Q. Who are your mater, pater, frater, and soror?

A. These are the Latin words for mother, father, brother, and sister. 

Did you know that even our youngest students are Latin scholars? Ms. Elise visits with the preschoolers and kindergarteners each week and teaches them basic vocabulary; by the time they're in middle school, students are writing and translating full paragraphs. 

Latin accelerates the acquisition and retention of English vocabulary words and reinforces students' understanding of grammar. It also paves the way for the study of Romance languages.

Q: What Roman holiday was celebrated with the exchange of small gifts of candles and clay figurines?

A: Saturnalia, an end-of-harvest festival held around the winter solstice and dedicated to celebrating the Golden Age of Saturn.

Send us an email to find out about TNCA Trivia sponsorship opportunities for your business. 

Speaking of harvest and the exchange of small gifts, check out the "crop" from our 2011 winter workshop! (Not shown: chocolate spoons, felt mice, candy garlands, and more.)

In this annual TNCA activity, students work on various craft projects during the month of December and earn "money" for the time they put in. On the last day of school before break, they can "buy" presents in the "gift shop" for friends and family. 

Winter workshop integrates a range of lessons--hand craft skills, time management, math, industry, appreciation of others' work, planning, and pride of accomplishment--and it's also tons of fun. 

Q. Barchan, stellar, and transverse are terms for different shapes of what type of land formation?

A. Dunes. Barchan dunes are crescent-shaped; stellar dunes are star-shaped and form where the wind direction is highly variable; and transverse dunes are broad and rippled like the ocean.

Yesterday morning, a group of our 3rd-5th grade students had the privilege of spending some time with Tek-Kids' Ian Riddell, who uses Zometools (not to mention his engaging presence and kind manner) to teach geometry in 3D.  

It's no surprise that Ian has a theater degree; he knows how to capture an audience.

Look at the way these kids just rolled up their sleeves and got to work, building structures they might not have thought themselves capable of. 

Symmetry, patterning, spatial relations, shapes, problem-solving, innovation, accomplishment, and wonder all rolled into one 90-minute session: It doesn't get much better than that! Thanks so much, "ZomeMaster Ian," for sharing your talent with TNCA.  

Q. Which type of biome do we live in (in Western North Carolina)? 

A. Temperate deciduous forest.  

On Friday afternoon, TNCA mom Juliette Benezra-Winston brought her drum circle, Wild Bodema, to school for some West African drumming fun with the pre-K through 5th grade classes. (The middle schoolers were off on their own adventure in downtown Asheville.) Thanks, Wild Bodema, for making us smile, getting us moving, and giving us a nice tie-in with our school-wide geography unit on Africa to boot!  

We learned how different drummers add in different rhythms, so what starts as a simple beat ends up layered and complex. 

Everyone got an instrument--and a chance to practice keeping time; some students joined the circle for a bit with some makeshift drums. 

We learned how to do a traditional harvest dance--tilling the soil, sowing the seeds, and bringing rain and sunshine for a good crop.  

And we ended with a joyful free-for-all. 

All in all, it was a glorious afternoon. 

_Q. What was the tallest man-made structure before the 14th century?

A. The Great Pyramid of Khufu (aka Cheops) at Giza, completed circa 2560 BC and standing at 480.6 feet, was the tallest man-made structure until 1311, when it was replaced by the Lincoln Cathedral in England. The Great Pyramid was built over a 20-year period as a tomb for Fourth Dynasty Pharaoh Khufu.

Be the next TNCA Trivia sponsor! Email us to find out how you can get involved in this fun educational program.

Introducing TNCA Trivia! Every Tuesday we post a trivia question on our Facebook page; every Thursday, we post the answer. The following week, the Q&A together appear here, on our blog. Our own students are responsible for culling the trivia item from material they’ve been studying, and for helping to craft the actual Q&As.

All these weeks of trivia will culminate in a community-wide TNCA Trivia Tournament. The questions will include the trivia that we've already posted on Facebook and here, along with a whole bunch of others thrown in. Stay tuned for tournament details.... In the meantime, play along with us. Test your knowledge; tickle that gray matter; learn something new. In other words: Get Headstrong with TNCA Trivia!

Last week's trivia, sponsored by Harriet Abramson, proud grandmother of three TNCA kids:

Q. Were ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics read from left to right, or right to left?

A. Either! Both! The direction depended on what the author felt like doing. One clue for readers was the orientation of the animals that figured so prominently in hieroglyphics; whichever way they were turned or looking was the direction in which the text was meant to be read.

Be the Next TNCA Trivia Sponsor!
Contact us if you're interested in sponsoring a question, or know someone who might be. Sponsorships are available for businesses as well as individuals.

On Monday of this week, storyteller, strummer, and child whisperer Sam Maren visited with our pre-K through 2nd grade students in honor of granddaughter Nora's seventh birthday. The kids were entranced.

Here's a sampling of the "Pop"-style fun, along with lots of smiles and giggles:

Today, the entire school was honored with another Veterans Day visit from Owen's dad, Major Allen White, who did an army-style show-and-tell with his collection of berets, bayonets, dehydrated food packets, and other sample equipment; he also discussed army uniform history and the evolution of camouflage. From pre-K all the way through eighth grade, our students were wide-eyed and brimming with questions.

We are so lucky to have such involved family members. Thanks to Pop and Major White for sharing your time with us!

TNCA 1st-5th graders spent the morning at Manna Food Bank, helping to pack a weekend's worth of nutritious meals for at-risk elementary school kids across Western North Carolina. This was the first of what will be monthly service learning trips to Manna for these two classes.

Students took a tour of the facility and learned more about hunger in our region. Then, after donning their gloves and cafeteria caps, they got to work!

They worked assembly line-style for two solid hours--scooping, measuring, and packing rice and dehydrated soup mix.

By the end, they had prepared 400 pounds of rice for distribution.

Good job,Team TNCA! Thanks to Manna Food Bank for doing such important work, and for letting us help out. Thanks as well to the TNCA parents who drove and participated today.

In the afternoon, doctor and TNCA parent Becca Carchman came to school to discuss her recent trip to Haiti with Mission Manna (no relation) to provide medical care to the country's malnourished children. We learned that in addition to treating acute health problems like intestinal worms, she and fellow doctors gave Haitian families packages of mixed grains (much like the ones our students prepared this morning!) as well as live goats and rabbits for sustained nourishment. Becca also talked about the impact of last year's hurricane, and the importance of clean water--something we tend to take for granted.

Ms. Kelly helped locate Haiti on the globe while Becca gave a bit of historical background.

Awesome laptop slide show presentation above.

And below, the special measuring tape used to diagnosis malnourishment. Everyone wanted to give it a try. For the record: not a malnourished kid in the bunch!

Becca also brought some samples of Haitian craft items and art... 

...as well as some other tools of her trade for kids to test out.

That was fun, but these kids are smart enough to know there's much to learn by watching an expert.

Becca, we loved having you visit. Thanks for inspiring everyone to make a difference in the world.