Apogee North

10/02/2026

“Is it more important to have loyalty or honesty in a friend?”

“If you could meet any three celebrities, who would they be?”

“How do you overcome a negative perception?”

Plenty of interesting conversation to follow these Socratic starters! Kids are asking questions, listening to one another, practicing taking a stand, and are willing to change their perspective. They’re actually thinking about their thinking, what a skill!

Rolling along with this session around Westward expansion, we’re running through scenarios and working as teams to solve problems. Such great discussions! We’ve made our own butter, cooked cornbread over a campfire (with fresh milled flour!!), investigated and presented on Native American tribes, and prepped/built marshmallow shooters. Research on historical figures from the time continues.

Everyone is settling into the rhythm of the academic block and seeing the value of intentional time. As always, we’re getting plenty of fresh air and starting to build out strength routines to support our fitness goals.

This week we watched a flock of geese heading south, gawked at a bull moose courting a very uninterested lady, and marveled at the season’s first snow flurries!

09/20/2026

Exciting to launch the first project of the year, “How the West Was Won!” We broke into groups of wagon trains and spent time debating the merits of sentimental household goods vs food and supplies for dangerous travel. Kids each selected an historical figure from the time period (think Billy the Kid, Annie Oakley, Sacagewea, to name a few) and research has begun. We even got to revisit the original Oregon Trail video game, which has been quite entertaining - most everyone has been dismayed to lose all sets of clothing to bandits, and been stymied by drowning oxen and dysentery. Classic, with enough math and logic required to make it more than just a silly game.

Academics are rolling along, and we’re leaning into passion projects like coding and electronics. We did some fun workouts to build cardio-respiratory health, and learned about recovery breathing, plus some left-brain, right-brain physical challenges.

Sunshine and fresh air! A handful of the crew have decided to run the morning march and double the loop.

We capped the week with a bit of road cleanup for community service. All in all, a great second week!

09/11/2026

First week of the new school year down! Plenty of sunny weather to support morning march and free time outside.

Socratic conversations this week ranged from “Is it better to be kind or to be smart?” to “Would you rather move like a kangaroo or an elephant?” Plenty of interesting perspectives and follow up questions to make for engaging discussions.

Kids are building goals for academics and fitness, and learning to use their resources (including each other) to answer questions and solve problems.

The big excitement today was the arrival of the much-anticipated lockers, which they assembled themselves! Nice moves, crew!

Looking forward to a fantastic year with these kids!

08/12/2026

Great opportunity for teens and parents alike!

07/17/2026

06/23/2026

Summer is well underway, and in between gardening and playing in the sunshine, we’re busy planning for the next school year. Feeling super excited about these upcoming project themes! History, science, math, engineering, cultural studies, adventure… the list goes on. Nothing like some big projects to tie all those individual subjects together and keep kids (and us!) interested and curious.

05/19/2026

Kasitsna Bay marine magic!

What an incredible experience - sea stars, octopus, shrimp, anemones, cucumbers, crabs, otters, a whale, and more - all the amazing organisms large and small!

It was a full weekend of exploration. Big tides made for excellent tide pooling at both Kasitsna and Jakalof bay beaches. The touch tanks were fully loaded and a major hit with everyone. We also got to investigate an impressive array of plankton species in the microscope lab. Our two naturalists were full of knowledge and enthusiasm. Several nature walks, lessons in adaptation, beach frisbee and games rounded out our final weekend of the school year.

We even saw the sun for a while!! All in all, it was a great success!

05/11/2026

It’s a great question.

Blind acceptance of a growth indicator placebo hasn’t gotten us where we want to be, so we have to start with a clean slate.

How do you know anyone is learning anything?

How do you know what everyone needs to know?

How do you know what each individual needs to know?

How do you prove that he or she knows it?

If everyone needs to know it, does that include adults? What if they don’t?

So many questions for a Monday.