February Parent Workshops

Thank you for completing the survey that Tina and I sent out.  Based on the results of that survey, we have planned some Parent Workshops for the month of February.  

The first will be the evening of Monday February 10 from 7:00-8:00 pm.  This is for moms and dads.  Dads will be hearing from Joe Hoye, Dan Olson and Jim Skartvedt about the role of dads in homeschooling.  Moms will be working with AEA Consultant, Tina Wahlert on higher order thinking and questioning.  In order to make it very practical, please bring an example of your curriculum.  Childcare will be provided.

We have also planned 2 Thursday morning workshops for moms.

On February 6 at 10:00 at the HSAP room, 3 experienced homeschool moms will share some of the strategies that worked for them and offering encouragement to you.

On February 13 at 10:00 at the HSAP room, Jessica Fincel from our district's technology department will be sharing some practical educational websites and apps with you.  Feel free to bring your own laptop or tablet if you have them.

During both of these Thursday morning workshops, Tina and I will have activities planned for children in the gym.  Brown Bag will follow at 11:00.

Finally, we have planned a Mom's Night Out for Thursday February 27 at 6:00.  We will meet at Rancho Grande for supper and sharing of ideas.

And Now the Cold Stretch of Winter...

Winter can be breathtakingly beautiful...

Winter can be fun!  

But some days, winter is just hard...

And long...

 And sometimes you get a little stir crazy... 

And some days you have cabin fever...

So here are a few links and ideas to help you get through the long winter...

Come to the YMCA for a homeschool family swim this Friday January 17 from 10:00-11:30.

Take a look at this Winter Olympics Mini Unit on CurrClick

Here's a downloadable Martin Luther King Junior Activity Booklet for $1.00

Lots of Snow Fun on Pinterest

Exploring Ice

Inspiring blog by Ann Voskamp on How to Draft an Ideal Day & Get New Habits Down

Free Kindle Books

Cooking with Kids

How about a date night!

And last, but not least; an oldie but a goodie!

Build a fort, snuggle up with hot chocolate and read some books:-)

Happy Winter!

Linda

Hey, Homeschool Dad!

Hey Homeschool dad!

You are “the man” to your family.  You are the foundation on which the whole family is supported and they simply could not do life without you.  It’s important for you to know that you are deeply and heartily appreciated.  Today your wife might have nursed the baby, taught the other children, made a homemade lunch, cleaned up multiple messes, read storybooks and did 5 loads of laundry, but nobody gets as much glory as dad when he plays toss the kids up in the air and gives them whiskery kisses.  You are more than just a breadwinner, you are a hero to your kids.

Because you are “that hero” (shameless VeggieTale reference) your children view you as a powerful role model.  I want to encourage you to set a high vision for them no matter what their ages.  The behavioral expectations for children in society today are appallingly low and part of changing that is setting the bar a bit higher.  Your children need to see you behaving honorably in every circumstance, so they understand clearly what good behavior looks like.  They need to see you try your best at tasks and they need to be encouraged to do the same.  

Let’s be honest and acknowledge that your children are not always going to clear the good behavior bar that you have set for them and that’s when Dad needs to flex his proverbial muscle.  There seems to be no substitute for a father’s influence when it comes to matters of discipline.  When kids know that Dad is going to back Mom up it makes a tremendous difference in their behavior.  So, if Dad checks up on how things went during the day then the parenting power multiplies because the kids know that Mom and Dad are a united front.  

Your relationship with mom is vital to more than just good discipline.  Dr. Mark Lowery, professor at the University of Dallas writes, “In a word, a crucial contribution to the homeschool on the part of the father is his attitude toward his wife.  Needless to say, children pick up very quickly on the quality of relationship between their two parents and are profoundly influenced by it.”  The investment your wife is making in the lives of your children by teaching homeschool lessons, developing character, and instilling lasting values is time consuming.  She may have little time left over to create gourmet meals and keep a spotless home.  Your children are watching and listening to you to find out what you value the most.  

Thank you for all you do, Dad.  You are a busy man with many responsibilities and your family would be lost without your leadership.  You are that hero!  (Sorry. . .the same shameless VeggieTale reference).

Sharing the Love

Last Thursday our home school students took thank-you cards, cookies, hot chocolate and a great big bag of stuffed animals to the Atlantic Police Department.  Chief Green welcomed us and told the

 kids they would distribute the toys to children who participate in Shop With a Cop.

 This morning the kids donated about 25 children's books to the Cass County Memorial Hospital and Atlantic Medical Center.  The books will be distributed throughout waiting rooms. 

We also took a trip to Heritage House where the children visited with 

some of the residents and wished them a Merry Christmas.

A box of 20 pillowcase dresses sewn by our homeschoolers was put in the mail to go to 

Little Dresses for Africa.  Based out of Brownstown, Michigan, the organization

 distributes dresses and shorts to children in orphanages all over the world.

Next Thursday morning starting at 9:30 the children will read books and play with children at the Ann Wickman Center and the preschool classrooms in our building.  We will also be making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to send over to Omaha with one of our parents who goes on Fridays to help out the homeless there.  We will finish off the morning with a good old-fashioned Christmas party!  

Tina and I are planning party games, treats and music!  See you then :-)

Writing & Reaching Out

The writing continues in our writer's workshop during December.  The older children are writing an original story using dialogue punctuation in one of the following genre: mystery, old western, comical fiction, comical non-fiction, humorous poem, or a poem that tells a story.  Above are a few of the students composing their stories or poems using laptop computers.

The younger students listened to the book "Snowmen at Night" by Caralyn Buehner which is a fun and imaginative book about what snowmen do after dark.  They also heard several short, humorous poems about snowmen.  The students were then challenged to write their own version of what they think snowmen do at night or an original poem about snowmen.  They each received a paper with a snowman template on it and were asked to write around the outside of the snowman. . . and then move to the inside if they needed more space.

When we were done writing we switched gears to our Operation Outreach project.  The younger kids frosted sugar cookies and decorated them with sprinkles.  These were paired with a large jar of cocoa mix and handmade thank you cards for the officers.  The goodies were then taken to the Atlantic Police Department where they were happily received on behalf of the police officers by police chief, Steve Green.  The children also donated stuffed animals to the police officers to share with families they are serving this Christmas.

We returned to the warm, cozy classroom for Brown Bag & a Book.  Linda is reading "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" to the children.  This funny Christmas classic never gets old!

Writer's Workshop

Students in Linda's Writer's Workshop have been analyzing writing by several excellent authors and applying what they learn to their own stories.  

In week one, we read the first two pages of Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare, by Patricia Polacco.  In this compelling opening, the main character uses metaphors to help describe her brother,

" He was the black hole in my universe.  The embarrassment of my life.  The frog in my punch bowl. The spider in my cereal. The wart on my cookie. The slug in my jello. The snake in my soup...."

Students discussed how this was a much more effective way to hook in the reader than just to say, "My brother was awful."  

In week two we looked at a few pages from chapter 11 of Because of Winn Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo.  In this chapter, the author describes a dog's fear of thunderstorms.  We discovered that the author doesn't just tell the reader that the dog is scared.  She shows us how he reacts and uses interesting words like "pathological fear" and "sproi-i-ing" as well as dialogue like " Winn Dixie came shooting back out of my room went running right past me and I screamed, 'Daddy, watch out!'"

Students have all finished a writing plan and started on their own story.  We have three more weeks to work on writing, editing and revising our writing.  Our goal is to have a final draft before Christmas.  Some students may need to work on their writing at home in order to meet that goal. 

This week we are going to spend some time looking at the way author Tomie dePaola uses dialogue in his book, Big Anthony.  We should discover that writing dialogue into your story adds the illusion of reality.   It also makes reading easier by breaking up large blocks of writing and adding white space to the page.  Writing dialogue is also a great way for a writer to reveal details about characters, share secrets and develop relationships between characters among other things.   (from Eight Good Reasons To Use Dialogue by Jenna Kernan)

Remember to ask your child about their writing.  Encourage them to get their ideas down on paper without worrying too much about mechanics to start with.  That keeps the student's creativity flowing.  They can go back and edit to fix spelling, capitalization and punctuation.  Happy Writing!

Little Elves Have Been Busy :-)

Shoeboxes packed for Operation Christmas Child

Christmas cards to send to soldiers

Little Dresses for Africa

Cinnamon & applesauce ornaments to give away in December