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It is our hope and prayer that all HEED families enroll in the Christian Foundations Track that we are introducing this year.  This 3 year track will reinforce the foundations of your student's faith and prepare them to understand what they believe and why they believe it.  Additionally, these three courses will be the preparation for high school that we believe every student needs.  These course can be taken in any order or concurrently.  

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BIBLE:   (Faith Quest: Unleashing Epic Adventures in Faith Fundamentals)
Mrs. Giovana Cavarretta

Supply fee $25

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Course Description:  
Prepare yourself for an exhilarating journey with Faith Quest where we will unleash epic adventures in faith fundamentals. 
 
This interactive Bible class for middle school students goes beyond the traditional sit-and-listen Bible study. Rather, students will delve into the foundations of their Christian faith, discover how it applies to their lives today, and develop habits and practices that will nurture their faith. All of this will be accomplished alongside their peers, fostering an environment where they can sharpen one another, just as iron sharpens iron. These 30 weeks will bring about life-changing experiences, reinforcing truths, and instilling habits that will compel our students to seek everything that God has in store for them, rather than seeking validation from our culture.

Join us as we embark on thrilling quests to unveil the Word of God, understand who He is, and discover our own identities and destinies.


Faith Quest will:
- Empower students with practical skills for a fulfilling daily quiet time with God.
- Engage students in dynamic group discussions, exhilarating challenges, and captivating games.
- Unleash creativity through interactive activities that make learning about the Bible enjoyable.
- Uncover hidden gems of wisdom and applying them to real-life situations.
- Team up peers to create an atmosphere of fun, friendship, and faith.
- Help students form deep bonds that will extend beyond the course, turning classmates into friends on their faith journeys together

Required Curriculum: Kingdom Quest Ages 11-13 by Tony Evans ISBN 978-1-58997-808-9
Developing a Quiet Time Youth level by Not Consumed Ministries
https://store.notconsumed.com/products/developing-a-quiet-time?_pos=1&_sid=1374664c5&_ss=r&variant=32755040485472
A journal (any notebook would do), Markers and/or coloring pencils, Bible (NIRV, NIV, ESV OR NASB

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Introduction to Worldview  Not offered in 2024-2025

Mrs. Giovana Cavarretta

Course Description:  
In this exhilarating course (part of our Christian Foundations Track), students will embark on a thrilling adventure into the foundational biblical principles of the Christian worldview.  Get ready to unlock the mysteries of biblical principles that shape our understanding of God, the universe, humanity, truth and morality.  Join us on a journey in which hands-on investigations lead to a deeper comprehension of life’s profound questions as you compare biblical responses to life’s questions with those of other major worldviews.  

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Required Curriculum: TBD

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Critical Thinking Skills and Brain Games  (grades 7-8 )

Mrs. Shannon Sonsky

Materials Fee: $40

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Course Description:

Critical Thinking is one of our students all-time favorite classes!  This is an exciting and entertaining class period of thinking games, activities and even a mystery guest or two. These mind-challenging games will also focus on spatial reasoning and detective strategy.  This curriculum, developed by a HEED teacher years ago, has equipped many of our students to think in a whole new way. Teaching critical thinking raises IQ’s and boosts inventiveness, and studies show that kids become better learners when they are forced to explain how they solve problems.  "Critical thinking comprises a number of different skills that help us learn to make decisions. It is the ability to evaluate information to determine whether it is right or wrong.  To think critically about an issue or a problem means to be open-minded and consider alternative ways of looking at solutions.”  Through the use of riddles, puzzles, and hands on group activities students learn to think, analyze, create categories, identify relevant information, reason and construct arguments, test hypotheses, recognize fallacies, and analyze evidence all while having fun. In fact, research suggests that explicit instruction in critical thinking may make kids smarter, more independent, and more creative.   This hands-on learning experience will help students build critical thinking skills in preparation for high school logic while having loads of fun. Students taking the critical thinking class must be in pre-algebra math or higher to handle the math work in this class.

 

Parental Involvement:  There is very little work required at home. Weekly homework worksheets are done online at home, and students are required to practice their mental math skills at home with a parent 5 minutes a day. Parents are invited to assist in the class any week and to compete against their students at two different class periods during the year to solve mysteries!  This class is so valuable for helping students master high school logic and geometry in later years.

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Required Curriculum:

Curriculum is provided to the students.

Prerequisites: Students must be enrolled in Pre-Algebra or higher.