This is an emphatic plea for support group contacts from all over our fine province. I'm talking about all those little and large coffee support/CoOp groups. I'd love to make a listing available on this site for each region. Will you help me? Please respond as a comment to this entry with contact information about your group and general area.
Thanks!
Giselle
PS There may even be a special surprise gift instore, just for responding, for one of you!
Remember everyone, you are not in this alone! Connect with a local support group now to ensure you have friends to help you keep everything in perspective and for fun and fellowship. Keep sharpening the saw of life experience and learning!
I cannot stress enough how important it is to PREPARE . I believe overplanning is key - especially for young ones. I find it helpful to have many activities ready to go for my tot. That way he is readily active. It has blessed me tremendously this week to have a planning sheet complete for his day too. Not only does this ensure that he completes meaningful activities each day, but it is mindless for me (I can direct an older sibling to the sheet at centre time for the suggested activity) and I have pre-thought through activities readily available. This makes for lots of variety for everyone. Try it - I think you'll be pleased. Don't allow yourself to get overwhelmed. There is nothing you need to purchase, just thoughtful planning. More specifics on this another day.
Well, it's that wonderful time of year! I just love perusing the office supply stores and scouting out the supplies we'll pick up at the clearance sale after the back to school sale ~lol~. So much fun! We're gearing up to start again. Everyone around here is ready! It's such an encouragement to know I have a plan for what we're going to study, supplies are ready and I've taken the time to breathe prayer into the children's life and our school year. I'm giddy with excitement about what God has in store for us this year. I want to encourage you to build some excitement into your planning!
An absolutely essential resurce element to my homeschool is my This Old Schoolhouse Subscription. Please be sure to check out their new digital version:
We’re excited about our new planner and know that you will be too! We have taken ALL of your suggestions and ideas and compiled them into ONE fantastic planner, so that everything you need to plan in your life can be in one place, making your busy life as a homeschool mom just a bit simpler! In The Schoolhouse Planner, you can expect to find:
• Calendars in various forms – yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily
• Lists of holidays and places to record special days in your family
• Planners for your homeschool – in various styles to meet your individual needs
• Pages for both long-term and short-term homeschooling goals
• Curriculum planning forms
• Evaluation forms and test score recording sheets
• A through-the-Bible in a (school) year schedule
• Forms for recording Bible memory and other memory work
• Logs for recording books read, movies and documentaries viewed, etc.
• A field trip planning form and recording log
• A sample science lab sheet and nature study sheets
• A place to record extracurricular activities
• Outside classes, co-op, and support group information and recording sheets
• Household planning forms
• Daily, weekly, and monthly household schedule charts
• Grocery, menu-planning, and food logs
• Various budget and financial planning forms
• Garden planning sheets
• An appliance and electronics inventory sheet
• Vacation planning ideas
• Address and telephone records
• And much, much more!
And, if that’s not enough, we’ve also included:
• 12 “homeschool must-know” items, one for each month of the year
• 12 essays from some of our favorite authors in the homeschool community – you absolutely won’t want to miss these!
• 24 easy main-dish recipes from some top homeschoolers around the nation
• Forms that are appropriate for preschool – graduation
• A 12-year planning form, so that you can plan your child’s school career from beginning to end!
• 2-page monthly calendar with BIG blocks, providing lots of room for writing in details each day
If all of that isn’t enough to entice you, each month throughout the year, we will also be offering “planner supplements” that you and your kids will love! Our first monthly module will be available in July and will include all kinds of interesting information about popular holidays. These will not only be filled with great information that you will love including with your planner, but they will also be extremely affordable!
What do the developers of the TOS Schoolhouse Planner have to say?
Kris says: “Just this year, I had FIVE planners in my home and NONE of them had all of the forms that I needed to keep me organized for the year. When the chance came to help create a planner that would try to meet ALL of the organizing needs of ANY homeschooling parent, I jumped at the opportunity! I feel that we have created an incredible product: a planner that includes forms to help organize BOTH the "school" and "house" parts of the home. Of course, we couldn't have done this without the outpouring of ideas that came from our customers. Each email was read carefully, notes were taken and then Heidi and I spent hours and HOURS working to create over 85 forms, all available in ONE product that is easily downloadable from anywhere in the world! You can buy The Schoolhouse Planner and begin using it the same day! I hope our customers are as pleased with it as I am!”
Heidi says: “I was so thrilled when I first saw the announcement that TOS was going to create a planner. To say that I was even more thrilled when I was asked to help create this planner would be an understatement. For years, I have looked for ‘the ultimate homeschool planner’, only to be disappointed by what is available on the market. I have continually made my own planning sheets to suit my needs. Now, not only were Kris and I given the opportunity to create what WE thought was the ultimate planner, but what YOU asked for in a planner as well. I’ve seen a lot of planners, but none with this amount of content. I am passionate about E-Books, so I’m thrilled to have this planner available in E-Book format. You might choose to print the whole planner, or maybe you will just want to print certain pages; it’s totally up to you. No two people’s planners will be alike; but each one will suit its owner’s needs. It is my hope that each one that purchases The Schoolhouse Planner will be as happy with it as I am, and will recognize the hard work and the heart that went into the creation of (what I like to call) ‘the Cadillac of planners!’”
Last Night our local home school support group held an Achievement Award Night. It was a wonderful celebration of what our children individually and families collectively accomplished this past school year inspite of situations and ourselves ~smile~
I encourage you to do the same. Gather a few homeschooling friends, some fun food and some paper (great for the portfolio) awards and recognize achievement and celebrate together! You'll be glad you did.
Our family has been "done" our official book work for some time, although the learning continues :-)
It's time to see how far we've come. I think this is such an important step in the whole scheme of things. It's always neat to hand out the blamk blacline map of the world and a-z list to be filled with things they've learned through the year. It's time to take pictures of their projects and tuck their favorites into their annual portfolio collection. In a few days it will be time to celebrate their accomplishments with our home school group. More on that later :-)
In the mean time there are wonderful resources online and in print to help you assess where your kids are at.
I just had to share a powerful word from Beth Moore I read today:
How careful we need to be – as parents, teachers, relatives, leaders, or observers – about telling gifted children how great they are going to be. It is a trap and a forecast Fraser claims rarely pans out. She points out the monumental difference between talent and having a clue what to do with it and (again paraphrasing) how genius rarely exempts people from having to work hard just like everybody else who wants to make it. I’m a big believer in encouraging young people and imitating the Apostle Paul with Timothy by telling them that they are extraordinarily gifted. BUT, as we learned this weekend in Boise, every gift is a trust placed in human hands by a holy God and it is up to each individual to develop the integrity, humility, and work-ethic to know what on earth to do with it. A gift never guarantees success. In the long run as well as the routine day-in and day-out, those with the grit to just keep doing the hard thing will often prove more effective. Gift without grit is a dang waste.
How profoundly wise God’s way is. If we’re willing to follow His paradoxical path on the winding roadmap of Scripture, we have the joy of side-stepping this ankle-breaking trap. So will a few children we’re privileged to train. Living just to be great will prove at least empty and at most unbearable. Spending ourselves for something infinitely greater, however, still fans our parched souls with the God-given need to matter, but relieves us of the relentless pain of being the “It” Person at the center of it. To live for the greatness of God IS to live the great life. Oh, I know we’ve heard it before but what if something in us clicked all the sudden? What if we all at once awakened to what a dream-killer perfectionism is? And to how pitifully small and unworthy a goal personal greatness is? We were meant for so much more. Every one of us who embraces the glory of God as our lofty purpose for living will end up doing great things precisely because we end up doing God-things. His holy hand rested on the least act renders the ordinary extraordinary. Far from the least but sadly uncelebrated, spooning soup into the mouth of the weak and bed-bound or manning the church nursery so a tired mom can go to Sunday School are acts of highest worship when offered in the Name of Christ. Though the arrogant and ignorant minimize and miss it, Christ beholds the sight like a breathtaking work of art, tilting His head and squinting His eyes to study each subtle detail. “She has done a beautiful thing to me” (Mark 14:6).
Christ, the very One who called us to abundant, effective life and commanded us to splash in the cool springs of joy while living it, announced the secret to the great life without a hint of contradiction:
Pour it out lavishly, sacrificially for the glory of God and the good of man. Those with presence of mind and semblance of health are called to pour out the drink offering of their lives until the cup is turned completely over and every last drop of energy slips - perhaps unnoticed, uncelebrated – into the vast ocean of earthly need. The last imperceptible drop of your well-lived life will sound like a tidal wave hitting the floor of the Grand Canyon to the hosts of Heaven.
To all of you in the deep with me, pour it out! Faint not! May our life`s testimony be a tidal wave of passion!
I hope you don't feel abandoned. April turned into a very busy month. I held the hand of my daughter as she gave birth to her son, our sweet grandson Jake and the hand of my sweet mother-in-law as she passed away.
It reminds me of how everything goes in circles. We sang May the Circle Be Unbroken at her funeral. As mothers and fathers raising a new generation we have a high calling. One that has great effects for generations to come. Love lavishly on your children, teach them what's really important and don't take time for granted - not for a minute (pun intended)! Make memories, record them. If you haven't already, I encourage you to get those pictures and stories in albums. They will bless forward for generations to come. Embrace the project as not just another obligation or task but as a gift; an opportunity to reflect on your days and the people in them.
"If I have seen farther than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." ~Sir Isaac Newton~
It was wonderful to stand on the shoulder of Dr. Jay Wile and the many other speakers who bravely stood before us to further define and focus our eyes on the vision for our students and families this weekend.
If you were unable to make it, you can always borrow the CD's as a MACH's member or order them separately.
I highly encourage you to stay "plugged in". There are many wonderful downloadable talks on the internet as well. Use these tools and resources at your fingertips. Immerse yourself in what you are doing. Do not be faint or light of heart or short on self discipline. It will all be worth it!
Walk in registrations for both or either day are still welcome!
MACHS 17th Annual Conference! March 28 - 29
Winnipeg, MB
Join us for a dynamic conference with outstanding speakers and workshops. Our special guest speakers is Dr. Jay Wile of Apologia Educational Ministries.. Also joining us will be Bill Jack of Worldview Academy especially for our teen trak (ages 13 - 18). A whole collection of useful workshops will also round out the conference. As usual, we have many exhibitors on hand displaying the largest selection of homeschool material in the province. Come meet hundreds of other home educating families from all regions of the province.
The conference will be held at Calvary Temple, Winnipeg. It's location is 400 Hargrave Street - only two blocks north of the MTS Center. Travel & Parking directions - click here. Free parking during conference is available in all of the lots except those marked Sunday Only.
Conference Hotel - contact the Radisson Downtown (288 Portage Ave) and request the special MACHS Conference rate of $96 per night @ 1-800-333-3333
Who Should Attend?
Those interested in home education. Come and discover more about it.
Beginning home school families. Plan a course for success.
Veteran home educators. Review the course you've set.
Children under 13 - Please understand that MACHS loves children; it is for their well-being and future we exist. This conference, however, is intended for parent enrichment, and we are unable to accomodate children
Well, it's that time of year. Encouraging words await me and I can just smell all the new material waiting for me in the exhibition room at the conference. I can almost sense the tug on my purse strings. However, I snap back to reality with that next sip of java and focus on what I've prepared and what yet needs to be done.
I've already sat down with my hear husband to clarify our vision for our family and our educational and character training goals. I have a plan and know what I absolutely need and what is on my wish list. Most important I have a budget! At this time of year I love to pick up or at least scout out this year's little extras. I may even find some birthday gifts or things to use for our units. So I'll keep my eye out for those. I ALWAYS plan to bring home at least one encouraging resource just for me. A homeschool devotional, support book or such.
I've carefully gone over the proposed schedule of speakers and chosen preferences and jotted down questions that come to mind before I even get there.
What will I pack along? Well, here's what I usually take:
*water bottle, chewing gum/mints, plan for the upcoming year, shopping list, wish list, fold up rolling cart/bag, sweater (you never can tell if a room's gonna be warm or cold), comfortable shoes, notebook, pens, sense of humour and smile.
I hope to meet some new homeschooling mama-chums there and eagerly anticipate what God has in store for me to learn, reinforce or discover. Mostly, I come with an open mind and heart. It's a day or two to chew on my upcoming plans, envisioning the future ideals in a room filled with families who share the same kind of commitment.
We've had fun outdoors but need to give some extra attention to indoors so..... join me won't you and get spring cleaning. I love using natural and inexpensive products. The Dollar Stretcher has some great ideas. Check out their website and recipes for natural cleaners here: http://www.stretcher.com/stories/01/010305c.cfm
There's nothing as motivating as a sparkling room/home. Feeling overwhelmed??? Simply begin :-)
Information for this compilation of famous homeschoolers was discovered on the Christian and Home School Resource Centre website. I thought it to be very interesting and worthy of sharing. Be encouraged in your efforts. Enjoy!
ARTISTS:
Leonardo da Vinci
Claude Monet
John Singleton Copley
Andrew Wyeth
Jamie Wyeth
COMPOSERS:
Irving Verlin
Anton Bruckner
Felix Mendelssohn
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Francis Poulenc
EDUCATORS:
Frederick Terman (Stanford University President)
William Samuel Johnson (Columbia University President)
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