Mission Hill: 1-4 Grade Program
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Session 2: October 23 - November 20
Week 5: November 20, 2013
We've really hit our stride and it was another productive meeting this week. We followed our normal progression to get ourselves moving - jump and spins, combinations, hand strength training, and a nice long game of the plant part game, including our new bean and bean sprout moves. Some work on the Garden Form followed, and everyone looked good with the first seven moves - the last two we'll work on next week. After our workout, we got to see how much the sprouts from last time grew. Everyone drew a picture of their sun sprouts (from sunflower seeds), removed the shells to help them grow, and tasted them. We closed again with a few students showing their knowledge of the Dragon Water recipe by helping to make it, followed by a game of helicopter. On their way out, those who completed the wheatgrass challenge were able to take home a sun sprouts kit. Hopefully we'll see some fresh sprouts next week.
Week 4: November 13, 2013
We got moving right away this week, working hard to get our knees high on jump-and-spins. We're still working to strengthen our hands and there's been some noticeable progress on the fingertip and knuckle pushups. After learning the "bean" and "bean sprout" moves for the plant part game, we spend some time playing and having a few strong leaders. A few students were able to test on their speed kicking before we moved on to making some dragon water. Several students had the opportunity to come up, recite what they knew of the recipe, and then were able to help in making it. After a game of helicopter, we enjoyed our refreshing student-made dragon water and said goodbye. See you next week!
Week 3: November 6, 2013
We finished up the first half of our new session this week, and the program is really going strong. As students slowly arrived, we worked on our root by tossing around a medicine ball. It really deepens our understanding of the connection to the ground, through our feet and core, and out through our hands to push the medicine ball away. Everyone worked hard to practice their martial skill before breaking up into groups to work on the Garden Form. It's looking good already! Hopefully we'll have some who can really master all nine moves by the end of the session. We learned the recipe for some delicious Dragon Water while checking out some mint leaves. Congrats to everyone who brought back their newly grown wheatgrass, they look great!
Week 2: October 30, 2013
We had another nice session with our young Green Dragons. We learned about the importance of building our root by training with the bean bags on our legs. Already, a few of the students passed their 60 seconds of root stance test without dropping the bags! We are going to test everyone next week. Next we drew the roots for the wheatgrass we grew from week 1. We prepared the wheatgrass challenge packets and sent each student home with a package they can grow on their own. It takes commitment and nurturing to grow the grass well and not all students can complete the challenge. We'll see who brings the grass back next week!
Week 1: October 23, 2013
Wow! What a great group this session. Right from the start, they were all focused and working hard while Master Mike led them through some of the basic Green Dragons kung fu. The Plant Part Game was a particular hit. We had a few strong students come to the front to lead the game. Most of the class was focused on this to lay a strong foundation for the Garden Form and in preparation for the Sprout Challenge. The end of class was taken up by everyone planting some wheatgrass in teams. There were some creative team names, especially the Sprouting Dragons! After a fun preview of what's involved in the Helicopter game, we said goodbye. This should be an exciting session of Green Dragons at Mission Hill!