to contact his mother and request an earlier pickup time. I will make a study review sheet for Ben with bullet points covering the most important topics we've discussed the past few sessions.

Today Baylie took her chapter test on The Age of Exploration: Asia and the Americas. She read the questions aloud and responded orally prior to recording her answers. Baylie submitted the results after she completed the test. The test had multiple choice, true/false, and short answer questions.

Ben watched a video about Shay's rebellion on the Khan Academy site. He recalled that it ultimately led to the creation of a stronger central government as it exposed the weaknesses of the government under the Articles of Confederation. We reviewed the plight of farmers and veterans and their conflict with the Federalists, and Ben expressed his support for the farmers because they opposed the economic policies and corrupt politics of their state (Massachusetts).The take-away from our readings and the video clip supported the understanding that the Articles of Confederation were inadequate and urged support for the Constitution. We reviewed significant historic dates, following which Ben completed a matching exercise involving such vocabulary terms as: 'ratify,' 'execute,'federalism,' 'republican,' and 'propose.' Ben required some supportive prompts to help him with this matching exercise; however he expressed that he was tired today and apologized for his lack of concentration.

Baylie and the instructor completed the section check up on Spanish explorers. Baylie does excellent work.

We began today's session by briefly reviewing of the prior weeks' main topics. We reviewed that the separation of powers refers to the division of government into three distinct branches in order to limit any one branch from exercising too much power over the other two. Ben recalled its primary purpose as that of preventing the concentration of power and to provide for checks and balances. We next discussed the judicial branch, which was created by Article III of the Constitution. We summarized its main purpose as one of interpreting laws and determining whether they've been appropriately followed. Ben found it interesting to learn that federal judges are appointed, not elected, and that they stay on the bench until they retire, die, or are removed for bad behavior. We discussed Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a notable example as she served as US Supreme Court Justice and just recently died (in September of 2020). We discussed that she was known as a trailblazer since she fought for gender equality and became a hero for the progressive movement, and briefly discussed the progressive movement as one characterized as one furthering social and political reform. Next, we read how Article IV of the Constitution describes how states should interact with each other and that each state has to respect the laws and court decisions of other states. A vocabulary term that came up during discussion was 'extradition.' Article IV states that if a criminal flees from one state to another, the state where the crime was committed can request that the criminal be returned, or 'extradited,' to that state to face charges. We concluded our session talking about changes to the Constitution can be made. Ben answered questions correctly regarding the material. He agreed that our Founding fathers did allow for changes to be made, but correctly added that such changes, or 'amendments' are very difficult to pass as they take a lot of agreement from the states to ratify.

After a brief review of the key points from yesterday's session, today's lesson concentrated on the powers of Congress. We read materials and learned that Congress is a law-making and chief legislative body. It establishes procedures for passing bills and places various limits on the powers of Congress and the states from abusing their powers. We listed some of the powers of Article 1, including collecting taxes, paying debts, and providing for the common defense. Ben found some of the duties on the list humorous, such as Congress's ability to punish pirates. We defined some relevant vocabulary terms, such as 'ratify,’ which came up in discussion. Ben had heard the term but needed help with its definition and use in an example. We defined it as signing or give formal consent to a treaty, contract, or agreement in order to make it officially valid. An example of this would be that if somebody 'ratified' the Constitution, it would mean that they accepted it and made it valid. We next discussed Article II of the Constitution, and described the job of the Executive Branch as one that 'executes' or carries out, and enforces laws. Ben learned from his readings that the president heads this branch. We also noted that Article II describes who qualifies to be president, what powers the office has, and what happens if a president misbehaves. It also explains the Electoral College, which is the process of how the president is elected. We concluded today's session summarizing some of the duties of president outlined in Article II, one of which is commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Next week, we will learn additional duties that Article II gives the president. When queried, Ben demonstrated his understanding of material reviewed. We summarized that the purpose of giving the three different branches of government separate powers is so that each has to cooperate with the other two in order to accomplish policy-making goals, and that this ‘check and balances system’ ensures that no one branch can become too powerful because each branch has the power to check the other two. Ben was very polite, responsive, and cooperative throughout our session. Before leaving, he thanked me and wished me a happy Easter.